MAINTAINING THE
CAMPUS-COMMUNITY
COALITION
Thomas A
Workman,
Ph.D.
Baylor College
of Medicine
OVERVIEW
“ W E O N LY I N Q U I R E A B O U T S P R I N G I N T H E D E A D O F W I N T E R . . . ”
 The key questions we’ll discuss today:
 What is the life-cycle of a coalition?
 Better question: What is the life -cycle of the campus alcohol problem?
 What am I trying to maintain, and why?
 How can I keep stakeholders




Interested
Involved
Focused
Active
 How do I judge the health of my coalition?
CAVEATS & PHILOSOPHY
 The life cycle of all coalitions, especially those used in college
or community AOD, is vastly understudied and often
misunderstood by researchers. There’s not much help in direct
literature.
 I believe coalitions/task forces are a METHODOLOGY to
accomplish certain environmental strategies, particularly by
integrating strategies and understanding into their daily arenas.
There is no reward for having a “great” coalition if things do not
change.
 Coalitions are a unified collection of stakeholders with specific
interests. The strategy of using coalition -based environmental
change is to coordinate the daily influence each stakeholder
holds in their area of the environment toward a common goal of
creating an environment that supports low -risk behavior.
THE LIFE CYCLE OF SOCIAL PROBLEMS
( A N D T H E R E FO R E , C OA L I T I O N S )
Where is our
campuscommunity right
now?
Coalition
members
actively
monitor
Alarm
(Recognition/
awareness)
Maintenance/
Surveillance
Coalition
members
integrate
plan in their
arena
Response and
Implementation
Coalition
members
form unified
view
Defining and
Analyzing
Coalition
members
commit to a
single plan
Coalition
members
recognize
roles in
change
Mobilization &
Agenda Setting
How are we
moving the cycle
forward?
WHAT DO WE KNOW ABOUT AOD COALITION
LIFE-CYCLES?
 FLUID structure helps keep the coalition able to
respond to each phase of the cycle.
 Form follows function: Member involvement is on a need
basis from plan.
 Members recognize their role when active and inactive.
 FOCUS on the key tasks at hand keep stakeholders
involved.
 Every meeting has a purpose: Moving forward/maintaining
the plan.
 Everyone is aware of where we are NOW.
 DATA -driven targets, translated into specific interests,
serve as the leading motivator for coalition member
engagement.
WHAT WAS THAT LAST ONE?
DATA RELATED TO ALCOHOL CONSUMPTION
(binge rate, primary or secondary harms, emergency calls, police calls for service,
judicial cases, damage repair costs, student retention/academic failure, student
involvement, etc.)
REPRESENTS AN AREA OF INTEREST
(potential for loss or gain of a salient outcome)
FOR EACH STAKEHOLDER OF THE CAMPUS COMMUNIT Y
Does the stakeholder have an active interest in an aspect
of the coalition’s work RIGHT NOW?
Does the stakeholder have a role in the implementation of the plan RIGHT
NOW?
5 STAKEHOLDER ENGAGEMENT KILLERS
 Stakeholder does not connect the coalition’s mission and goals
to their own mission and goals; involvement is mandated,
positional, or moral rather than motivated to accomplish
interests.
 Stakeholder does not share the philosophy of the coalition or has
lost fidelity with the approaches being taken.
 Meetings that do not utilize the collective engagement of
stakeholders to:




Identify collective areas of interest and set priorities
Make agreements on the strategic plan and its implementation
Understand barriers to implementation and create solutions
Hold each other accountable/celebrate accomplishments by reviewing
data
 Group dynamics/leadership does not empower stakeholder’s
agency to engage in collective change.
 Stakeholder does not see progress or the accomplishment of
his/her interests or the collective goal.
MONITORING STAKEHOLDER
ENGAGEMENT
 Annual survey of coalition members:
 Anonymous survey asking about:
 Current agreement to mission, goals, plan of coalition/task force
 Quality of group interaction (conflict management, affiliation, voice)
 Awareness of progress/identification of barriers
 Individual stakeholder conversations




How is coalition/task force helping you do your job better?
How is your experience working with coalition members/leaders?
What role do you play in accomplishing the group’s objectives?
What barriers are keeping you from fully engaging your role?
 Reality check: Who is doing the work?
 Leadership/staff should be providing infrastructure, not
accomplishing tasks.
KEY QUESTIONS FOR COALITION
LEADERSHIP
1. Where is our community in the life -cycle of the problem?
What information am I using to gauge this?
2. Do we have the appropriate infrastructure and stakeholders
for this phase of our work?
3. Have we maintained a clear picture of the goals and
objectives that the group is trying to accomplish at this
stage?
4. Does each member have a sense of personal agency and a
clear picture of how they contribute toward the goal?
5. Do members understand their role as coalition members
now and at remaining stages of the work?
KEY QUESTIONS YOUR COALITION/TASK
FORCE SHOULD BE ASKING NOW
1. What is the data telling us collectively about where we are
in addressing this problem?
2. What is the data telling us about what aspects of the plan’s
implementation are working or not working?
3. What is the data telling us about what strategies/activities
of our plan are working or not working?
4. What will the data look like when we move into a
“maintenance/monitor” phase?
5. What is the data telling each individual member about the
impact (good or bad) on their departmental/professional
interests?
QUESTIONS, COMMENTS,
MORE INFORMATION
Dr. Tom Workman
 [email protected]
 832-392-1224
 Twitter: @drworkman
 Facebook: Tom.Workman
 Linked in: http://www.linkedin.com/in/thomasworkman
 Academia.edu: http://bcm.academia.edu/thomasworkman