There are multiple ways that this could go but we are going to discuss a few options here to get the ball rolling.
To start; this organization could start without property and just offer services. It could act as an educational organization without roots.
As the program gather support and success the organization can begin to define it's needs and desires in seeking a home and/or training facilities. While defining it's desires for a main campus the orgnaization can seek to aquire smaller parcels or tracts of land to use as training facilities and education/business hubs. These should be at minimum 10 to 20 acres so as to facilitate groups rather than small numbers of individuals.
This or these initial hubs should be developed properly before moving to develope a main campus although the organization should spend some time and energy figuring out what it wants and why; develope a good plan and public relations campaign, and constantly seek out supporters.
This/these intial hub(s) should be developed into facilities that will be able to operate semi-atuonomously from the main campus after it is built. Although they should intially be developed for multi puropse use they should also be designed to transform smoothly into a facility with a certain set of specialties (whatever those may be).
Main campus should seek to piece together as large of a tract of land as possible. 250 acres at minimum although 1000+ would give the organization breathing space to grow into. This main campus will become it's own flourishing community and the facilities should be planned similar to the way intentional communities and cities are planed. It is not just a school and it is not just a suburb. This campus community will operate like a city but rolled into one administration. Each department could operate as the "agency" in charge of providing the best quality services to their community (housing, health, food, etc. services).
Just a rough outline but there are more details to each step. More to come.
Thursday, July 05, 2012
Wednesday, June 13, 2012
Cooperative Learning at the Academy
Cascadia: The Cascadia Bioregion encompasses all or portions of Washington, Oregon, Idaho, California, Nevada, Wyoming, Montana, Alaska, British Columbia, and Alberta. Bioregions are geographically based areas defined by land or soil composition, watershed, climate, flora, and fauna. The Cascadia Bioregion claims the entire watershed of the Columbia River (as far as the Continental Divide), as well as the Cascade Range from Northern California well into Canada.
Academy: A place of study or training in a special field
Cooperative Learning: A process that involves students working in teams to accomplish a common goal, under conditions that promote positive interdependance, individual accountability, face-to-face interaction, appropriate use of collaborative skills, and group processing.
Service Learning: Service learning is defined as a “course-based, credit-bearing educational experience in which students (a) participate in an organized service activity that meets identified community needs and (b) reflect on the service activity in such a way as to gain further understanding of course content, a broader appreciation of the discipline, and an enhanced sense of civic responsibility”
Initiative: The ability to assess and initiate things independently, the power or opportunity to act or take charge before others do, an act or strategy intended to resolve a difficulty or improve a situation; a fresh approach to something.
These definitions could shed some light on the intent of this project as they embody much of what the Academy will stand for and work towards. Student academic workload will be divided between three main fields; emergency response, campus operations, and their own field of study. By splitting the workload between cooperative learning and facilitated independant study it is our hope to create a fertile learning environment that gives to students as much as it asks from them. It is our goal to create an experience which teaches the value of community as well as the individual.
While the faculty and staff body will operate as emergency response coordinators and emergency response support staff; visiting faculty will provide support for the independanct acadmic study portion with key pre-requisite courses being taught by permanent or semi permanent faculty of an academic, rather than emergency response or campus services, nature. We seek to establish a strong collaborative relationship with regional colleges and universities to provide By seeking sponsorship from regionally located universities in the form of visiting faculty we will be able to provide a richer learning environment at minimal cost while providing an excellent public relations opportunity to Colleges and Universities which do not feel they have the ability or resources to manage their own Student Emergency Response Scholorship Programs. Their desire to support such a powerful initiative is easily fulfilled by providing one or more faculty for our academic program and we are confident that there are many faculty throughout the region who would eagerly jump at the opportunity to support us.
Through intensive group learning via our Emergency Response and Campus Operations programs we seek to build our students professional and interperonal skills while providing real world, resume worthy work experiences. Our facilitated independant study program will focus on the interests and desires of each student. By supporting the academic interests of each student individually it is our hope that students will exhibit greater vigor and drive in their pursuit of acadmic growth. Our Academy seeks to teach our students that each individual depends on their community and that each community depends on it's individuals. Through this unique acadmic program we provide our students, staff, and faculty with the chance to not just teach or learn something but to live the something they are teaching or learning.
Undergraduate students will pursue 12 credits per quarter, 4 quarters a year. 3 credits for emergency services and training, 3 credits for campus operations services and training, and 6 credits of independant academic learning. It is our hope that graduate students will make up our emergency services staff as well as academic support staff. Campus and emergency services support staff could consist of our culinary program, business program, and/or a shorter term program at the school made up of technical programs or some other group at the acadmey (this is yet to be decided).
It would be in our interest to build a large guest faculty program with faculty from regional colleges and univsersities as well as a robust part-time and volunteer faculty program made up of retired and semi retired instructors and professors.
More to come.
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
http://www.cascadianow.org/cascadia-bioregionalism/
http://drsticks.com/Edcational_Definitions.html
http://www.iupui.edu/~solctr/internship-assistance/getting-started/glossary-of-experiential-education-terms/
https://www.google.com/search?sourceid=ie7&q=define+inititative&rls=com.microsoft:en-us:IE-Address&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&rlz=1I7ADFA_en#hl=en&sa=X&pwst=1&rls=com.microsoft:en-us:IE-Address&rlz=1I7ADFA_en&q=initiative&tbs=dfn:1&tbo=u&ei=jPfYT8iNK4bYigfT8cSzAw&ved=0CGIQkQ4&bav=on.2,or.r_gc.r_pw.r_cp.r_qf.,cf.osb&fp=d7feccefbee245af&biw=1366&bih=628
Academy: A place of study or training in a special field
Cooperative Learning: A process that involves students working in teams to accomplish a common goal, under conditions that promote positive interdependance, individual accountability, face-to-face interaction, appropriate use of collaborative skills, and group processing.
Service Learning: Service learning is defined as a “course-based, credit-bearing educational experience in which students (a) participate in an organized service activity that meets identified community needs and (b) reflect on the service activity in such a way as to gain further understanding of course content, a broader appreciation of the discipline, and an enhanced sense of civic responsibility”
Initiative: The ability to assess and initiate things independently, the power or opportunity to act or take charge before others do, an act or strategy intended to resolve a difficulty or improve a situation; a fresh approach to something.
These definitions could shed some light on the intent of this project as they embody much of what the Academy will stand for and work towards. Student academic workload will be divided between three main fields; emergency response, campus operations, and their own field of study. By splitting the workload between cooperative learning and facilitated independant study it is our hope to create a fertile learning environment that gives to students as much as it asks from them. It is our goal to create an experience which teaches the value of community as well as the individual.
While the faculty and staff body will operate as emergency response coordinators and emergency response support staff; visiting faculty will provide support for the independanct acadmic study portion with key pre-requisite courses being taught by permanent or semi permanent faculty of an academic, rather than emergency response or campus services, nature. We seek to establish a strong collaborative relationship with regional colleges and universities to provide By seeking sponsorship from regionally located universities in the form of visiting faculty we will be able to provide a richer learning environment at minimal cost while providing an excellent public relations opportunity to Colleges and Universities which do not feel they have the ability or resources to manage their own Student Emergency Response Scholorship Programs. Their desire to support such a powerful initiative is easily fulfilled by providing one or more faculty for our academic program and we are confident that there are many faculty throughout the region who would eagerly jump at the opportunity to support us.
Through intensive group learning via our Emergency Response and Campus Operations programs we seek to build our students professional and interperonal skills while providing real world, resume worthy work experiences. Our facilitated independant study program will focus on the interests and desires of each student. By supporting the academic interests of each student individually it is our hope that students will exhibit greater vigor and drive in their pursuit of acadmic growth. Our Academy seeks to teach our students that each individual depends on their community and that each community depends on it's individuals. Through this unique acadmic program we provide our students, staff, and faculty with the chance to not just teach or learn something but to live the something they are teaching or learning.
Undergraduate students will pursue 12 credits per quarter, 4 quarters a year. 3 credits for emergency services and training, 3 credits for campus operations services and training, and 6 credits of independant academic learning. It is our hope that graduate students will make up our emergency services staff as well as academic support staff. Campus and emergency services support staff could consist of our culinary program, business program, and/or a shorter term program at the school made up of technical programs or some other group at the acadmey (this is yet to be decided).
It would be in our interest to build a large guest faculty program with faculty from regional colleges and univsersities as well as a robust part-time and volunteer faculty program made up of retired and semi retired instructors and professors.
More to come.
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
http://www.cascadianow.org/cascadia-bioregionalism/
http://drsticks.com/Edcational_Definitions.html
http://www.iupui.edu/~solctr/internship-assistance/getting-started/glossary-of-experiential-education-terms/
https://www.google.com/search?sourceid=ie7&q=define+inititative&rls=com.microsoft:en-us:IE-Address&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&rlz=1I7ADFA_en#hl=en&sa=X&pwst=1&rls=com.microsoft:en-us:IE-Address&rlz=1I7ADFA_en&q=initiative&tbs=dfn:1&tbo=u&ei=jPfYT8iNK4bYigfT8cSzAw&ved=0CGIQkQ4&bav=on.2,or.r_gc.r_pw.r_cp.r_qf.,cf.osb&fp=d7feccefbee245af&biw=1366&bih=628
Wednesday, June 06, 2012
Medical Services and Emergency Medical Support
Medical;
It is our goal to develop an inter organizational medical department that operates not only as a training program but also as a medical clinic and medical emergency response facility.
It is our mission to partner with organizations such as University Medical Departments, Charity Medical Services Organizations, Emergency Medical Services organizations such as the Red Cross, Retired Medical Professionals, and international relief organizations such as Ox Fam International, Doctors without Borders, and the United Nations. Through these partnerships we seek to build a medical program that offers full medical services to our faculty, staff, and students as well as charity medical services to communities around our campus. Our medical program will also act as our Emergency, Search, and Rescue and Disaster Response medical team; offering emergency medical services and support for our Emergency response operations.
It is our goal to provide room, board, and supplementary medical services to retired medical professionals in exchange for part type employment within our medical program; these retired professionals would work in their field of experience such as Medical support staff, medical clerical staff, nurses, doctors, dentists, eye doctors, as well as retired first responders such as firefighters and EMT's.
Our operational staff would be composed of recent college medical graduates and medical professionals seeking fresh opportunities. It is our hope to be able to provide student loan payment deferments for those enrolled in our medical program. This program will give these members of our community priceless experience in emergency medicine and charity medical work. This program will prepare these individuals for their professional futures in medicine whether at a traditional medical facility, charity medical services, or international medical relief operations.
Our program will offer clinical and emergency field operations experience to our medical staff in a unique learning environment. Our medical program will operate a high quality and versatile charity medical services and training program as well as an emergency medical services program for Emergency, Search, and Rescue and Disaster Response/Relief operations conducted by our response teams.
This program will seek to offer an experience unlike any other; if you became a medical professional to help people, we want to facilitate your dream.
This program will seek to reduce as much of the stress load that comes with traditional work in the medical field by providing substantial support staff to our medical professionals. We also seek to build a robust team of medical professionals that are able to share the load of patients efficiently enough to prevent patient saturation and burnout from an over sized workload.
So; How large would our medical department need to be to provide care for 1,000 students, staff, and faculty? What equipment and facilities would we need for clinical and emergency field operations? What will be our care limit (will we be involved in day surgery? surgery? ICU care? Hospice care? etc.) What will be our basic services? What will our staff need to be to not only provide medical services to our campus community but also the surrounding community and emergency services operations? What will be our maximum number of patients from our site our campus community?
Will we be able to establish a scholarship program that provides a medical scholarship for a student studying medicine for every two medical professionals who serve in our medical program? This would be a wonderful program that would offer something of value to those serving in our medical program (since these people will be serving after having completed their educations?). OR will it be more appropriate for us to create a student loan payment plan for those serving in our program? Would it be better to offer both so as to create options for those who choose to commit themselves to our cause?
It is our goal to develop an inter organizational medical department that operates not only as a training program but also as a medical clinic and medical emergency response facility.
It is our mission to partner with organizations such as University Medical Departments, Charity Medical Services Organizations, Emergency Medical Services organizations such as the Red Cross, Retired Medical Professionals, and international relief organizations such as Ox Fam International, Doctors without Borders, and the United Nations. Through these partnerships we seek to build a medical program that offers full medical services to our faculty, staff, and students as well as charity medical services to communities around our campus. Our medical program will also act as our Emergency, Search, and Rescue and Disaster Response medical team; offering emergency medical services and support for our Emergency response operations.
It is our goal to provide room, board, and supplementary medical services to retired medical professionals in exchange for part type employment within our medical program; these retired professionals would work in their field of experience such as Medical support staff, medical clerical staff, nurses, doctors, dentists, eye doctors, as well as retired first responders such as firefighters and EMT's.
Our operational staff would be composed of recent college medical graduates and medical professionals seeking fresh opportunities. It is our hope to be able to provide student loan payment deferments for those enrolled in our medical program. This program will give these members of our community priceless experience in emergency medicine and charity medical work. This program will prepare these individuals for their professional futures in medicine whether at a traditional medical facility, charity medical services, or international medical relief operations.
Our program will offer clinical and emergency field operations experience to our medical staff in a unique learning environment. Our medical program will operate a high quality and versatile charity medical services and training program as well as an emergency medical services program for Emergency, Search, and Rescue and Disaster Response/Relief operations conducted by our response teams.
This program will seek to offer an experience unlike any other; if you became a medical professional to help people, we want to facilitate your dream.
This program will seek to reduce as much of the stress load that comes with traditional work in the medical field by providing substantial support staff to our medical professionals. We also seek to build a robust team of medical professionals that are able to share the load of patients efficiently enough to prevent patient saturation and burnout from an over sized workload.
So; How large would our medical department need to be to provide care for 1,000 students, staff, and faculty? What equipment and facilities would we need for clinical and emergency field operations? What will be our care limit (will we be involved in day surgery? surgery? ICU care? Hospice care? etc.) What will be our basic services? What will our staff need to be to not only provide medical services to our campus community but also the surrounding community and emergency services operations? What will be our maximum number of patients from our site our campus community?
Will we be able to establish a scholarship program that provides a medical scholarship for a student studying medicine for every two medical professionals who serve in our medical program? This would be a wonderful program that would offer something of value to those serving in our medical program (since these people will be serving after having completed their educations?). OR will it be more appropriate for us to create a student loan payment plan for those serving in our program? Would it be better to offer both so as to create options for those who choose to commit themselves to our cause?
Tuesday, June 05, 2012
Classification, Funding, Life on Campus
Is this a public or private institution?
This will be a private institution that will work to partner with public entities for funding in exchange for services. Services will by rendered by the campus community in the form of structured internships (where staff/faculty and students work in their respective fields of study). These internships will be allotted to sponsoring institutions, organizations, or agencies. Our institution will also provide regional Emergency Search and Rescue and Disaster Response services.
Funding; where does it come from?
We seek to field a diverse team of committed sponsors from fields such as; private and public education, health and medical services, emergency management and response agencies (i.e. Fire Departments, Police Departments, FEMA, State Emergency Management Departments, the Red Cross, Armed Forces, etc.), Agricultural and Ecology Departments and Organizations (Dept. of Ag, Forest Service, Park Service, Dept. of Ecology, Fish and Wildlife), Non-profits of many types (United Way, Boys and Girls Club, YMCA, the Red Cross, the United Nations, etc.) and religious organizations who seek to partner with interfaith organizations. We will also seek sponsors such as private individuals, endowment funds, and philanthropic organizations such as the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation.
Although the structure for sponsorship is yet to be determined there are certain criteria that will need to be met; Sponsors must agree to fund our organization within it's operational region, sponsors will be offered a package that will be non-negotiable (although there will be a variety of sponsorship packages), high level sponsors will be offered a package that provides them an ability to influence the program (in part), it's mission, or scope for the duration of their sponsorship (these are multi million dollar sponsors who, through their substantial financial, professional, and social contributions make our mission achievable), sponsorship packages will include multi year commitments (1, 3, 5, 10), sponsors must fit the values of our organization and support the spirit of our mission, sponsorship packages will be offered with a variety of terms for contribution such as; finances, services, equipment, or property, sponsors will receive promotion of their contributions to our mission as well as a team of interns for the duration of their sponsorship.
It is our hope to fund this University through grants, endowments, sponsorships, and money from additional services offered by our campus community (such as trainings for emergency response and first aid, consultation, contract services, etc.). It is our goal to diversify our funding as much as possible to keep ourselves insulated from the inevitable shifts in funding sources and levels.
Where does the money go?
Funds will be used to maintain a deployment ready response unit of up to 1,000 individuals. Of these 750 will be students with the remaining 250 divided between campus staff and faculty. These funds will also cover the operation of our campus infrastructure and academic program as well as our contract services department (which covers our for-profit activities such as client centered Emergency Response trainings, construction projects, land management services, etc.). Funds will also cover room, board, and health insurance for students, staff, and faculty.
What is life like on campus?
Campus life will be drastically different than the lives that most of us lead in today's world. Professional and Academic demands will be rigorous, especially freshman and sophomore years as students gain and hone their emergency response skills. While being enrolled Full-Time students will also undertake Emergency Response Trainings and remain an active participant in our Emergency Search and Rescue and Disaster Response Unit. When you have downtime, however, it is all yours. We will seek to create a rich living environment with a wide array of resources for campus community members to utilize in order to balance the loss of substantial, private, disposable income that would normally come from students working off-campus jobs. It will be our duty to create a community of abundance instead of scarcity so that our campus quality of life either meets or exceeds that of off campus communities.
This will be a private institution that will work to partner with public entities for funding in exchange for services. Services will by rendered by the campus community in the form of structured internships (where staff/faculty and students work in their respective fields of study). These internships will be allotted to sponsoring institutions, organizations, or agencies. Our institution will also provide regional Emergency Search and Rescue and Disaster Response services.
Funding; where does it come from?
We seek to field a diverse team of committed sponsors from fields such as; private and public education, health and medical services, emergency management and response agencies (i.e. Fire Departments, Police Departments, FEMA, State Emergency Management Departments, the Red Cross, Armed Forces, etc.), Agricultural and Ecology Departments and Organizations (Dept. of Ag, Forest Service, Park Service, Dept. of Ecology, Fish and Wildlife), Non-profits of many types (United Way, Boys and Girls Club, YMCA, the Red Cross, the United Nations, etc.) and religious organizations who seek to partner with interfaith organizations. We will also seek sponsors such as private individuals, endowment funds, and philanthropic organizations such as the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation.
Although the structure for sponsorship is yet to be determined there are certain criteria that will need to be met; Sponsors must agree to fund our organization within it's operational region, sponsors will be offered a package that will be non-negotiable (although there will be a variety of sponsorship packages), high level sponsors will be offered a package that provides them an ability to influence the program (in part), it's mission, or scope for the duration of their sponsorship (these are multi million dollar sponsors who, through their substantial financial, professional, and social contributions make our mission achievable), sponsorship packages will include multi year commitments (1, 3, 5, 10), sponsors must fit the values of our organization and support the spirit of our mission, sponsorship packages will be offered with a variety of terms for contribution such as; finances, services, equipment, or property, sponsors will receive promotion of their contributions to our mission as well as a team of interns for the duration of their sponsorship.
It is our hope to fund this University through grants, endowments, sponsorships, and money from additional services offered by our campus community (such as trainings for emergency response and first aid, consultation, contract services, etc.). It is our goal to diversify our funding as much as possible to keep ourselves insulated from the inevitable shifts in funding sources and levels.
Where does the money go?
Funds will be used to maintain a deployment ready response unit of up to 1,000 individuals. Of these 750 will be students with the remaining 250 divided between campus staff and faculty. These funds will also cover the operation of our campus infrastructure and academic program as well as our contract services department (which covers our for-profit activities such as client centered Emergency Response trainings, construction projects, land management services, etc.). Funds will also cover room, board, and health insurance for students, staff, and faculty.
What is life like on campus?
Campus life will be drastically different than the lives that most of us lead in today's world. Professional and Academic demands will be rigorous, especially freshman and sophomore years as students gain and hone their emergency response skills. While being enrolled Full-Time students will also undertake Emergency Response Trainings and remain an active participant in our Emergency Search and Rescue and Disaster Response Unit. When you have downtime, however, it is all yours. We will seek to create a rich living environment with a wide array of resources for campus community members to utilize in order to balance the loss of substantial, private, disposable income that would normally come from students working off-campus jobs. It will be our duty to create a community of abundance instead of scarcity so that our campus quality of life either meets or exceeds that of off campus communities.
Monday, June 04, 2012
We begin writing today...
This project is as yet UN-NAMED.
This project is intended to create a full ride scholarship program for students who commit to 4 years of Emergency Search and Rescue/Disaster Response.
In exchange for room, board, training, and tuition (with a possibility of having a small stipend) students will commit to year round-on call emergency response (under an as yet undeveloped structure).
In order to make it into the school, each student must successfully complete their "boot camp" during which time they will become; capable of unit cohesion during field operations/responses through effective communication and command structure, hazard materials certified, wilderness first responder certified, emergency search and rescue certified, wilderness fire fighter certified, life guard certified, CPR certified, and outdoors/survival skill certified.
These student will undergo a 10-12 week "boot camp" during which they will become successfully trained in all of the above. Without doing so they will be unable to enter into their academic class.
Upon completion of "boot camp" students will be given a room of their own, they will choose their educational department, and enter into their schooling.
Student will complete 12 credits a quarter + 4 credits a quarter worth of work at the school (this will ensure that the school always has more than enough staff to operate smoothly. Students seeking a BS or BA will serve 4 years while a person seeking a Dual BS/BA will serve 5.
3 credits will be their emergency response, 3 credits will be field internship in their field of study, and 6 credits of independent learning in their field of choice.
Students will attend class all year (4 quarters)
Faculty will be field leads.
ALL faculty, staff, and students will live on Campus. This is essential to our effectiveness as an emergency response unit.
Our 1 weekend a month/two weeks a year will focus mostly on providing trainings for programs, schools, and adolescent youth. This will help the school generate funding as well as providing a richer learning and professional development environment for our students.
This project is intended to create a full ride scholarship program for students who commit to 4 years of Emergency Search and Rescue/Disaster Response.
In exchange for room, board, training, and tuition (with a possibility of having a small stipend) students will commit to year round-on call emergency response (under an as yet undeveloped structure).
In order to make it into the school, each student must successfully complete their "boot camp" during which time they will become; capable of unit cohesion during field operations/responses through effective communication and command structure, hazard materials certified, wilderness first responder certified, emergency search and rescue certified, wilderness fire fighter certified, life guard certified, CPR certified, and outdoors/survival skill certified.
These student will undergo a 10-12 week "boot camp" during which they will become successfully trained in all of the above. Without doing so they will be unable to enter into their academic class.
Upon completion of "boot camp" students will be given a room of their own, they will choose their educational department, and enter into their schooling.
Student will complete 12 credits a quarter + 4 credits a quarter worth of work at the school (this will ensure that the school always has more than enough staff to operate smoothly. Students seeking a BS or BA will serve 4 years while a person seeking a Dual BS/BA will serve 5.
3 credits will be their emergency response, 3 credits will be field internship in their field of study, and 6 credits of independent learning in their field of choice.
Students will attend class all year (4 quarters)
Faculty will be field leads.
ALL faculty, staff, and students will live on Campus. This is essential to our effectiveness as an emergency response unit.
Our 1 weekend a month/two weeks a year will focus mostly on providing trainings for programs, schools, and adolescent youth. This will help the school generate funding as well as providing a richer learning and professional development environment for our students.
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