Date of Award
2002
Document Type
Practicum
Degree Name
Doctor of Education
Department
Programs for Higher Education
Advisor
John Morgan
Keywords
budget cuts, budget shortfall, collaborative teams, economic hardship, employee workshops, formative evaluation, fundraising, grant proposal writing, grant writing, iterative review, North Carolina, pilot workshop, program development, summative evaluation, team approach, team player styles, team skills, Tri-County Community College, workshop development, workshop implementation
Abstract
Tri-County Community College is operating in an environment of severe economic hardship, just at a time when the college community needs the college the most. The state of North Carolina is grappling with a projected 900 million dollar budget shortfall (McKnight, 2002). This fiscal year, all North Carolina community college budgets have suffered a four percent budget reversion with another reversion of up to eight per cent expected before the year ends (North Carolina Association for Community College Presidents, 2002).
At the same time, Tri-County Community College enrollment has soared due to several manufacturing plant closures. Since the year 2000, 2000 residents of the college service area have been laid off their jobs when manufacturers moved to Mexico or went out of business. Outcome expectations for Tri-County Community College are increasing just as funding levels are decreasing. Because of this, fundraising at Tri-County Community College has become increasingly important.
The purpose of the study was to develop a workshop designed to pilot a team approach to fundraising and grant writing at Tri-County Community College (TCCC). The research question is, "What should be included in a workshop to encourage a team approach to fundraising at Tri-County Community College?"
The workshop was developed from a review of the literature and from this researcher's knowledge gained from twenty-six years experience in the fundraising field. Formative and summative committees provided feedback in developing the criteria for the workshop and feedback in developing the workshop. The committees followed an iterative review and modify process until the workshop was validated.
The resulting workshop was developed to provide participants with an understanding of team skills, their own team player style, content about grant proposal writing, the college fundraising policy, and hands-on experience on a grant proposal team.
It is recommended that the workshop be implemented twice a year so that as many interested employees can participate. Workshop participation is not required but encouraged by senior administrators, who served as the formative committee for the development process.