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Forming Partnerships in the Academic Environment

Forming Partnerships in the Academic Environment. By Don Harris Vice Provost and CIO Emory University. Official Disclaimers. Higher Education is political The CIO must operate in this environment The reason to form and maintain partnerships is often politically motivated

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Forming Partnerships in the Academic Environment

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  1. Forming Partnerships in the Academic Environment By Don Harris Vice Provost and CIO Emory University

  2. Official Disclaimers • Higher Education is political • The CIO must operate in this environment • The reason to form and maintain partnerships is often politically motivated • This presentation has a lot of political overtones • Take what is helpful to you for your situation and leave the rest

  3. What is Partnership? • An alignment between two organizations that shows itself in truly collaborative working arrangements • This is far from the vendor-customer relationship many IT units have with their administration or faculty

  4. Reasons to Partner • Working together on common goals • Especially those of critical institutional importance • Increased likelihood of funding for projects • Link projects to academic goals and not IT • Greater leverage in working with others • This involves those on campus as well as vendors • Having someone to watch your back • Critical to allow your partner to tell you what you don’t always want to hear, for example what others are saying about you

  5. More Reasons to Partner • Increasing the ability to deal with problems when they occur on a project • For example, when a vendor doesn’t deliver • When resources aren’t being brought to a project by a campus unit • When cost overruns are encountered • Having someone to celebrate with when objectives or projects are accomplished • Joint successes have long lasting positive effects on all participants

  6. Finding Common Ground • Use your strategic planning process to seek partners with common goals and objectives • Bring others into your planning process • Identify threads through plans that might lead to partnership agreements • Be sure that what you are identifying has institutional support • Make sure players are identified at several levels in both organizations • Partnership agreements between leaders only is not effective

  7. More Common Ground • Be sure to identify roles each group will play and how decisions will be made in the partnership arrangement • What resources will be deployed by each group? • How will additional resources be acquired? • How will impasses between staff be resolved? • How will funds be deployed for the project? • How will project progress be measured? • How and who will give reports to senior management?

  8. A More Political Approach • Take a systems approach to your campus • Identify the players and their roles • Identify the interaction between players • Seek to better understand the strengths and dangers of partnership arrangements • Align yourself and your organization in a way that promotes your goals

  9. Know Your Potential Partners • What are their backgrounds? • What are their interests? • Who do they partner with? • What (or who) influences them? • What are their “hot buttons”? • Where are there rifts between players? • What is their history with your organization? • What do they think about you?

  10. Understanding your Partners • Read what they write • Listen to their speeches • Formulate good questions and engage them in discussion about their area of interest • Invite them to present to your staff • Have your organization engage their organization at several levels • Collaborate with them in presenting or writing

  11. Seek Understanding of Dynamics • Is one player stronger than the other? • What role do you play in each partnership? • Do partners have different business drivers? • How does campus governance affect the partnership? • Think about how you want to be identified with your partner • Convenience • Business necessity • Common goals • Long term strategic importance

  12. Political Savvy: Systematic Approaches to Leadership Behind-the-ScenesbyJoel R. DeLuca, Ph.D.EBG Publications 1999

  13. OPERATIONAL STRATEGIC POWERFU L SK MG WC PB BH DE WEAK

  14. OPERATIONAL STRATEGIC SK MG POWERFU L WC PB DE BH WEAK

  15. Ways to Strengthen the Partnership • Conduct joint activities between groups • Management workshops (e.g., MBTI) • Training or professional development • Field trips to institutions with common interests • Have regular meetings • To assess work towards partnership goals and objectives • To allow leadership to discuss concerns or new opportunities • To just allow the staff to get to know each other better

  16. More Ways to Strengthen… • Look for ways to interact with partners • At campus social events like receptions • At arts programs • Before or after regular senior staff meetings • Also seek to better understand your partners’ professional interests • Attend the conferences they attend • Interact outside the office on their “turf” • Invite them to your IT conferences and introduce them to your colleagues

  17. A Few Pitfalls to Avoid • Be careful what you say and write • Remember your partners also have partners • Be very careful in email which is easily forwarded • Be sure that project reports and budgets are reviewed by leadership of both groups • Don’t send out anything “official” before all issues are worked out with your partner

  18. More Pitfalls • Be careful that you don’t get tagged with any “bad press” your partner receives due to their poor management • Learn how to distance yourself from your partner when he or she isn’t pulling their share of the load • Protect yourself and your organization from financial problems your partner may encounter

  19. Being Visible as Partners • Develop joint “press releases” and stories for campus publications • Also consider joint brochures, web sites, articles and even videos • Feed news items to the campus paper, newsletters, alumni magazine, etc. • Be sure to emphasize that you are addressing institutional goals and not your personal agendas

  20. Celebrate Your Joint Success • Look for ways to capitalize on the results of successful partnerships • Awards for your staff, conference presentations • Strive to be seen as an organization with which others wish to be associated • Be prepared to prioritize and say no to some requests for partnerships • Use success to strengthen your organization and seek funding for other initiatives

  21. Think About Partnerships Outside Of Your Own Institution • Identify partnerships that might already exist • Consider how you might partner with another institution to support collaborative work • Hold joint meetings to consider projects and exchange opportunities • Also seek to involve faculty and administrators in these discussions • And don’t forget about EDUCAUSE regional conferences and other events where you can explore partnership opportunities

  22. Ending a Partnership • Possible reasons to end a partnership • When your partner is leaving the institution • When your partner becomes a liability • When your goals are no longer mutual • When your priorities (or resources) shift • Some ways to bring about an end • Have partnership linked to annual plan • Have specific timeframe to review partnership • Use your regular meetings to redefine goals

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