OU/Pontiac Partners hip 
SPECIAL EDITION
Town Hall Summary e-blast
March 15, 2016


It's finally here! A summary of the Town Hall meeting, March 5, 2016. Thank you for your patience as we gathered all notes and flyers to add to this special edition eblast.

If you would like to request an article about your group, business or organization or if you have any events or news items, send them to baldwin2@oakland.edu.

Happy Reading!
Town Hall meeting celebrates synergy, success
By Paige Brockway  
 
The OU/Pontiac Initiative held a Town Hall Meeting on the morning of Saturday, March 5 to discuss the partnership's evolution over the past year and a half.
 
Attendees included Mayor Deirdre Waterman, President George Hynd, as well as Partnership Co-chairs Bob Maxfield and Thomas Kimble.
 
Six key goals of the partnership have been identified:
  1. To be a catalyst for building relationships and collaborative projects involving groups from Pontiac and Oakland University.
  2. To promote the university's research agenda with a focus on mutually beneficial projects that enhance both communities.
  3. To connect Pontiac-based entities with OU faculty, students, programs and resources.
  4. To enhance the curricular and co-curricular programs by connecting students with Pontiac-based opportunities for service learning, internships, volunteer experiences, recreation, and arts.
  5. To facilitate consistent, accurate and timely communication between Pontiac and the university communities.
  6. To Identify and secure human and financial resources needed to ensure a sustainable model for community engagement.
The meeting reflected on progress that the partnership has made on various fronts since the last meeting in November. An open forum session allowed different organizations to report on their projects' developments, successes and challenges.
 
"This is a relationship where both parties profit equally, to the benefit of the community," said Hynd.
 
During the second half of the meeting, the large group split into breakout sessions that covered topics ranging from project planning and fundraising to community outreach and social media engagement.
 
This gave community members and leaders a chance to connect with each other to share resources and ideas.
 
"You've been networking in ways that we never imagined," Waterman said.
 
"You don't need our permission to meet," Maxfield said, encouraging the different groups to continue collaborating on their own.

25 Projects identified

Twenty-five projects in eight core areas have emerged since the November 2015 town hall. All projects have a Pontiac and an OU contact. Some projects were short, one-time projects that created pathways for future communication and relationships should a need arise again. Others were longer-term in nature and will develop over time. Below is a list of projects with contact information. If you have any questions about the projects or you'd like to join in the effort, feel free to email the contacts and introduce yourself.

Breakout session notes  
       Transportation
Share transportation strategies & needs, finding grants that pay for transportation, collaboration and sharing of resources. 
Session leader(s):  Jennifer Lucarelli,  Associate Professor of Health Sciences,  Oakland University and  Healthy Pontiac, We Can

Money, Money, Money
You have $ to donate, you need funding, you want to know more about grants, you want to collaborate for grants, learn about collective impact grants and more
Session Leader(s): Michele Bosau, Director, Corporate & Foundation Relations, Development Services Development and Alumni Relations, Oakland University
No notes submitted

Connecting to OU students
Learn the three ways to connect to OU for an intern, how to write an internship request, internship guidelines and connecting with students for volunteer opportunities
Session leader(s): Jean Ann Miller, Director, Center for Student Activities and Leadership, Oakland University
No notes submitted
Handout: Requesting an OU intern

Planning, organization
Going from idea to project, planning, building capacity, partnering to avoid duplication. Share your successes or come with questions
Session leader(s): Jill Robinson, Property Specialist, Oakland County Treasurer's office & Lead for Growing Pontiac

       If you build it, will they come?
Do you have low attendance or too many attendees? Do you have space to offer community groups? Do you need space? Do you need food, clothing, school supplies? Discuss your physical needs and collaborate to learn more about existing resources
Session not held

Engaging parents: 
Do you have resources, speakers, etc. that you think Pontiac parents would appreciate if only you could connect with them? Do you have a solid parent group you work with? Come learn about and connect with Parent University
Session leader(s): Angela Powell-Medlock, Social Worker, Pontiac High School; Rosie Richardson,  Parent University and  Pontiac Public Library Board, Chair
No notes submitted

Working with the immigrant community:
How does your organization deal with immigration issues? Do you have resources to share? Questions?
Session leader(s): Holly Walker, Special Lecturer, Modern Language and Literature, Oakland University; and Gabriela Sullen, AmeriCorps VISTA, Oakland University

Assessing needs/program evaluation
Do you know about online or paper surveys? Does your organization need help around program evaluation? Do you have strategies to share that would others manage assessment?
Session leader(s): Cassandra Barragan, OU/Pontiac Initiative Assessment Coordinator, Oakland University

Promoting your program
How are community groups, schools, other organizations spreading the word about their programs? Do you use social media? Are your strategies working? What have you tried? What works and doesn't? What's the next step?
Session leader(s): Anthony Spak, Journalism student, Oakland University; Mark Litt, Circle for Youth

Brainstorming ways to support Pontiac business
Learn about resources available to your business and meet other folks involved in Pontiac businesses
Session leader(s): Belinda Turner-DeBois, Oakland County Loan Officer, Ceed Lending
No notes submitted

Is the partnership working for you?
Come experience a "design thinking" session to share what is working and not working, how the partnership could better meet your needs, and discuss next steps
Session leader(s): Jim Ross & Monica Williams, 21st Century Digital Learning Environments
No notes submitted
Flyers you may have missed

Fine Arts Summer Camp: For more information email: oupontiacfineartscamp@gmail.com

Perfect the Parks Day, April 18, flyer, sponsor package


If you have a flyer to share, please email it to: baldwin2@oakland.edu
Contact us
OU/Pontiac Initiative contacts:
Bob Maxfield, maxfiel2@oakland.edu
Diane Baldwin, baldwin2@oakland.edu
Cassandra Barragan, barragan@oakland.edu
Tom Kimble, thomasekimble@aol.com
Jane Bais-DiSessa, jbais-disessa@pontiac.mi.us

Communication interns:
Paige Brockw ay,  prbrockw@oakland.edu
Shaqela Chapman, sgwenchapma@gmail.com