Community programs
Currently, we have a student clinic which offers low cost services to the community. We have also done some Community Education classes. Given the nature of our profession, this is about the extent of services. We are in the process, however, of expanding our clinic into other area health services through externships.
As far as evaluation and data collection, we have not instituted a formal process yet. We are working on setting up an online database which will greatly expand our ability to collect and analyze information.
HI Ruth
We believe in a lot of evaluation and measuring. It's a lot of work. But the information is so valuable when making decisons on any matters. community Clinics are great and take a strong clinic coordinator.
Good luck, Susan
I can relate to the importance of Community involvement. My school once had a thriving Commercial Art program. They gave shows at Malls and Community Centers and always had a charitable organization to sponsor (artist shared with the charity based on sold pieces). For several years they designed and built a Halloween Haunted House with free admission for local kids. On one occasion several local TV News personalities and the Art Critic of the local (big circulation) newspaper attended and featured the show.
After a leadership change all of this came to an end. Several years later the once thriving program was cancelled. More had been done with "free" advertising and community involvement than with more recent expensive paid television advertising.
Conclusion in short....... there are many great ideas in this course.
Thanks Bruce. And thanks for showing how easy it is to get free advertising and how easy it is to keep in place once organized. All the events that can be publicized benefit the students and staff as well. The students bond in new ways. They get to work and have fun time with the staff and get to know them better. The more students feel attached to the school, bond with each other, and learn about and use staff resources, the more likely they are to stay in school. Not always easy to measure but publicity and public relations does get results. And you can get a lot of mileage out of an article. Best wishes, Susan
We are currently working on ways to get the student involved within the community. I scheduled many events at local festivals but have gotten very little results.
Charlotte,
Good points and certainly very frustrating. If things don't work out that might mean that changes are needed. You might have great plans in place. But if there is little or no results, then it's time to take a different route.Perhaps your students need more preparation to participate in the community. Maybe they don't understand what is expected of them and therefore feel intimidated and feel more comfortable doing nothing. Why not ask the students what the situation has to look like for them to participate. It's an opportunity to learn a lot, make changes, and get great results. thanks, Susan
Dr. Susan Schulz
