Lead Contacts     |     Issue Focus     |     Pilot Project Plan     |     Timeline     |     Progress Reports

 

 

Lead Contacts

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• Matthew Johnson, Associate Professor of Sociology and Environmental Studies and Director, VISTA Fellows Program and Campus/Community Consortium of the Capital Region | phone 518-783-4190
• Julie Comley, AmeriCorps VISTA, Academic Service Learning Coordinator, Policy Options Coordinator | phone 518-782-6944
• Pete Oliveri, Policy Options Student Leader Coordinator | phone 518-782-6944

 

Issue Focus

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Progress Reports

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• Course Implementation Profile
• Semi-Annual Progress Reports
  • April 1, 2009 Progress Report
  • August 15, 2009 Progress Report
  • December 15, 2009 Progress Report
  • June 1, 2010 Progress Report

 

 

Pilot Project Plan

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Background

 

Siena College has a strong history of promoting service and is in the second year of a strategic process of rebuilding, strengthening, and inviting new deeper and more reciprocal community partnerships.  The Office of the President (OP) has sponsored a new AmeriCoprs VISTA Fellows program that houses 9 full-time VISTA Fellows.  Some of these Fellows are working to increase the capacity of the College to partner with community agencies, while others are placed in community partners to build their capacity.  The OP has also sponsored the creation and growth of the Siena Bonner Service Leaders Program and an initiative to train and incentivize faculty in CBR and other forms of ASL.  

 

Local Policy Options.org would fit into our current set of community partnerships in several ways.  First, it would provide a new set of matched incentives for faculty to engage in developing CBR in their teaching.  Second, it would provide additional resources for student leadership development and stipended service activity beyond our current Bonner Service Leaders Program.  Our plan calls for the recruitment and development of a new cadre of student leaders to be involved in and eventually lead the Local Policy Options.org initiative into institutionalization here at Siena.  Third, the initial set of Policy Options for consideration will have been generated of a set of community partners that have come forward and requested Siena to participate in a public policy planning process.  Therefore, the project is driven by community partner interest and need.

 

 

Student Engagement

 

Our Policy Options.org project is built on student involvement.  We have already identified two student leaders to be the coordinators of our student leadership team.  Additionally, it is our intention to recruit three more students to round out our team of five students who will be committed to the project for the next 18 months.  We intend to support the summer continuation of at least three students each of the subsequent summers to sustain the growth and development of the project.  This will be done with a combination of institutional resources, work-study, and grant funds.  We anticipate working closely with the Bonner Foundation staff to make sure the students involved in the project are well trained.  Finally, we are in the process of recruiting faculty to participate in the project and have encouraged each faculty member to recruit a lead student, or two, in the course in which they will be deploying Policy Options to become a part of the Policy Options Leadership Team.

 

 

Faculty Engagement

 

Faculty will be involved at all levels.  We will recruit and train 6 faculty members in the use of Policy Options in their classroom curriculum and on the policy issues in need of researching for the community partners involved in the initiative.  Additionally, two faculty will supervise student internships associated with the management of the project.  Finally, Dr. Mathew Johnson will serve as the overall PI on the grant activity.

 

The initial focus of our project would be on a plan brought to us by a New York State Assemblyman.  The plan calls for a coordinated effort to bring together three small interrelated municipalities and a host of other constituencies to develop and/or redevelop a greenway corridor that connects the Siena campus and two low income communities with the Hudson River.  Assemblyman Riley’s purpose is both quality of life and green economic development.  The project touches on policy issues as diverse as:

Supporting loown services and potentially school districts.

 

Faculty will be partnering with one or more community partners involved in the planning to research public policy issues related to the overall plan and of importance to each partner.   

 

 

Deliberative Democracy Forum

 

We intend to begin the deliberative democracy process by establishing a multi-agency planning entity to begin talking about the potentials and challenges for this plan.  Our first forum will be designed to open the issue and begin to explore together the needs of community partners as the discussions proceed across the 18 months of the project.  We will then hold four issue forums across the 18 months at which we will focus on a specific policy aspect of developing a green corridor.  Finally, at the end of the project we will hold a community forum to present the policy options work that has been completed, invite new policy options based projects to utilize the Local Policy Options.org platform and process to explore public policy issues in and through partnerships with Siena College.

 

 

Editorial/Advisory Board 

 

An editorial/advisory board will be selected.  Currently the leadership team consists of:  

 

• Dr. Mathew Johnson, Associate Professor of Sociology and Environmental Studies and Director, VISTA Fellows Program and Campus Community Consortium of the Capital Region
• Dr. Jean Mangun, Chair and Professor of Environmental Studies
• Dr. Don Levy, Director, Siena College Research Institute
• Dr. Larry Woolbright, Professor of Biology
• NY State Assemblyman Robert Riley
• Joseph LaCivita, Director of Planning and Economic Development, Town of Colonie 

 

This leadership team will be expanded to incorporate a lead community partner from each of the following policy arena: Environment; Human Rights; Diversity and Culture; Economic Justice.  As we move through the 18 months of grant activity, we will formalize membership and identity of the board and the organization.

 

Currently, all Strategic Community Engagement Initiatives (VISTA, ASL/CBR, 4CR, Bonner) are housed within the Office of the President at Siena College.  Policy Options.org will have significant support from the Environmental Studies and Sociology Departments as well as the Siena Research Institute. 

 

 

 

Timeline

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Fall 2008

• November 15 — 1st Planning Meeting with core faculty and students

 

Spring 2009

• January 
  • Siena Policy Options Wiki established
  • Policy Options student leadership team established
  • Public Announcement of Initiative
  • First open planning forum with community partners to launch the project
  • Two pilot courses utilizing PO launched
    • Social Work (SWRK 440)  Course implements transitional living program. In this course, Professor Macintosh researched transitional living programs (such as a model proposed in Ireland). In addition, this class researched transitional living programs from 16-24 yrs. old in a local, national and global pespective.
      • Dr. Johnson's Environmental Policy class starts to make a preliminary analysis of the, "Connecting Siena to the Hudson," investigation. This included breaking up this analysis into five distinct dynamics: 1. ecologically 2. economically 3. politically 4. stakeholders 5. human dimensions.
• February
  • Julie Comley and Peter Oliveri meet face-to-face with Assemblyman Bob Reilly in Albany. In this meeting, Assemblyman Reilly hands down the contact information of useful stakeholders. These stakeholders might be contacted in the future for community partnerships.
    • Information Sources and Campus Working Page of, "Connecting Siena to the Hudson," develops further (Capital Region).
• March 
  • Faculty Policy Options implementation training
  • Student Leadership team to Princeton for Training
  • Core Community Partnership Agreements initiated
  • Further development of the wiki and Siena specific PO training materials for faculty and community partners 
  • Second community forum and planning meeting…establish task forces on particular policy aspects of the planned green space.
    • Members of VISTA and Bonner travel to Washington, D.C. for the 2009-"Impact Conference". This conference will be useful in starting future community partnerships and spreading "service" around Siena College.
    • Information Sources start to develop further from the Capital Region. This now includes  the cities (towns) of Schenectady, Albany and Colonie. 
      • Campus Working Page of Siena College is completed.
• April 
  • L&S CBR Networking Initiative Grantee Meeting in Princeton, NJ
  • Faculty PO Initial Course Proposals due for review.
    • Dr. Matthew Johnson meets with neighbors around the Siena College. In this town meeting, members of the team express their concerns over, "Connecting Siena to Hudson," and possible areas of development.
    • In Professor Macintosh's Social Work Class, "Transformational Living 16-24" is completed.  Not only is a model of Ireland's programs are implemented on the wiki but a "Chelsea Foyer" model. In addition, NYS, U.S.A. and national models are fleshed out and developed.
    • In Dr. Matthew Johnson's, "Envrionmental Policy," class, the preliminary analysis is completed. This includes student's brain storming ideas of the five dynamics described above, but is also edited and put into a short and concise narrative.
      • Student's are also evaluated in different "experimental" classes for employment in the summer. Students make commitments to stay on campus for the summer to meet with community partners and further expand the Policy Options Wiki.
      • Information Sources (Capital Region) is now fully expanded. Not only are big cities like Schenectady and Albany implemented on the wiki, but now smaller (and important) towns. This will be useful in the future when one needs to look up background information of these towns when trying to enact different policies.

 

Summer 2009

• Student leadership remains on campus for the summer working to do the following:
• Increase the capacity of the Siena PO wiki
• Introduce new faculty to PO potentials in their classes
• Needs assessment of Community Partners in terms of PO Briefs
• Work with PO faculty to develop from the Initial Proposals into full course designs for Fall 2009 Courses
• Continued Task Force meeting and exploration of Policy Issues…at least two each.
• Bonner Program's 2009 Summer Leadership Institute at Stetson University (DeLand, FL) 
• Faculty Refresher Training as course development is in progress.
• Full course proposals due by August 1 including Syllabi and Working Paper Outlining the policy needs of the Community Partner in relation to the overall Green Space Project.
• August 15 — progress report due

 

Fall 2009

• September
  • At least 3 PO courses offered across entire semester
  • November ? — Fall 2009 Bonner Directors Meeting 
  • Third Community Forum…Report Back of Task Force activities and PO Courses
  • December 15 — progress report due

 

Spring 2010

• January 
  • At least 3 PO courses offered across entire semester
  • Identification of 4 new faculty to bring into PO teaching and community partnerships
  • Seeking of funding to incentivize those faculty to join
• February
  • Charter the Student Leadership on campus
  • Develop a mission statement, goals, objectives, build institutionalization 
• April 
  • Progress report due
  • Fourth Community Forum…Report of Fall and Spring PO courses and partnerships and setting priorities for summer work
  • Recruit new Student leadership team

 

Summer 2010

• Bonner Program's 20th Anniversary & Summer Leadership Institute at Berea College (Berea, KY)
• Student leadership remains on campus for the summer working to do the following:
• Increase the capacity of the Siena PO wiki
• Introduce new faculty to PO potentials in their classes
• Continue Needs Assessment of Community Partners in terms of PO Briefs
• Work with PO faculty to assess experience of PO teaching and recruit new faculty
• Faculty Refresher and New Training.
• Full course proposals due by August 1 including Syllabi and Working Paper Outlining the policy needs of the Community Partner 
• August 15 — final report due