Getting Started

If you are reading this, you have probably decided to take action on a problem in your community. The community change process can be challenging. You may be asking people and organizations to operate in a different way. Take heart. This probably means you are doing something that people care about and that matters. This guide and worksheets are intended to help you understand the process of making change and to clearly organize your work as you seek to improve your campus and community.

Steps:
Step 1: Community Assessment
Step 2: Clearly Define the Problem
Step 3: Assess Your Resources and Needs
Step 4: Identify Partners
Step 5: Develop Policy Goals
Step 6: Identify Policymakers
Step 7: Choose Strategies
Step 8: Create an Action Plan
Step 9: Track and Evaluate Your Work
Step 10: Take Action!

Worksheet Format

The policy change worksheets go through the process of collecting information on the campus and community, defining alcohol-related problems, developing solutions and an action plan, and tracking progress. The worksheets have 2 parts:

• A series of questions to help in brainstorming.
• A grid to collect the key points and organize them clearly.

These materials are intended to help you think about what changes you might make in your own community and how to make those changes happen. Feel free to change the format of the worksheets to suite personal preferences and to add key points or questions that may be helpful.

As you go through the following steps, keep in mind that the ultimate goal is to improve life on campus and in the surrounding community. Although you will generally move from one step to the next you may also need to jump back and forth between steps as you get deeper into the work. Revisit each step as needed.

Finally—Good Luck!

Step 1: Community Assessment

Start by getting as much information as you can about what is going on in the community. This process is called a community assessment, which requires gathering as many reports, surveys, personal stories, and observations on and off campus to accurately understand and describe the problem. The more information you collect, the more specific you can clearly define the problem (in step 2) and develop appropriate solutions.

For example, if you think that “binge drinking by college students” is a big problem, you should collect the “when, where, how, and how much” data to more clearly understand the size and scope of the problem.

Collecting all the data you need may be an easy process. You may find that everyone can give you exactly what you need. However, the information you want may not exist, or may be difficult to get. Do not be discouraged if you run into these obstacles. You might try speaking with someone else who is willing to help you. It may also be helpful to learn the lingo of different fields, like learning the codes that hospitals use to categorize emergency room data on injuries and illness. Finally, remember that any information you collect about the problem is important. Stories, personal accounts, and photographs are just as valuable as numbers as you paint a complete picture of your community.

Worksheet #1 (.pdf, 167 kb)

Step 2: Clearly Define the Problem

Next develop a clear picture about what is happening in your community and campus. The problem that you pick to work on will depend on the data, what you learn from the assessment about the impact on your community, and how concerned community members are about it. Defining the problem can be a tricky process, because sometimes the biggest problem isn’t what you decide to work on. As you define and pick a problem to work on, consider what the relative benefits are, and whether you think your work will be able to make a difference.

Clearly defining the problem is also the first step in developing a solution. If you define the problem too broadly, it will be difficult to develop the appropriate solutions and action plan because it seems overwhelming. The more precisely you can describe what the problem is, the more tailored you can make the solution.

For example, your group may be concerned about bar promotions to college students. To clearly define the problem, you will need to include information such as: the number of bars in your community, the location of these bars, what the promotions look like, how they are distributed, who distributes them, and how long the promotions have been happening. You may also want to include the number of police calls to the sites with promotions and complaints by other business owners.

Worksheet #2 (.pdf, 109 kb)

Step 3: Assess Your Resources and Needs

After you have defined the problem, the next step is to take stock of where you are. Knowing what you have and what you need, both on campus and in the community, is critical to the success of any effort because it will help you be realistic about your goals. Choosing a goal outside your means maybe not get the result you want. It’s important to have a clear idea of what will be required for you to succeed—which means knowing what resources you already have and what more you need.

Worksheet #3 (.pdf, 107 kb)

Step 4: Identify Partners

After you have a clear picture of what you have and what you need, the next step is to identify potential partners for a campus/community coalition. Think about others who share different parts of the problem. Assess what each party might bring to the effort, what they stand to gain, what barriers exist to their participation, and ways to overcome them.

Think carefully about who might want to join you and why it is important for them to be a partner. Campus and community partners will have different reasons for joining and different abilities and limitations on their participation. Not every individual or group needs to have a leadership role in your work. List partners that are critical to your efforts and other groups that can be part of a larger coalition. Remember, there is strength—and power—in numbers.

Worksheet #4 (.pdf, 96 kb)

Step 5: Develop Policy Goals

Now that you have done the background work, the next step is to move forward with developing policy goals. Policy can be defined as the principles, rules, norms, ordinances and laws that promote health and address problems. Policies do not have to be formal laws; many policies are simply an informal but firm understanding of what is and is not acceptable. Both formal policies (community ordinances, campus rules) and informal policies (spoken codes, verbal agreements) can go a long way in addressing the problem.

As you develop your policy goals, keep in mind that a good policy lays the foundation for further policy development. A single policy is the first step to larger process of creating safe and healthy communities. The best efforts bring together community members and build power. Everyone should feel invested in the solution to ensure that the policy is effective.

Worksheet #5 (.pdf, 94 kb)

Step 6: Identify Policymakers

Once you have chosen your policy goals, the next step is to determine who has the power to make the change you want. Often, policy change efforts can be too broadly focused and fail to target the right people who enact policy. Try to be as specific as possible when identifying the people you want to reach; list names if you can. Think about ways to access or influence policymakers. Consider ways to encourage them to support your goals, reasons why they may be resistant, and ways to overcome these barriers.

For example, if your policy goal is to pass a local ordinance that prohibits alcohol consumption in city parks, then you must consider who has the power to decide whether or not that will be the law. Is it the Director of Parks and Recreation? Is it the City Council? For each case, also think about how you will convince him/her that they should pass the policy. Will it require reaching out to voters or is general public pressure enough?

Finally, think about how to frame the issue to engage policymakers who are not the “usual suspects.” For example, you might consider presenting underage drinking as a public safety issue to get the Department of Public Works involved in the solution.

Worksheet #6 (.pdf, 109 kb)

Step 7: Choose Strategies

After you have clarified the ‘who’ and ‘what’ of the policy change process, the next step is to decide how you will accomplish your goals. This means choosing strategies, which answer the basic question: ”What will it take to address the problem?”

Choose strategies that will help you achieve your goals. Will the strategies result in the change you are seeking? Are there easier ways to get the same outcome? Also think about whether your group is ready to take on a given strategy.

Finally, after choosing strategies, consider the steps it will take to put your strategies into action. For example, if your strategy is “conduct a letter writing campaign”, then the steps to implement it might be “draft a letter”, “distribute to volunteers”, and “follow-up with Mayor Jones about the letters”.

Worksheet #7 (.pdf, 97 kb)

Using Media Advocacy

Many groups include media advocacy as a part of their efforts. Media advocacy is the strategic use of the media to advance a policy goal. Effective use of the media can be a powerful tool, but can also be a difficult process. Before starting media advocacy work, consider the following:

• Does achieving our policy goal require widespread public support or pressure?
• Is public opinion likely to favor our cause?
• Is the media going to cover our efforts favorably?

• Is it worth creating controversy?
• Is there are easier way to achieve our goal?

Media Advocacy Action Pack

Step 8: Create an Action Plan

This is the step where you pull everything together. Look at all the worksheets you have filled out to this point. Your action plan will include:

• Your policy goal(s)
• Your strategies
• Your activities
• A timeline for your work
• Assignments for who is responsible for what

Remember that every activity in your action plan should focus on achieving your goals. As your work progresses, you may find that you are being pulled in many different directions. Feel free to say “no” to activities that will not help you achieve your goals. As you try and decide which activities to include in your plan, consider the relative pros and cons of each. For example, you may decide to attend the one or two meeting of a community watch group, rather than going to every meeting. That’s okay. Depending on your goal, one or two meeting may be sufficient.

Worksheet #8 (.pdf, 97 kb)

Step 9: Track and Evaluate Your Work

Tracking progress and evaluating your efforts are critical to successful policy work. Don’t be turned off by the term “evaluation.” Your evaluation plan does not need to be a complicated scientific set-up, but rather a periodic review of your work to assess if it’s having the effect you want.

These activities help you to understand if and how your strategies are working. Tracking and evaluating your work will allow you to celebrate your intermediate successes, monitor your progress, and fine-tune your action plan. You can take lessons learned from your work and apply them to upcoming tasks. If you were not effective, evaluation will also allow you to think about why your strategies did not work and what to do differently.

Finally, use the information you gather from your tracking and evaluation activities to celebrate your successes. Consider all your accomplishments, both big (a successful protest outside City Hall) and small (getting 10 new members to join your coalition). Remember, this is hard work! Take time to celebrate your achievements along to the way to your ultimate goal.

Worksheet #9 (.pdf, 111 kb)

Step 10: Take Action!

Now that you’ve completed the planning process, it’s time to get out there and do the work. Remember a few key points about making policy changes:

• The process is not necessarily easy. There are times when the work will feel difficult. This is natural… but it means you’re on the right track!
• Don’t wait until you have everything you need. Get started on what you can and work on getting what you need along the way.
• Above all, remember that policy change means changing minds—and that takes time and energy.

Next Step: On-Campus Organizing: Colleges and Universities

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