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Columns::April 28, 2003
National search yields five finalists for diversity position
Ag college will consolidate some research and extension facilities
A matter of degrees: More than 5,000 complete requirements for graduation
Enjoying the last days of the semester
New awards program honors excellence in public management
Children’s weight results to be released at BHSI symposium
Promotions
Tenure
Members of promotion and tenure review and appeals committees announced
Forum essay: Faculty-administration relations
Readers Write: UGA tops in international education
Earth Day 2003
Campus News
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| Use of a wireless computer network has been a valuable addition to the facilitation carried out by the Vinson Institute’s Community and Regional Development Division in terms of being able to quickly capture participant input. Here the technology enables Gov. Sonny Perdue to talk with parents during one of his Educational Listening Sessions. It was also used by the Board of Regents during their “Knowledge is Power” tour. |
All in agreement
Vinson Institute’s Community and Regional Development Division help groups reach ‘consensus for action’
By Ann Allen
allen@cviog.uga.edu
Take a room packed with public school educators, community leaders or university officials and ask them to come up with a strategy for the future. Odds are that every person will have a different view on that charge. How do you move the process forward and find some kind of consensus for action? Whether it is implementing an orderly process by which key educational issues can be discussed by 180 Georgia teachers, facilitating 15 to 20 minutes of a high profile meeting of an executive committee, or implementing a 15- to 20-month strategic development project for community leaders, the faculty and staff of the Carl Vinson Institute of Government’s Community and Regional Development Division stand ready to help.
“Communities and governments are increasingly dealing with complex issues and diverse interests,” says Brenda Hayes, CRD director. “Our faculty and staff are in a unique position to provide outreach in planning and collaborative problem-solving because their work arena has encompassed more than working exclusively with elected officials. We have a reputation for ‘agenda-neutral group-decision facilitation’ and--because of our diverse background and experience--for content expertise and advisement.”
The division has recently incorporated a wireless computer network because of its value in helping start the decision-making process, according to CRD faculty member Steve Dempsey.
“The electronic format allows us to collect a substantial amount of information from a group within a short time-frame,” he says. “This compilation of different ideas from a variety of people can help strengthen issues that have already been perceived while at the same time bringing new ideas into the open.”
Case in point: the Governor’s Educational Listening Sessions. The five sessions were held earlier this year at the request of Gov. Sonny Perdue, State School Superintendent Kathy Cox, and State School Board Chair Wanda Barrs, who all attended. Participants were stationed at tables of nine, each staffed by the Vinson Institute and the Governor’s Office of Planning and Budget.
“For each question, the participants were asked to work independently and write down their own comments,” says Dempsey, who led the facilitation. “As the participants at each table shared their comments with each other, the facilitator helped summarize the discussion and enter it into the special wireless network to be shared later with the rest of the audience.”
During the plenary session, the group reviewed the summary comments that had been captured and projected on a public screen. Jan Coyne is the CRD staff member who coordinates the technical aspects of the wireless network.
“The software is simple to use, so once people get started they generally don’t pay much attention to it,” she says. “We don’t want the technology to be the focus; it is a tool that allows more direct participation in the process.”
The resulting visual display of all of the small groups’ work for general discussion in the larger group was effective, according to OPB’s Ron Jackson.
“This format also supported an easy, informal exchange between the governor and the participants during the general session,” he says.
Some of the “high-tech” computer-based approaches can also be adapted for use with smaller groups, as faculty member Gail Cowie discovered. She was working with a task force appointed by the commissioner of the Georgia Department of Natural Resources to recommend improvements in its public participation practices. The network has also been an important component of the town hall meetings held as part of the Vinson Institute’s assistance to the Georgia Quality Growth Partnership Resource Teams project coordinated by the Georgia Department of Community Affairs.
“These stakeholder town hall meetings are critical to our resource team for hearing the community perspective, which is factored into our recommendations,” says James Finch, director of DCA’s Rural Development Division. “Steve Dempsey always conducts these meetings in a professional manner that is nevertheless fun for the participants yet very informative for the resource team members.”
Through their role as senior staff for the Southeastern Regional Directors Institute, CRD faculty regularly conduct assessments for member regional councils. The South Alabama Regional Planning Commission, for example, serves the three counties of Mobile, Baldwin and Escambia in southwest Alabama. Included in the region are both metropolitan Mobile and poor rural areas. Faculty members Jim Youngquist, Paul Hardy and George Dick helped the commission assess its role in addressing issues and opportunities critical to the region’s future. Doing this involved a series of public forums and a leadership retreat.
“In this case, facilitation was no more than 30 percent of our involvement,” says Youngquist. “It was the subject content and diverse experience of our faculty that allowed the commission to develop a worthwhile assessment process and also enabled the region’s leaders to come together and develop strategies through local implementation to address their future.”
They are not exactly “ghostbusters,” says George Dick, but by being equipped with both high-tech and simple approaches the Community and Regional Development Division is “mobile, flexible, and ready to provide assistance in improbable situations to help citizens improve their quality of life.” |
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