Barbara Sherlock is the Senior Planning and Improvement Associate in the Office of Planning and Institutional Assessment here at Penn State. In this role, she works with groups across the University on activities such as process improvement and strategic planning. She will be working with the student farm initiative in a facilitation and consulting role, and so I asked her to share some thoughts about this project that might help people understand a little more about what will be happening over the next several semesters, before any seeds can go in the ground. I know it seems like a long time out, but the steps she highlights here are important for ensuring we build a student farm that will be loved and sustained for many years to come. And I hope you will get involved in helping make it happen! –Leslie Pillen, Design Coordinator
Setting up the student farm is a project – a series of activities with a specific end point and a specific product. In the case of the student farm, the product and end point of the project is the farm ready to be operational, have the first seeds planted and a crop expected, and opportunities for students to learn.
One way to think of a project is as a four step process. In terms of the student farm, this could be:
- Define the project: What are the boundaries or goals of the student farm – in terms of physical space, educational opportunities, crop production, and product sales? What are the student expectations for the farm? The faculty expectations? What will the staff involvement be?
- Plan the project: What needs to be done, by whom, in what order, at what cost, using what resources? The student farm may have several planning tracks, including:
- Physical design
- Curriculum
- Funding
- Communication and outreach
- Business and operations
- Implement and monitor the plan: Once the questions are answered and decisions made during the planning process, the plan needs to be implemented. It will take time to prepare the land, get the courses and/or minor scheduled for a pilot and approved, receive the necessary funds, and establish the organization to operate the farm. Development and implementation of a communication plan may be an early goal so that information can be shared effectively as the other planning and implementation activities progress. Plans may need to be refined when implementation does not go exactly as expected.
- Complete the project: Once the student farm is ready to go operational, the project will be completed. The last actions of the project will be making sure any needed documentation is provided to those who will be operating the farm, identifying any lessons learned during the planning process, and releasing the resources used during the planning process.
More information about project management can be found in Penn State’s Innovation Insights #24: Project Management: The Basics. –Barbara Sherlock