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Beginning a Successful School Partnership with a College/University: A Five Step Guide for Teachers and Principals
by Kathy Cameron
Bringing students to a college campus for a visit or engaging in a long-term partnership between a school and a university is exciting. Successful partnerships are marked by frequent and open communication, excellent planning, and attention to detail. Partnerships can enrich students and faculty from both the school and the university in ways that cannot be matched through any other means. Some partnerships are long term, involving numerous visits and frequent interaction between the school and university, or they can be short term, consisting of one event. Individuals and entities have different working styles and relationships. The variety of types of partnerships and individuals involved renders each partnership unique, but the common denominator for success is step-by-step planning.
Step one: Prepare for success
Preparation is a key step in creating successful partnerships between schools and universities. Before teachers approaches the principal or the university with whom they wish to partner, they should have at least a basic vision of what the partnership will look like. Consider these questions:
- What are the goals for the partnership?
- What is the topic for the visit?
- Is the visit going to supplement a unit or to pull things together at the end of a unit?
- How does this visit work with the school curriculum?
- What will the students already know about the subject before they come to campus?
- Is there a focus on college aspiration, providing a reward for students who achieved certain goals, or availing a specific group of students the opportunity to come to campus?
- Are you seeking a long-term partnership or just one campus visit? What should be the main objective or reason for bringing the students to campus?
Step two: Be organized, seek administrator approval, and start the process early!
Starting the planning process early allows for the most successful partnership and the widest array of possibilities. Before contacting the university, a teacher should obtain the support and approval of the principal or administrator. University staff cannot begin planning for a partnership that has not yet been approved.
Once approvals are obtained, the teacher can contact the university with ideas for students‘ campus visit. At this point, it is helpful to be flexible and open to suggestions. Having a place to start in the planning process is important; for example, the goal of the visit might be to have students do activities in engineering and math, but the teacher may not be aware of the many unique opportunities on college campuses. Taking the time to listen to and be open to the possibilities that exist can result in some unique opportunities for your students.
Reasons to start planning early:
- Many units and offices on campus can accommodate only a certain number of campus visits per month or year, due to staff availability, funding, or space limitations.
- Communication between schools and universities often takes more time than expected. University semesters or quarters do not line up with school schedules.
- By starting the planning process early, delays in communication will have less of an effect on the ability to establish a successful partnership.
Step three: Coordinate visit with curriculum
The goal of campus visits is for students to have an enjoyable day while experiencing activities that coordinate with the school curriculum or another goal of the school, such as opportunities for students who are minorities or first-generation college students. Here are some examples of campus visits that allow students to experience something that cannot be experienced in the classroom:
- Visit a planetarium or the medical center.
- Come to campus at the end of a unit for a capstone experience that builds on what they learned. For example, after a unit on Russia, students could come to campus to learn more about Russian language and culture from university students and faculty, including learning about job opportunities for students who study Russian in college.
- Recreational opportunities or tours can be integrated into a campus visit in addition to the curricular connection, depending on the schedule and staff availability.
Step four: Attend to paperwork and logistics
Permission forms must be collected early to ensure the attendance of all eligible students. Be sure to include a photo release on the form. The photos can be useful for both the school and university for brochures, websites, and other publicity.
Meals: For campus visits that occur over a meal time, provisions must be made for the students to eat. Students can pack a lunch or eat at a local restaurant, or delivery of food can be arranged. If food is being provided for the students, be certain to consider food allergies and religious dietary restrictions when planning.
Restroom breaks: Because university students do not have organized restroom breaks, buildings often have fewer restroom facilities for use by large groups. Being in unfamiliar territory, your students should not be wandering around looking for the restroom. Arrange the schedule to include breaks for this purpose and remember that the smaller restroom facilities will mean that the restroom break will need to be longer than the time it typically takes at school.
Supervision: Teachers and chaperones should understand that they will be in charge of supervising the children while they are on campus. University faculty and staff do not have the authority to act as substitutes for classroom teachers, so teachers and chaperones should communicate with each other about expectations in terms of their participation in the activities and their role in managing students during the event. Set forth the expectations for chaperones when asking them to serve.
Transportation and weather: When preparing teachers, students, and chaperones for a college campus visit, be sure they are prepared for being outdoors in inclement weather and for walking distances. Transportation can be a logistical issue on a college campus with limited parking. When using a bus, be sure to obtain permission for loading and unloading locations from the university. Personal vehicles will probably require visitor parking passes that should be obtained in advance.
Step five: Keep communication going
During the planning process, stay in communication with the university contacts who are working with you for your campus visit. Ask questions as they arise and be sure to receive updates when schedule changes occur. Have an accurate schedule to share with the parents of the students who are coming on the visit.
Conclusion
School/university partnerships are beneficial to all who are involved. The visits expose students to the college campus and the opportunity to dream about one day being a college student, motivating them to set academic goals that can improve their current performance in school. Schools can benefit from university resources and specially trained expert educators in specific fields. Universities benefit because visiting students can serve as active participants for presentations by faculty and for university students who can gain valuable teaching experience. School partnerships may also influence students to consider the partnering university for their college education.
Additional resources, such as detailed timelines, research on partnership sufficiency, and sample schedules to assist with planning for partnerships can be found at http://p12.osu.edu/partnerships.php.
Kathy Cameron was the graduate assistant for The Ohio State University P-12 Project from 2006-2009. She is a candidate for the DMA in flute performance from Ohio State. This fall, she will be joining the music faculty at Slippery Rock University of Pennsylvania.
