Welcome to our team. We are pleased that you have agreed to be a local site facilitator. You may have some questions about your role and responsibilities. To help answer these questions and to make your job easier, we’ve prepared several tools – some lists of potential collaborators, a facilitator’s guide with a timeline of steps to hosting a program, and several promotional pieces.
 
You’ll find:
lists of potential site locations
lists of potential program participants
cover letter to potential participants
newsletter articles
newsreleases/PSAs
brochure
poster
local site facilitators guide
 
Those sites paying an additional fee to receive materials in a hard copy can watch for those about mid October. In the meantime, feel free to e-mail Mary Brintnall-Peterson at: brintnall-peterson@admin.uwex.edu if you have specific questions not answered here.
 
How do I find downlink sites in my state?
 
If you have already agreed to be a local site facilitator then you may already know of satellite down-link facilities. If not, networking is the key. If you are unaware of satellite downlink facilities in your community, consider the following. You may also want to visit with your state contact. Besides a satellite dish, you’ll need classroom or meeting room space accessible to and comfortable for potential participants. This web page also has suggestions on what sort of facilities you may need to consider in the Site Facilitators Guide. If facilities are not free, you can include these costs in a charge to participants or ask an organization or another funder to help sponsor the program.
 
What organizations and agencies may have satellite equipment and be a potential down-link site?
 
Satellite video conferences are becoming fairly common, even in some rural locations. Consider these locations and/or sponsors as potential video conference sites:
 
1. Cooperative Extension Offices - almost every county in the nation has an office, many with satellite dishes and capabilities for downlinking video conferences. If the office does not have downlink capabilities, extension personnel may know of nearby organizations that do.
2. Community and technical colleges
3. Two or four-year universities or colleges
4. Local school systems – even rural school districts have satellite dishes as a way of bringing teachers and programs to small classes.
5. Local television stations may downlink this as a public service
6. Many public and non-profit organizations and large businesses have satellite dishes to downlink training programs for their employees and may provide the technology as a local public service. Possible partners include: your local chapter of the American Red Cross, United Way, or national chain stores that may have a downlink.
7. Hospitals and health care facilities.
 
Do I have to facilitate this by myself? Who can help me?
 
Many of the agencies listed below have persons who facilitate various educational programs and some may have experience hosting satellite programs who can partner with you.
 
Do I need a local advisory committee?
 
A local advisory committee is not required but it can be useful to help you reach more people, increase your credibility about the topic of grandparents raising grandchildren, help you facilitate conference discussion and other roles, identify local panel persons, establish networks, and carry on the programming introduced in the satellite by initiating and implementing on-going programs. Consider asking three or four persons from the list of potential participants who are well connected in the community regarding grandparents raising grandchildren or related issues.
 
To whom should I promote this program?
 
The topic of grandparents raising grandchildren is of interest to a wide variety of professionals who may be concerned about the well-being of grandparents and/or grandchildren. Agencies and organizations to consider:
 
Area Agencies on Aging
Local Aging offices – including Benefits Coordinators
Senior citizen centers
Headstart
AARP Chapters
Social services agencies
Churches
"Retired" groups such as local chapters of retired teachers, retired human services professionals, and other retired professional groups within your community.
Persons in school systems – teachers, day care providers, counselors, social workers
Social workers
Clergy
Teachers
Health care workers - public health persons, pediatricians, or providers of care to grandparents
Family life professionals –researchers, extension educators, Family Preservation and Support directors, Family Resource Center workers, parent educators
Mental health professionals – counselors, therapists
Attorneys who deal in child support, custody, guardianship and related issues
Financial advisors – loan officers, retirement counselors, financial planners/counselors
 
Where are these people?
 
You may be able to obtain mailing lists from agencies in your community such as: local Agency on Aging, schools, churches, support group sponsors, and Family Resource Centers. Additional resources might be Family Preservation and Support administrators, parenting educators, program participants, and extension educators.
 
Many organizations are hesitant to provide or prohibited from providing mailing lists. However, they may be willing to promote the program with their participants or in newsletters if you provide brochures or newsletter articles for them. (These tools are provided on this web site.)
 
This program is also being promoted nationally, perhaps with organizations that serve your entire state. You might want to check with your state contact. However, marketing professionals remind us that multiple promotions are more successful than one-time messages or mailings.
 
Can I charge participants a fee?
 
Yes, you can charge participants a fee to recoup your costs for the site license, and to cover program materials, room rental, refreshments, or other expenses. You may also be able to find a local sponsor who will help cover some or all of these costs. The more participants you have, the more you can pro-rate your overhead expenses and the program will cost less per person. You can keep all the revenue you generate.
 
Will professional development credit be available?
 
Your state contact may be arranging continuing education credit for professionals in your state. Contact him or her for details. If credit will be available, you’ll want to include this information in your program promotion.
 
When should I register as a site?
 
As soon as possible!! You can register as a site at any time and begin promoting the program in your location. Site registration is$50 ($75 after December 1). Once a site has paid the site registration fee, they will be listed by state on the web page. This is helpful to potential participants who may hear about the program through sources other than you. The local site facilitator will be added to an e-mail list (those without e-mail will receive a fax.) This is a quick and easy way to keep the local site informed. Satellite coordinates for the program WILL NOT be posted on the web site and will only be provided to those who have registered as a site.
 
Will I receive any training on how to be a local site facilitator?
 
The web page has several pieces that will help you in your role as local site facilitator, including a timeline of some of the tasks you’ll need to carry out, right up to the day of the program. When you register as a site, you will also have an opportunity to chose one of three days for a telephone training time:
 December 15, 1998 9:00-11:00 AM CST
 December 17, 1998 1:00-3:00 PM CST
 January 5, 1999  9:00-11:00 AM CST
 
What promotional tools are available?
 
It is your responsibility to promote the program in your community and viewing area, but many tools are provided to make it easier for you. These are all available on the web site with instructions on how you can download them for easy editing and localizing. (Click here to see the promotional tools for site facilitators) Materials include:
1. a brochure, newsletter copy, poster, news releases, and public service announcements.
2. a letter to send to potential participants to accompany a brochure.
3. fact sheet with background information about the satellite program. This can be used when recruiting a local advisory committee or securing local sponsors.
 
Must I have access to the internet to take part?
 
No. However, we are using the internet to provide easy and convenient access to background information, registered site locations, state contact persons, promotional tools, and facilitator and learner materials. If you do not have access to the internet, we will send you paper copies of these materials for an additional $25 fee.
 
When should I start?
 
Now! Even if you haven’t paid your site registration fee, you can still start promoting the program in your community as soon as you know you’ll be offering it. Remember, many community, agency and organizational newsletters need several months notice to print announcements of upcoming events. The more outreach you have, the better attendance you’ll have at the program. It’s not too early.
 

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© 2001 Board of Regents of the University of Wisconsin System, doing business as the Division of Cooperative Extension
of the University of Wisconsin-Extension.

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Updated  Friday, 14-Dec-2001 14:40:26 CST