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About Us     |    Research & Writing Guide     |    Information Sources    |   Campus Working Pages

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About Us

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Background     |     Content Plan     |     Development Plan     |     Affiliate Bureaus

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We are organizing a national network affiliated local and state PolicyOptions.org Bureaus linked to a national organization that collects the national level information. The share underlying PolicyOptions.org web platform (this wiki and the upcoming content management system) to facilitate information sharing and dialogue within and across communities nationwide. 

 

Principles     |     Staffing     |     Pilot Campuses

 

Principles

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The principles underlying the PolicyOptions.org network partnerships are:

• comprehensive, objective research that shows all sides of an issue
• shared tools and information via PolicyOptions.org network
• leverage community-university partnerships
• community-driven philosophy

 

Staffing Plan

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Below we outline our strategy for staffing and generating the content for the PolicyOptions.org website:

 

Campus Affiliate Bureaus

 

Local campus affiliates/partners will have the following staff:

• research director (initially faculty on part-time basis, perhaps later as full-time staff)
• research interns
• part-time student interns who will conduct community and policy news and information
• students in policy courses and graduate students assigned to or focused on specific types of research

 

Affiliates will have an established Advisory Board made up of both campus (faculty, student, and staff) and community leaders.  Through these boards, all participants will be involved in program planning, training, supervising, developing, and recognizing others who are involved in their local activities.  In addition, the principles of participatory research operate in each initiative involving our campus-community partnerships.

 

National Bureau

 

The national office staff will:

• update and maintain PolicyOptions.org web platform and content
• support local and state affiliates (college and universities, researchers)
• raise money for entire network (focus on local information sharing with national)

 

After the pilot phase and an initial round of fundraising are completed, our hope is to develop sufficient support to employ a national staff made up of the following positions:

• executive director (oversee everything; raise $; networking)
• senior research director
• research interns (assist in national data collection and analysis)
• training/outreach coordinator (support demonstration projects, affiliates)
• technical project director (oversee website development, maintenance)

 

The national staff will be supported by the following advisory groups:

• National Advisory Board that is broadly representative of our affiliate bureaus
• Editorial Board of Issue Experts

 

Pilot Bureaus

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For our initial pilot phase, we have begun working staff and faculty from colleges and universities in the following locations:

 

 

California

• University of California-Berkeley: Cal Corps Public Service Center (Mike Bishop, Assistant Director)

 

Kansas

• Washburn University: Center for Community Service and Civic Engagement (Professor Rick Ellis, Director)

 

Maine

• Bates College: Harward Center for Community Partnerships (David Scobey, Director)
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Massachusetts 

• Amherst College:  Center for Civic Engagement (Molly Mead, Director)

 

Minnesota

• Macalester College: Institute for Global Citizenship & Civic Engagement (Paul Schadewald, Associate Director of Civic Engagement)
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New Jersey

• The College of New Jersey: Bonner Center for Civic and Community Engagement (Patrick Donohue) 

 

New York

• Hamilton College: Arthur Levitt Public Affairs Center (Judy Owens-Manley, Director for Community Research)
• Siena College: (Dr. Matthew Johnson, Professor of Sociology & Director of the Bonner Leader Program)

 

North Carolina

• Mars Hill College: 

 

Ohio

• Cleveland State University School of Social Work:  Michael Dover
• Oberlin College: Bonner Center for Service and Learning (Beth Blissman, Director)

 

Washington, DC

• Georgetown University: Center for Social Justice Research, Teaching, and Service 
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Washington State

• Whitman College: Paul Apostolidis, Associate Professor of Political Science

 

West Virginia

• Concord University: 

 

Virginia

• Lynchburg College: Center for Community Development and Social Justice (Professor Lisa Whitaker, Associate Director)
• Washington and Lee University: Shepherd Poverty Program (Professor Harlan Beckley, Director)

 

Wisconsin

• Ripon College: Office of Community Engagement (Deano Pape, Director)
• University of Wisconsin - Madison: