Workshop Planning Process
This page provides a hypothetical worked example of how a workspace can be used to plan a workshop.
Timeline Goals
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Provenance: Dallas Rhodes and Diane Doser
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- Confirm expectations and negotiate dates/length/focus
Our budget allows for 30 participants and 4 leaders.
Workshop dates will be September 16-18, and we have been confirmed at ABC University for those dates.
Workshop focus: develop a set of best practices and a collection of activities around teaching about risk and resilience using natural disasters and with real data.
- Discuss workshop goals and collect needed information to develop program
Goals of the workshop are to: (1) create a set of undergraduate-level activities that use real data and real-world cases to teach about risk and resilience, (2) bring together a set of educators, policy-makers, and emergency services personnel to share expertise on what is needed to prepare students to make good decisions and for the workforce
- Discuss any needed pre-workshop communications with/among leaders and participants and determine when/how they will happen
- Set up virtual workspace, confirm logistics of workshop (location, internet access, supplies)
- Assign homework and finalize program before workshop
After Application Deadlines
Have SERC staff or a designated leader monitor the application queue. After deadlines, and at other appropriate times, organize a call of among leaders to discuss and approve/deny the applications (this can also be done through email). Designate someone to send out acceptance notices with any preliminary information available.
Following Acceptance
Acceptance notifications are sent. Facilitators are found for each new workshop and initial contact is made with the workshop host. See the communications guide for more information on workshop planning.
Program Leadership responsibilities
- Krista H. will send acceptance emails to inform local host at department/program/course that they have been selected for a workshop as soon as possible after selection process is completed. There are two versions of the acceptance email, one for applicants who requested supplemental funding, and one for applicants who did not. Program Leads and Amy C. should be copied on this email.
- The three Leads will work together to find two facilitators for each of the approved workshops (at least one leader should have traveling workshop experience). That information is shared back with Amy C. and Mitchell A.
- The Lead for a particular workshop will introduce the facilitator team to workshop contact.
SERC Web Team's responsibilities
Facilitator team's responsibilities
- Review application and department website.
- Identify key questions for the department (Microsoft Word 2007 (.docx) PRIVATE FILE 15kB Aug1 14) that will help focus the workshop
- Schedule and hold a conference call with the local host of department/program/course to:
- Discuss key questions provided by the facilitators
- Begin negotiations about workshop dates, length and focus
2-3 months ahead of workshop:
Workshop dates, length and focus should be determined at this point. Work continues on specific agenda items, gathering department/program/courses information and determining attendance.
Facilitator team's responsibilities
- Gather the following information from the host:
- Required:
- Employment history
- Department and university mission statement
- Participant names and email addresses
- Recommended:
- Enrollments
- Most recent self-study
- Continue negotiations over workshop agenda with host(s)
- Use second set of questions (Microsoft Word 2007 (.docx) PRIVATE FILE 16kB Aug1 14) to help host(s) plan the workshop
- Use example agendas (1 day, 1.5 days, 2 days) as starting points. May include:
- Field trip
- Social event (potluck dinner or other meal)
- Meeting with students
- Meeting with Dean, Provost, or other administrator
- Communicate the agreed upon workshop length and sessions to the SERC Web Team member (Mitchell)
- Share draft letter (Microsoft Word 2007 (.docx) PRIVATE FILE 59kB Aug1 14) to faculty with host(s) that introduces program, and can contain homework assignments (Ideal Student letter, Characteristics of Thriving Departments Inventory, etc.)
- Ensure host makes arrangements for workshop space, time, internet access, supplies, etc.
- Suggest moving the workshop out of the department space to increase participant engagement during the workshop, if appropriate.
- Help hosts(s) determine who, besides faculty, needs to be at the workshop for it to be successful. Others might include:
- adjunct faculty
- faculty with joint appointments from another department
- lecturers
- technicians
- appropriate associate dean
- administrative assistant
SERC Web Team's responsibilities
- Copy over template pages for the sessions that will be run. This would include the session page, the session work page, and potentially small group work pages.
- Set up Community/Event/Access Group for the workshop to accept workshop participants.
- Add access group to TWP participants aggregate group
3-4 weeks ahead:
The draft workshop agenda should be settled at this point. Work continues to get the agenda finalized and the workspace completed.
Facilitator team's responsibilities
- Revise blank agenda page to reflect agreed-upon schedule
- Be sure to build in adequate time for the end of workshop evaluations (with a buffer, because other things will run over time)
- An effective strategy we've used in other workshops is to include time toward the end of the workshop for a reflective discussion of what we've learned and what the next steps are. See the June workshop program page for an example; we scheduled an hour for a wrap-up discussion on lessons learned and recommendations plus the end of workshop evaluations.
- Also be sure to build in adequate time for action planning. It tends to take longer than we to think, and we don't want to have to choose between end of workshop evaluations and action planning. As an example, at the June workshop (2 days) we introduced the action planning document at the end of the first day and gave participants the entire second afternoon (including a working lunch) to work on their action plans.
- Have a conference call with one or two department members to discuss the draft agenda
- Consider using screensharing for this call, particularly if you want to be able to look at documents or web resources together during the call, or if you think there is any chance you'll be using it for part of the workshop
- Use this conversation to figure out whether there is any additional information (or supporting documents) you'd like from the department
- Also share with the host at this time a list of what we've learned about what makes these workshops successful:
- Sharing the finalized agenda with the whole department, letting them know in advance what to expect and what you are hoping to help them accomplish
- Finding out when various department members will have to "step out" of the workshop to attend to other business, so that the parts of the workshop that are most critical can be scheduled for maximum attendance/participation
- Building into the schedule adequate time for sharing the results of small group discussions, building consensus, and reflection (individually and as a group)
- Flesh out the implementation pages with the appropriate session workpages
- Grant workspace access to department leads so they can view the draft agenda
- Populate the community/access group with workshop participants: EITHER via a registration page for open workshops OR by obtaining the list of email addresses of participants for closed workshops.
- Finalize the program for the workshop and alert SERC Web Team
- upload your presentations to the agenda page
- Send an email all participants
- Introduce yourself
- Briefly describe the visiting workshop program
- Instruct participants to create SERC accounts
- Example Text:
In order to access the materials for the workshop, you will need to create an account on the SERC website. Just go to
http://serc.carleton.edu/account
and complete the 4 or 5 fields there to create a new account. NOTE: Be sure to use the email address where you received this email because that is what the system is expecting for you.
When you have created your account, you can check to be sure that everything is set up correctly by accessing the private workspace for the workshop at
URL FOR THE WORKSHOP
If you get to the workshop program, you are all set. If you get a message that you don't have access, please contact WEBTEAM MEMBER (WEBTEAM EMAIL) to have them resolve the issue.
- Share the agenda
- Ask participants to let you know if they will have to be absent for any portions of the workshop so that you can adjust the agenda if necessary
- Include any homework assignments (or let them know what it will be and when they can expect it)
- Ensure workspace access for the participants prior to Facilitators sending email so that participants can access the workspace.
- Troubleshoot access issues for participants.
- Double-check the agenda page for appropriate uploads and working pages, assist facilitator team as needed
- Exchange all presentations and handouts with one another, just in case. Consider also sending them to the department chair.
- Print and bring paper copies of the end of workshop evaluation form and the action planning handout, if internet access is likely to be spotty.
- Send a note to all participants
- Remind participants about the need for SERC accounts.
- Check to see if everyone has made SERC accounts. If not, either email them individually to create one or be in contact with facilitators to decide course of action.
- Troubleshoot access issues for participants.
- Triple-check the agenda page for appropriate uploads and working pages.
- Check privs access to files in workspace.
- Answer the following questions as a workshop summary:
- Overall, how did the workshop go?
- Please provide a participant headcount, if possible.
- What were the major things that seemed to help participants?
- What do you anticipate will be the effect of this workshop on the department? On the participants?
- What would you do differently next time?
- What did you need that you didn't have?
- Any other suggestions for moving forward?
- Send workshop summary to the email list
- If there were issues or realizations at the workshop that all workshop leaders should be aware of, please make sure you add notes to the facilitators' workspace. If you are not sure where best to add your note (or change), please work with the SERC Web Team.
- Send a thank-you message to the participants with a reminder about the End-of-Workshop Evaluation
SERC Staff's responsibilities
- Let Amy know that the workshop has occurred
- Send a follow-up reminder about the End-of-Workshop Evaluation
- Anonymize end of workshop evaluation results
- Post workshop summary, workshop roadcheck, and end of workshop evaluation on the Workshop Reports page
- Copy entry from the By Date report page to By Theme report page
Show Management Team responsibilities
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