This week we hosted two conference calls that kicked off the recruitment of faculty and campus staff interested in participating in the PolicyOptions.org initiative. I was really pleased with the enthusiasm everyone had for the overall idea and their concrete strategies for moving forward on their own campuses, as well as suggestions for ways we can support their efforts in the coming months.

The main focus of our discussion was on the PolicyOption Issue Brief template and research methodology, and how faculty are or will be incorporating this research approach into an academic course or internship.

As one participant wrote prior to the call:

"I'm intrigued. I've been thinking of having my students write policy briefs, not just policy analysis papers. Schools and programs of social work ought to be very interested in your plans, as we all have policy courses with policy analysis assignments. Next term, I'll have 2 sections with a total of 30 seniors who are in field placements and I'm looking to involve them in more practice policy analysis, research and advocacy activities."

Out of this call we have created a wiki (policyoptions.pbwiki.com) to facilitate sharing of resources and strategies for working with students to research PolicyOption Issue Briefs. In addition, we will experiment with discussion boards (http://policyoptions.proboards91.com/index.cgi) to encourage discussion on specific issue research as it gets underway.

The following people from around the country were involved in the first organizing conference call which took place Monday, October 16, 2006:

1. Lisa Whitaker, Associate Director of the Center for Community Development & Social Justice, Lynchburg College
2. Stephanie Shirley Post, Stephanie Shirley Post, Executive Director, Center for Civic Engagement, Rice University
3. John Schorr, Professor of Sociology and Director of the Center for Social Research, Stetson University
4. Robin Fife, Director, Center for Civic Engagement, Tusculum College
5. Michael Dover, Assistant Professor of Social Work, University of Michigan
6. Amy Howard, Acting Director, Bonner Center for Civic Engagement, University of Richmond
7. Rick Ellis, Assistant Professor of Human Services and Director of the Center for Civic Enagement, Washburn University
8. Sandra Hayslette, Service Network Coordinator, Washington and Lee University
9. Ariane Hoy, Senior Program Officer, Bonner Foundation
10. Bobby Hackett, Vice President, Bonner Foundation

The second conference call took place Wednesday, October 18 with the following participants:

1. Serena Seifer, Campus-Community Parternships for Health
2. Judy Owens-Manley, Hamilton College
3. Diane Elliott, Lafayette College
4. Paul Schwadewald, Macalester College
5. Beth Blissman, Oberlin College
6. Trisha Thorme, Princeton University
7. Patricia Longo, St. Mary’s College of CA
8. Bill Ball, The College of New Jersey
9. Nancy Andes, University of Alaska — Anchorage
10. Diane Hersberg, University of Alaska — Anchorage
11. Frank Von Hipple, University of Alaska — Anchorage
12. Mike Bishop, University of California — Berkeley
13. Keith Kelley, Whitworth College
14. Bobby Hackett, Bonner Foundation
15. Christi Owen, Bonner Foundation
16. Erin McGrath, Bonner Foundation

If you are interested in learning more about this project, read over this website and then give me a call (609-924-6663) or send me an email (rhackett@bonner.org).