Troubleshooting Training

By Nikki Novoselsky, Marisa González, Trevor Mann, Jessica Fischer, and Brenna O’Dea

After a long ten years, the Morgridge Center for Public Service at the University of Wisconsin-Madison realized the need to conduct research on their relationship to the community. It was time to give power to the community members to speak up and be heard since there is such a large concentration of nonprofit organizations in Madison. As students in a Community Based Research class in the School of Human Ecology, we patiently listened to community members as they unveiled their authentic experiences and feelings on their relationship with the University through focus groups and interviews. As a group, we specifically analyzed the importance of training for both the University as well as the community partners.

Our methodology for this research included focus groups, interviews and a survey that we conducted in collaboration with the University of Wisconsin-Madison and the Morgridge Center for Public Service. We held these focus groups both on campus and at the Goodman Community Center where we asked questions of local community partners about their experiences working with the University through service learning courses. Each student in our class also conducted one interview (17 total) with a member of a community organization who has worked with the Morgridge Center in the past. In analyzing our data, our group focused on student training and preparedness in their partnerships with community organizations. We searched our data to find patterns and themes throughout our interviews and focus group transcriptions.

As students venturing into the research process, some of us for the first time, we were not exactly sure what to expect. Once we began analyzing the partnerships between the Morgridge Center of Public Service and local nonprofit organizations we realized the complexity and the wide range of factors to consider. Throughout the focus groups, the lack of preparedness on the student’s part was a recurring theme, which was not a surprise to us. However, we began to understand that we cannot place the blame solely on the shoulders of students. Partners in the community were concerned with both the accessibility of the University, as well as the lack of diversity training that it provides for the students which all contributes to students overall preparedness.

Community partners participating in focus groups identified that some students are unaware of racial or socioeconomic dynamics within the greater Madison community. While conducting these focus groups with multiple community partners, we noticed that diversity training and a lack of preparedness to work with a wide array of people was a common theme discussed. One community partner claimed, “The University is really white and privileged and students go into the communities with a deficit bias and can do more harm than good. The University needs to educate students on the social justice things going on in Madison.” One way in which the University has been criticized in terms of a successful partnership is this important concept of communication and a structure that allows for growth. Research regarding a partnership in service learning states, “High quality service learning that is beneficial to all parties involved must be built on a solid foundation of carefully developed partnerships” (Jacoby, B. p. 1). The research expands on this topic by explaining, “Strong collaborative relationships are intentional and are characterized by the following: trust and mutual respect; equal voice; shared responsibilities; risk and rewards; etc…” (Jacoby, B. p. 10).

With the current climate on campus and the issues of hate and bias surfacing in the media surrounding UW, as students we were not shocked to find that a lack of cultural competency and a need for diversity training for students in service learning courses was a necessity. Many partners felt students are unaware of the racial, ethnic, and socioeconomic dynamics present in communities outside the University, leading to the use of micro-aggressions and potential of doing more harm than good. They insisted on a mandatory cultural training organized by the University before students engage in service learning at all, as these insights are important for the success of all students and young people. Additionally, the burden should not be on the community members and organizations, as one partner explained, “I think cultural competence is a big thing for us. Using just a semester is a short time, so you can’t just teach cultural competence. So it would be nice to teach students that before they come to work with us” (Focus Group 2). The University has a responsibility to respect the surrounding Madison community and help its students understand that relationship.

Beyond the focus groups, we were given the unique opportunity to have one-on-one interviews with representatives of community organizations. This experience not only brought out new themes and challenges, but allowed us as students to gain more insight on the personal experiences and stories of these partners. Surprisingly, very few community partners expressed concern regarding a lack of cultural awareness and diversity training in the interviews, as opposed to the focus groups. We expected to find more instances of this issue after speaking in-depth with community partners and organizations. However, many organizations seemed to have positive experiences with students. One director felt exposing students to people with diverse abilities was the training itself, and “helped to decrease bias by working with a wide variety of people.” It is important to understand that the capacity with which students directly engage constituents is different in every nonprofit organization; therefore, there may have been a lack of involvement with community members and fewer opportunities in which diversity training appeared necessary.

Additionally, in the interviews it seems that most training comes from working in the community. According to one interview, students who are more passionate about the work they are doing typically get a better on-the-job training because they are interested in learning and doing more. These students are more likely to stay in the organization, which exposes them to different aspects that the organization offers. Students who are working with the organization solely to receive credit or build their résumé oftentimes don’t put as much effort into their work as others. Thus, passion plays a role in overall work ethic and immersion in the community. One interviewee discusses how “from a long term perspective, we are always in staff development because the longer I’m here, the better I get so it just depends on how much commitment each person is putting into it.” The more dedicated a student is to the organization, the better relationship he or she will have with the nonprofit, which will essentially lead to better training and more knowledge overall.

Lastly, some findings we were shocked to discover was that many community partners seem to have a vast amount of difficulties derive from a lack of communication with the professors of the service learning courses. One organization explained, “It’s like, here I am working with your student, every minute of their entire requirement and you’re getting credit for it, and you didn’t even come visit your student.” This frustration seems to surface when the organization feels as though they are more of a babysitter than a supervisor. Professor involvement seemed to be an important concept to many of the community partners, yet when attempting to search deeper into this topic, we found that little academic research is available. As students, we were prepared for the ridicule and expressed challenges of working with students themselves, but were surprised to hear about the issues faced when working with professors. Regardless of the lack of current research provided on the topic of professor preparedness, the research that we have conducted show that professors are key for course curriculum and training to be based on the needs of the organization. Once professors are more connected and prepared, students can then be further trained and supported.

As passionate and dedicated students, we were eager and humbled to conduct such important research. Throughout the process we have discovered the importance of student preparedness and how it is a critical aspect of the relationship between the University of Wisconsin-Madison and local nonprofit organizations. To us, it is clear that the University can be doing more to enhance the experiences of both the students and community partners. Accessibility and a lack of diversity training were both identified as issues that must be improved upon. In addition, faculty should be involved in learning how to train their students to go out into the community. The more equipped students are before they head into the community, the more organizations can benefit. Thus, the University and the Morgridge Center for Public Service should look into various student, faculty and diversity training in order to assist the community and better their relationship altogether.

Works Cited:

Jacoby, B. (203). Building partnerships for service-learning. San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass.