Working With the Advisory Group

The Advisory Group's initial role was to oversee VVAA's development, make policy recommendations, and focus on adoption and implementation issues as well as quality control.

Potential members of the VVAA Advisory Group responded enthusiastically to the invitation to serve when they learned numerous colleagues had identified them as ideal members through the questionnaire, interviews, and 1-day collaborative planning meeting. The training coordinator asked the VVAA Advisory Group members to commit to two to three meetings over the course of a year for a total of 3 years. Group members were asked to attend themselves and not to delegate the membership. The Advisory Group convened on June 21, 2001, 4 months after the 1-day collaborative planning meeting. Before the first meeting, members were sent orientation packets to review so as to make the best use of the meeting time. They were asked to bring their thoughts, suggestions, and advice on specific questions related to the materials. The packet of materials included the project's working mission statement, drafts of training principles, a draft action plan, structural and governance decisions made at the collaborative planning meeting that included the working subcommittees, and their work product to date. They were also provided a list of potential suggested trainers and the plan for "Behind the Curtain of the Great Oz" Training of Trainers and Gathering of Trainers.

At the meeting, the Advisory Group determined its focus would be to oversee the academy development, initially recommend policy, and focus on adoption and implementation issues and quality control. After the implementation phase, the role of the group would be revisited. After the focus was determined, group members proceeded to discuss and give advice related to the material in the premeeting packet. They also gave their comments on the training coordinator's plans for revising the NVAA text to make it relevant to Vermont and presented ideas for a brochure.

The training coordinator asked each member to serve as a champion for the project and its goals, becoming the contact person for recruiting participants from within his or her discipline. Other meetings of the Advisory Group were conducted in a similar manner. There were specific tasks based on the training coordinator's groundwork that needed direction and response. (The training coordinator's title was changed to VVAA development coordinator.) Courtesies such as reminder e-mails and phone calls, as well as thoroughly planned meetings, went a long way toward sustaining participation. As champions for the academy project, Advisory Group members presented the project to their departments or agencies and secured the names of participants for both the pilot project and the ongoing academy.

The Advisory Group had several marketing ideas. The first was to hold a mini version of the training for agency heads or local nonprofits. The group also suggested that the development coordinator introduce the project through short presentations at the Governor's Criminal Justice Cabinet meetings and to the Governor's Council on Domestic Violence and local Domestic Violence Task Forces. In addition, the group suggested that the development coordinator explore Dr. Jane Vella's training, "Seven Steps of Design," as its specific adult learning design methods would complement the "Ultimate Trainer," an OVC training curriculum. Dr. Vella's professional training, Evaluation by Design, with its Accountability Planner, helps design sessions so that trainers and participants can immediately assess whether they are learning. Some 3 to 4 months later, followup surveys can be used to measure transfer of the learning into the field. Long-term impact can be measured by comparing data from victim/survivor surveys over time.

The Advisory Group also suggested that the first VVAA be offered as a pilot session to respected, experienced members of the field and to frontline workers. Following this advice, the development coordinator informed the pilot participants that they were invited as colleagues to guide the work. The assessments at the end of each module were far more indepth than at the regular academy. Individual invitations were sent to pilot participants, along with separate reminders that emphasized how their experience would strengthen the project. Obvious changes to the design were made based on the pilot participants' feedback. The use of feedback from experienced stakeholders in a pilot project made the VVAA's commitment to collaboration and respectful power dynamics even more credible. The experience also impressed pilot participants enough to engender their colleagues' interest in the project.




Contents               


Building a State Victim Assistance Academy—Vermont's Experience
April 2008