Policy Fellows 2010-2011 Group Projects

Working in small groups on an important "common good" public policy issue is an integral component of the Policy Fellows program, creating an opportunity for the Fellows to have a policy impact, integrate their experiences and skills, work together closely, and connect with practitioners and policymakers throughout the state. Congratulations to all groups on their excellent work this year.

Fellows' professional and community affiliations are current as of June 2011.

More about the Policy Fellows program

Project Minnesota Waters from Aquatic Invasive Species

AIS Group Photo Thad Hellman, Target Corporation
Anna Lewicki Long, Minnesota Department of Veterans Affairs
Nicole Rom, Will Steger Foundation
Merrie Benasutti, University of Minnesota, Center for Integrative Leadership
Jeff Forester, Minnesota Seasonal Recreational Property Owners Coalition, Inc.
(left to right)

Our project complemented the legislative work of a non governmental organization, Minnesota Seasonal Recreational Property Owners Association, to protect Minnesota lakes from aquatic invasive species. MSRPO, in response to grassroots pressure, decided to push legislation to stop the spread of aquatic invasive species, particularly zebra mussels, in Minnesota. We also sought to educate the public on a solution and promote that solution in a way that would reach the maximum number of people and increase political pressure towards a good conclusion. After researching ways to stop the spread of aquatic invasive species, we decided to get a decontamination station and inspector at the 2011 Governor's Fishing Opener. We worked with the DNR to implement the demonstration. We were able to accomplish our goals by helping to advance a statewide issue. This experience has proven one thing above all others...political power begins with grassroots energy.

For more information, contact Jeff Forester at jeff@msrpo.org.

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Farm-to-School Group Image Mumbi Mwangi, St. Cloud State University
Kelly Lewis, Philanthrofund Foundation
Kashif Saroya, Ecolab, Inc.
Sarah Taylor-Nanista, womenwinning: Minnesota Women's Campaign Fund
Bruce Johnson, Evergreen Angus/Johnson Brothers Partnership
Ellen Gibson, Minnesota Environmental Initiative
(left to right)

Promoting the incorporation of locally grown and sustainably produced food into school meals is powerful tool that has multiple, significant benefits. Positive impacts of farm-to-school programs include combating childhood obesity, promoting healthy living, enhancing learning ability, strengthening local economies, supporting small-scale farm operations, and lessening the environmental footprint of the food production system.

Although the concept of farm-to-school is not new and in fact the number of schools participating has grown in recent years, the potential for expanding access to and participation in farm-to-school programs statewide is vast. In order to explore the factors influencing the success of farm-to-school, we conducted interviews with community partners representing a range of critical perspectives on this issue. Interviews with local food experts, school food service staff, farmers, distributors, state and local government representatives, school administrators and technical assistance providers explored challenges and opportunities related to growing the success of farm-to-school in Minnesota.

The results of these interview conversations were compiled and a scan of relevant reports and publications was completed in order to develop a set of high-level policy recommendations. The group’s findings and recommendations will be shared with a Farm-to-School Leadership Team that has been convened to coordinate statewide farm-to-school policy and also made available to the interviewees and other interested parties.

For more information, contact Ellen Gibson at gibsonel@gmail.com.

Gretchen Agee, University of Minnesota, Carlson School of Management
Holli Arp, University of Minnesota Extension
Kris Fortman, Medtronic Foundation
Bob Intress, Minnesota Army National Guard
Gina Jensen, Minnesota Attorney General's Office
Jeff Meyerhofer, UnitedHealth Group
Amy McDonough, AARP Minnesota
Missing from photo: Sidow Mohammed, University of Minnesota
(left to right)

People are holding "Waiting for Superman Parties," education articles are on the front page of leading newspapers and our Country's achievement gap continues to grow between varying socio-economic groups. Education in America is a big topic. Knowing we could not do justice to overall education reform, our group decided to focus our work on the issue of Teacher Evaluation.

We interviewed several key stakeholders in the community, followed the proposed legislation in Minnesota, and reviewed legislation in other key states. In an effort to get a broader perspective and to better understand the complexities surrounding teacher evaluation, we created a short electronic survey that was sent to superintendents, principals and teachers. We received over 150 responses from educational professionals from districts across the state. Some of the key findings include: (1) almost 70% of the respondents do not think there should be legislation surrounding teacher evaluation; (2) over 80% of respondents do not think Minnesota should require districts to report educator evaluation data alongside student and school performance data; and (3) over 50% of respondents think teacher evaluations should play a role in annual compensation, hiring, firing and rewarding tenure.

We know that teacher evaluation matters because regardless of background, students assigned to great teachers can learn about three times more in one year than those assigned to less effective teachers. We also know that in order to be effective, teacher evaluations need to be structured in a way that makes schools accountable, is fair to teachers, and has dedicated funding from the state. Our goal is to distribute the survey results and summary of our findings to key stakeholders in the community to contribute to the continued discussion surrounding teacher evaluation.

Survey Results

For more information, contact Kris Fortman at kristine.k.fortman@medtronic.com or Holli Arp at arpxx001@umn.edu.

Minnesota Medicaid Group Photo Holly Kastner, Wells Fargo
Sahra Noor, University of Minnesota Medical Center, Fairview
Antonia Apolinario-Wilcoxon, Minnesota Department of Human Services
Lydia Poor, NorthPoint Health & Wellness Center
(left to right)

The project aimed to improve accessibility of Medical Assistance application to Medicaid Eligible Minnesotans. We believed that by making part or all of the application available online, it would reduce overall cost of the application system to the state, especially as the government is expanding the program. In addition, an online process might reduce human capital required to complete and process the applicant thereby decreasing length of time required to approve applications. Streamlining the application process might also improve the rate of reimbursement to hospitals and clinics serving this population, which in turn reduces overall administrative cost of the health care delivery systems.

Project Partners:
Minnesota Department of Human Services
PORTICO
Community Health Centers: Open Cities and North Point
Health Systems
County Representatives

Discussion with Partners:
System design, data, and documentation
Communication and inclusion
Outreach, education, and assistance

Policy Recommendations/Advocacy for New Legislative Initiatives:
Promote online application process
Promote uniformity and consistent interpretation of existing laws and policies
Support creation of systems and policies that allow system interfaces with other data sources (IRS, Social Security, and Citizenship)

For more information, contact Sahra Noor at sahranoor@gmail.com.

Support Model for Artists Group Photo Steve Brunn, Target Corporation
John Drain, U.S. Air Force Reserve/934th Airlift Wing, Minnesota
Megan Leafblad, Minneapolis College of Art & Design
Shawn Schloesser, Office of U.S. Congressman Timothy Walz
(left to right)

In America today, there is a general trend towards decreased funding for the arts. At the same time, we have more students than ever graduating with arts degrees. These individuals can provide significant value to communities, but we need to find a more economically sustainable way of providing support to the arts community.

We decided to focus our efforts on defining a more sustainable model for supporting local visual artists. At the core of this challenge, we recognized that there is a spectrum of options that each artist faces (e.g. from producing art based purely on what the market demands to producing art that is based entirely on artist’s individual inspiration/passion), but every artist must be able to support themselves financially.

While there is a robust and energetic population in the Twin Cities willing to support visual artists, as demonstrated by the annual MCAD art sale, there are relatively few efficient vehicles for facilitating connections between our tremendous artists and the majority of the “art-buying” community. Our research indicated that there is strong demand for local, affordable, original art, but that the existing galleries, studios, art fairs, etc. are not adequately satisfying demand.

Our recommendations represented evolved versions of existing concepts (gallery, art fair/bazaar/flea market, and website). Each of the concepts addresses the varying engagement preferences of art supporters and artists, but each concept emphasizes the value of local, affordable, original art for the masses (i.e. the democratization of the art-buying experience). The concepts address the existing gaps in the market by also being reliable, approachable, community-oriented, educational, accessible, convenient, high-quality, and low-pressure.

For more information, contact Steve Brunn at steven.brunn@gmail.com or Megan Leafblad at mleafblad@gmail.com.

Recidivism Group Photo Midge Christianson, 6W Community Corrections
Mike Duzan, Chaska Police Department
Lisa Borucki Vukelich-Chamuel, Department of Employment and Economic Development, Job Service Division
(left to right)

Our group was interested in a model to help break the cycle of criminal recidivism, which is aggravated by lack of job opportunities for young people with a criminal record. We connected with a group called Teen Challenge to explore and develop a three-part approach that would help address this issue.

The model would work as follows: A list of regional businesspeople, in a position to hire new employees, is generated. These business people are reached via contact with Chambers of Commerce, charitable organizations (Rotary, Lions Club, Kiwanis), churches and etc. These business people might volunteer to join this network and contribute in any number of ways, including: job coaching, internship opportunities, mock interviews, potential employment, and etc. MN Teen Challenge is currently creating a network for this program. Any similar group, in any region, could adopt the same framework to create a program of its own.

For more information, contact Mike Duzan at Mduzan@chaskamn.com.

Social Media Group Photo Bass Zanjani, City of Minneapolis
Kelly Groehler, Best Buy Co., Inc.
Dave Ladd, RDL and Associates LLC
Greg Swanholm, Office of U.S. Senator Amy Klobuchar
(left to right)

Given the demographic changes occurring and the growing influence of social media in various facets of life as well as in the political and issue based campaigns, what would an evidenced based/best practices social media blueprint look like? This question drove us to examine how the intersection of social media and political/issue based campaigns and the utilization of social in campaigns. More importantly, our findings provide a Blueprint or framework for campaigns to draw on in future elections.

Our methodology, beyond the empirical research of available resources, comprised of two sets of focus groups. The first group was key individuals from the three major campaigns of the 2010 Minnesota Gubernatorial Election. These interviews focused on what role social media played within their respective communications strategies. After consolidating these findings, our second focus group included local leaders on the forefront of social media usage from the business, media and political communities who shared their anecdotal impressions of social media trends that have influenced past, present and possibly future campaigns.

These conversations led to our final product – a dynamic framework that can serve as a Blueprint for future candidates to use social media effectively in their campaigns. Some of our preliminary findings include:

Demographic changes necessitate a strong understanding of social media and its effective utilization.
Social Media can play a powerful role in influencing mainstream media coverage.
Social Media levels the playing field between average voters and traditional surrogates.
Like any campaign tool, social media can be used as a tool for engagement or used as a weapon to undercut the opposing side.

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