As graduates of a learning institution, alumni have a special connection with the institution. An engaged alumni network offers support to students and the institution. The purpose of this comprehensive plan is to engage with the alumni to serve the school. The school has served the community for years; it is time for the alumni to lend a hand and support the school. Rubin's (2009) Collaborative and Diagnostics Instrument is a planning tool with all the checklists needed to make the collaboration a success. According to Rubin (2009), the Collaborative Planning and Diagnostics Instrument provokes intentional decisions to contribute sustainable and robust collaboration.
A Statement of Purpose
Phase 1 of the Collaborative Planning and Diagnostics Instrument focuses on the reasons for collaboration. The alumni are coming together to create a mutually collaborative relationship with the school. The alumni network will be guided by the purpose statement of fostering a spirit of teamwork to promote the school's goals and strengthen the ties between the alumni, the community, and the school. The purpose statement reflects the goals of each alumni. Every year, students graduate from the school, and they have unique talents, gifts, and abilities that they can utilize for the benefit of the current students. The alumni want to give back to the school through mentorship, financial support, career support, and sharing experience with current students to prepare them better for the world.
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How a collaborative approach will achieve the goals?
A collaborative approach will address some of the problems affecting the school. The school is struggling with underperformance and inadequate college preparation. The school performance has deteriorated for the past ten years, and the new principal wants to involve the alumni and the community to address some of the core issues that affect performance. The school is underfunded, making it hard to retain qualified teachers or support educational programs. A collaborative approach is the best approach to address these issues. The goal of the plan is to improve the school's performance while facilitating an all-round development of students. The alumni community needs to come together to nurture the school and champion real transformation. When alumni, businesses, parents, and the community as a whole comes together to support learning, young people will achieve more and will take their studies seriously.
The goals will be achieved best through collaboration. The community has enough resources and people with various skills to help the students. For example, community members can volunteer to be in charge of after school remedial classes or to support teachers through fundraising. Involving alumni and the community will not only benefit the school. It will help parents to be more involved in their children's education in school and home. Studies have shown that collaboration is an indication of effective schools (Grant & Ray, 2018). Successful schools have nurtured a culture of cooperation between teachers, students, and the community. Collaboration across teams are opportunities to expose students to new areas of learning.
The person paying attention to the details of the collaboration
The person who will be responsible for paying attention to the details of the collaboration is the chairperson of the alumni organization. The chairperson will be selected by the alumni, and will work with board members to identify ways in which the alumni organization can support the school and be involved in the school's activities. The chairperson will liaise between the school and the alumni to nurture and sustain the collaboration. Thus, one of the roles of the chairperson includes being an active member at the school. The chairperson will gather all the facts to report to the alumni organization. The chairperson will attend important to school meetings to identify the problem and brainstorm with the principal and teachers on how the alumni organization can help. After identifying ways in which the alumni can help, whether it is through counseling or sponsoring programs and events, the chairperson will oversee the implementation of these programs. School programs cost money, and the chairperson will organize fundraising or an event to bring alumni together to support the projects financially.
Phase 2: Outcomes and Decision Makers
Specific and Targeted Outcomes for the Collaboration
The collaboration is purpose-driven, as stated in the statement of purpose. The alumni want to work with the school towards achieving its goals. The collaboration is driven by the desire to help the students excel in school and other aspects of their lives. Thus, the targeted outcomes for the collaboration are:
I. Improved student performance
II. Better preparation for college
III. An engaged student body, alumni, and community.
Description of the Targeted Outcomes
The alumni and the community shares a similar vision for the school. The collaboration is meant to help the school achieve its goals by providing additional support. The school performance has deteriorated over the years, and the alumni want to support the teachers and the school to implement plans and programs to improve the performance. The alumni organization will facilitate teacher training in proactive, positive classroom management. The goal of the training is to equip teachers with strategies for communicating and engaging better with students as well as behavior management (Sieberer-Nagler, 2016). Teachers who create a positive learning environment often attain positive student outcomes. Improving student performance will require many strategies; thus teachers, administrators, parents, alumni, and the community will come together to brainstorm different strategies. The strategies will entail teacher training, new programs, and improving the learning environment.
The second outcome is to facilitate better preparation for college. The alumni organization will focus its activities on preparing students for college. The school has one counselor who cannot adequately prepare students for college. The alumni organization will organize monthly events to prepare seniors for college. The events will adopt a holistic approach towards preparing students to equip them with executive function skills, networking skills, financial skills, among other essential skills to help them thrive in college and after school.
The third goal focuses on collaboration. The alumni organization wants to foster a culture of collaboration between the school, alumni, and the community. The collaboration spirit will also be cultivated in the school among students and teachers too. The alumni, parents, and the community will be more involved in school by providing their input and support for the school's activities.
How are you satisfied with the targeted outcomes?
The targeted outcomes cover the most crucial areas. The first two outcomes focus on the issues of performance and inadequate college preparation. The third outcome is about how the alumni and the community can help the alumni, and the community can help the school address the problems. The targeted results are relevant to the school, and I am satisfied with them. The members of the alumni want to give back in different ways, and the targeted outcomes will ensure that each member gives back by utilizing the various resources and skills.
The process used to identify the decision-makers
The collaboration will not succeed without strong leadership. Leaders are the decision-makers who will control the alumni's activities to ensure that the targeted outcomes will be achieved. MacDonald & Shriberg (2016) state that the leaders of an alumni association must be willing to work with the school. The decision-makers should be prepared to contribute their time and resources for the good of the school and the alumni association. The decision-makers are differentiated from the other members, given their enthusiasm and ability to motivate others. The decision-makers are likely to be the ones to initiate the idea of the formation of the alumni organization; they will communicate, make plans, and follow up. The decision-makers will ensure that the targeted outcomes are achieved by following up and holding everyone accountable.
Describe the strategic approach for recruiting targeted decision-makers into the collaboration
The collaboration will also need to recruit targeted decision-makers to help it achieve its goals. Targeted decision-makers are individuals who are not necessarily a part of the alumni association, but will help the collaboration achieve its goals. Some of the factors used to recruit influential decision-makers include vision, communication, and influence. Targeted decision-makers are visionary leaders who can help the collaboration plan effectively and capitalize on the available resources to achieve goals. Targeted decision-makers should also be influential individuals in the community. Influential individuals can influence others to act by inspiring them, and they are crucial for the success of a collaboration.
References
Grant, K. B., & Ray, J. A. (Eds.). (2018). Home, school, and community collaboration: Culturally responsive family engagement . Sage Publications.
MacDonald, L., & Shriberg, M. (2016). Sustainability leadership programs in higher education: alumni outcomes and impacts. Journal of Environmental Studies and Sciences , 6 (2), 360- 370.
Sieberer-Nagler, K. (2016). Effective Classroom-Management & Positive Teaching. English Language Teaching , 9 (1), 163-172.
Rubin, H. (2009). Collaborative leadership: Developing effective partnerships for communities and schools . Corwin Press.jaq
