Facing Common Challenges

Not every community-based experience goes off perfectly. The Center for Community-Based Learning has put together some common challenges that faculty and staff face when trying to negotiate the relationships among the faculty/staff, student and community organization. Basic solutions are provided here, but faculty and staff are welcome to contact the Center for Community-Based Learning for additional support.

Please click on the links below to expand each section.

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Faculty & Staff

Challenge

Possible Solution

Faculty or staff member doesn't establish a strong working relationship with their community contact

Setting up and implementing a community-based course, project or activity can be a time-consuming investment and you may notice that your community relationships are suffering. If so, first consider whether community-based learning is appropriate for the chosen course or activity. Strong relationships allow both you and the community partner to achieve their desired results.

If the community-based component is important to the course content, consider scaling back. For instance, if you're planning to work with multiple community organizations, consider having your students work with just one organization instead.

If the course or activity is already underway and communication with the community partner is suffering, consider scheduling a meeting during and after the experience. Discuss ways in which the problems can be rectified and consider trying the partnership again next semester building off the lessons learned the first time around.

Additionally, CCBL staff are available to assist in the pre-planning, communication with community organizations and conflict resolution between partners.

Faculty or staff member underestimates the amount of structure their students need during the community-based experience

Including a community-based component into a course or project does require some additional or different preparation. There are logistics to consider, such as: transportation to the site, the needs and requirements of the community partners (i.e. affiliation agreements, background checks for students, etc.) and ensuring a proper fit with the overall course or project content. All of these components require some structure and intentionality to be placed on the experience.

It's important to remember that the students are entering the community to learn. They're not yet experts in their field and will need some guidance from both the faculty/staff member and the community partner.

If the experience gets off to a rocky start, consider speaking with both the student and community partner to determine where things went wrong. If an obvious fix can't be determined, consider an alternative or smaller activity. Additionally, it might be necessary to cut ties with the organization or for the faculty/staff member to visit while students are onsite.

Additional tips for faculty/staff can be found in the following document: Best Practices to Reduce Risk in CBTL Courses, Assignments or Activities

Students

Challenge	Possible Solution
Students offend or upset the community organization	Work with students ahead of time to help them understand a bit about the community organization and its mission. It's important that the needs of the community organization don't get lost in the students' needs to complete an assignment. Students should approach community-based projects with openness and humility. After all, the experience was included in the course or project, because you thought it would provide students with a valuable learning opportunity. You might need to practice community interactions with the student(s) prior to visiting the site. If the course or project is underway when an issue occurs, it's nothing to be discouraged by. Just like in all relationships, there's the possibility that two people just won't get along. If this happens, a conversation with both parties should occur. Sometimes the student, faculty/staff and representatives of the community organization may all need to sit down together to determine what went wrong. If an obvious solution is not reached, the student may need to find another placement. This could mean that the relationship is terminated for the time being or, in some cases, students may need to swap placements. If this issue occurs more than once, the student may need to be given an alternative to the community-based component.
Students act or dress unprofessionally when in contact with the community organization	It's important to remember that this experience may be a student's first real-world experience. Students should be given clear expectations on how to dress, behave and interact with others at the site. A training might be necessary. If a student is not attending or is disruptive, it may be a sign that something is wrong. As the faculty or staff in charge, you should consider talking privately with the student to determine that there's nothing going wrong at the site or with the student.
Students are struggling to meet learning objectives through the community-based experience	Whether they're struggling to meet one of the 4 Cs or another learning objective set forth in the syllabus, you should be upfront about the learning objectives and assignments. Assignments and activities should be designed with specific prompts that will assist student thought processes. Adding additional activities, like a simulation can also help prepare students for the larger community-based component.
Students are struggling or disappointed with the community-based experience or final product	If students are upset because they deemed the project a failure, help them realize that failure is a part of real-world activities and that trial-by-error will help them in future situations. Provide students with fair expectations from the beginning, this will help particularly well if this is their first real-world experience. Sometimes an early-semester or mid-project assignment to assess the student and their experience can be helpful. Finding out early on about issues the students are facing, problems with the size of the project and the student's outlook can help prevent feelings of disappointment at the end of the experience. If you've reached the end of the experience and students are disappointed, be sure to provide a debriefing for students so that they can understand the big picture and begin to apply the lessons learned. Debriefings are helpful after any community-based experience. In this situation it's particularly helpful because it allows you to turn the experience into a positive one by reinforcing what students learned.
Students don't see the benefits of working with a community organization	Whether they see it as additional work, irrelevant to their interests or just don't want to, it's important to reassure students that the experience can be valuable in terms of their intellectual development, professional growth and the connection to course outcomes. However, you should also be upfront about the time commitment, travel and other expectations that are required so that students aren't surprised or lose motivation down the road. Some experiences, particularly immersions and apprenticeships, might require some pre-screening. It's OK to select the appropriately motivated students, ones who want to work in the community. Additionally, it might be helpful to sit down with the students and/or community organization to discuss the scope of the project and everyone's wants and expectations. That open connection can help students feel that their needs are understood.

Additional tips for students can be found in the following document: Guidelines & Limitations for UNF Students participating in CBTL Experiences

Community Organizations

Challenge	Possible Solution
Community organization does not adhere to the discussed learning outcomes and project expectations	Perhaps the community organization has scaled the project back so far that your students aren't getting anything out of the experience or maybe they've overwhelmed the student with too large of a project. The scope of the project, description of the course and any requirements or expectations should be discussed before the students begin the community-based component. In some cases this can be outline in the affiliation/agency agreement or a Memorandum of Understanding. However, if all of this has occurred and the community organization changes course mid-project, you should sit down with them to discuss the change. Ongoing communication is always important. Reiterate your expectations and student needs. If they're unwilling to accept it or no longer feel the project is beneficial to them, consider cutting ties. Alternative organizations or projects can be considered mid-project or course.
Community organization becomes disengaged	Even the strongest partnerships hit bumps. It's important to realize that the community organization's schedule is often much different from the academic calendar. Sometimes what's perceived as disengagement is simply a scheduling conflict. Other times personnel may change during the course of project. It's important that you engage in on-going communication with the site in order to prepare for any changes that might affect the students. Other times the disengagement might come from unhappiness with the student work or falling behind schedule. Determine why the project is off-course and address any issues with the students.
Community organization is disappointed with the students or final product	The scope of the project should always be discussed ahead of time. Sometimes a Memorandum of Understanding can help clarify expectations from the beginning. This also gives the organization the opportunity to address any needs upfront. The real key to solving issues of disappointment is communication, before, during and after the experience. Touching base mid-way through can help squash any issues before they arise. Including community organizations in other ways may help as well, consider including them in the assessment of a mid-project deliverable or presentation. This way you will get their perspective on the students and the project and make sure you're both on the same page.

Additional tips for community organizations can be found in the following document: Suggestions for Community Organizations Engaged in CBTL Experiences with UNF Students