Dissemination Strategies

for a Hub and Spokes Model

Mentoring Institution with Adaptors

Based on presentation notes

by Laurie Schreiner, Eastern College

at the annual FIPSE Project Directors’ Meeting, November 2000
lschrein@eastern.edu

Edited by Rosemary Wolfe, former FIPSE program officer

If you’re thinking of
disseminating your program….

• Do you have a documented measurable

track record of success?
– Strong evaluation data based on student
learning and performance
– Measures that are objective and go beyond self-
reporting and participant attitudes
 Disseminating your program….
• Do you have committed, active, and
competent team leaders in your
program?
– Including all relevant levels of the
campus community
• Administrators, faculty, staff, students
 Disseminating your program….

• Do you have strong commitment from

adaptors?
• How will you sustain the program’s
dissemination and scale-up to a
national level?
 Select Adapters Carefully
– Communicate clear expectations to adapting
institutions
• Institutional buy-in is essential

– Encourage recruitment of team members who

• are capable of implementing the program, have
credibility, and possess excellent interpersonal skills

– Research the systems, infrastructure, and

capability of the institution
• not only to implement the program but also to
continue to support it beyond the grant period
 If you plan to adapt
a proven model….

consider these conditions

for successful reform on
your campus
 Four Key Conditions Conducive to
Adapting a New Model at Your
Institution

1. Institutional Buy-In
2. Clear Implementation Goals
3. Capable Team Members
4. Sound Infrastructure
 Adapting a New Model
at Your Institution
1. Institutional Buy-In

• secure commitment from the president and

administrators in positions to “get things done”

• include the VP and other key administrators on

program planning teams

• build on previous collaborations with the

mentoring institution that form the basis for
continuing relationships
 2. Clear Implementation Goals

• Detailed expectation of all partners

– what are they supposed to do?
– what is their commitment?
• Outcomes clearly defined
– what will success look like?
– how will you measure success?
 3. Capable Team Members

• The “doers” with good interpersonal skills

– “people power” to help others understand the
program and want to be part of it

• Enthusiastic participants who believe in the

program
– NOT reluctant appointees
 4. Sound Infrastructure

• Available equipment?

• Cost share for overhead contributed?

• Support for continuing and

institutionalizing the program after funding?
 Disseminating the Program:
Collaboration Strategies That Work

• Build on previous research collaboration

and needs assessment
• Conduct workshops at mentoring institution
• Establish contact procedures
• Site visits to adapting institutions
Collaboration Strategies That Work
• Establish partnerships
– Individual work with each campus
– Campuses working with each other

• Replicate key program elements

• Adapt to campus needs

Collaboration Strategies That Work

• Active and regular communication

• Regular “face” meetings with community
building activities
• Flexible approach to unique approaches and
systems on different campuses
 Obstacles to Successful
Dissemination
• Team turnover
• Team leader not empowered to act
• Insufficient communication (on campus, as
well as between adaptor and mentor)
• Campus systems are too complex for
change or are incompatible with grant goals
• Campus politics
 Dealing with Obstacles
• Team turnover
– breadth of support is important: with many on
campus informed and involved, someone can
step in if a team member leaves
– encourage teams to meet regularly
– establish stable teams with a two to three year
commitment to the project
 Dealing with Obstacles
• Team leader not empowered to act
– determine if the problem is with leadership
skills or with delegation of authority
– consider adding a co-leader or substituting an
alternate
– talk with higher-level administration to
empower or replace leader
 Dealing with Obstacles
• Insufficient communication

– regular meetings scheduled in advance

– communicate with teams rather than with
individuals only
– have team co-leaders at each site
 Dealing with Obstacles
• Campus systems are too complex or
incompatible with program goals
– have administrator on each team who can cut
through the “red tape”
– find out ahead of time about hardware/software
systems available
– identify campus system support offices and
policies for grants, finance, publicity
 Dealing with Obstacles
• Campus politics
– Team leader must be highly credible
– Provide advance publicity of grant activities and
purpose
– Maintain full support of upper-level administration
– Recruit energetic team members with broad-based
campus support
– Conduct site visits that include faculty workshops
– Intentionally address issues of faculty territoriality
and workload
Dissemination Beyond the Adapters

• Communicate through print and web with

– Newsletters, web sites, national conferences
– Published compendium of best practices and sample
syllabi
• Establish a home-based resource for training and
follow-up
– Campus visits based on interest in the program
– Market plan for independent sustainability
 For more ideas…..

• Check the abstracts on FIPSE dissemination

projects

• Read “Lessons Learned” for best practices

www.ed.gov/FIPSE