UPP 545: Stakeholder Analysis and Needs Assessment--Syllabus
UPP 545: Stakeholder Analysis and Needs Assessment
Studio
Instructors: Janet Smith and John J. Betancur
Time & location: Meets on Tuesdays 12:30 - 3:30 p.m. at 2115 2ADH
Office Hours: by appointment
Course Goals and Description
This course is part of a series of studios conducted by the Urban Planning and
Architecture programs at the University of Illinois at Chicago (UIC) to contribute to
UIC’s Master Planning process. The Stakeholder and Need Assessment Studio will
gather the ideas of stakeholders inside and outside the university and combine them
with pertinent background data to provide a sense of their priorities regarding
UIC’s plans for the near future. The studio is organized into two major parts. The
first part processes information available from UIC’s 2010 Strategic Thinking
Committee to determine the views of internal stakeholders. Along with this, it
organizes and conducts public meetings with external stakeholders. In preparation
for these meetings, the studio will also collect background information on
communities surrounding the university. The second part uses this information to
organize and hold focus groups with internal and external stakeholders and to
prepare the final report. The first part will be completed by Spring break and the
second by the end of the semester.
Class Requirements
Class Participation: 40%. Class attendance is required. Students will work individually
and in groups to complete the activities indicated above. They will participate in lectures
and class exercises to develop the skills required for such activities. Student participation
will be assessed on the basis of their contribution to these goals. Four points will be
deducted from each absence.
University of Illinois at Chicago Urban Planning and Policy Program—Spring 2005
UPP 545: Stakeholder Analysis and Needs Assessment--Syllabus
Short Paper: 20%. Each student will prepare a report discussing one of the skills
covered by the class. For this, the student should consult available literature and training
materials and hopefully will participate in relevant short-term workshops, observe an
activity in which these skills are practiced (e.g. a community meeting, a focus group or a
conflict resolution workshop).
Final Report: 40%. Preparation of the final report will be divided into its major
components and the class divided into teams each in charge of one of those components.
Students will receive a grade for this activity. Although each team will produce a single
report, students will be graded on the basis of their contribution to it.
Important Dates
February 22 Individual papers due
March 1 Draft of team data analysis due
March 19 Completion of Part one of studio
April 26 Final team draft reports due
Dry-run presentation
May 3 Final presentation
May 6 Final Reports due
Other dates and deadlines will be determined in class as part of the detailed planning of
class activities and process and the team work plans
Research Assistant and Other Logistics
Research Assistant Leslie Brinson will work with instructors and participants to complete
the activities involved in this studio. These activities include
Preparing lists of stakeholders, contacting and following up on them
Identifying available information on internal stakeholders
Organizing stakeholder meetings and focus groups
Preparing panel on master planning process best cases from other US universities
Developing and keeping calendar of activities
Identifying and contacting guest speakers
Other related logistics as needed
John Shuler, UIC’s documents librarian will work with the class to access information
such as the reports of an earlier studio conducted by Architecture, UIC’s 1991 Master
Plan, and background sources on the communities surrounding UIC. The details of this
component will be provided in class.
Each class session will dedicate time to go over logistics, check on progress and
troubleshoot as needed. Participants should be prepared to dedicate time outside the
classroom including meetings with stakeholders, focus groups, one-on-one meetings, and
team activities. Community meetings may take place in the evenings.
University of Illinois at Chicago Urban Planning and Policy Program—Spring 2005
UPP 545: Stakeholder Analysis and Needs Assessment--Syllabus
Class Syllabus Week by Week
Week One: January 11. Background Information of Master Plan and Master
Planning Process and Development of Work Plan for the Class
1. Guest speaker Jim Foerster, UIC’s Associate Vice-Chancellor for Capital
Programs, will provide information on UIC’s last Master Plan, the ongoing
Master Plan development, and other relevant background information.
2. Class will initiate the discussion of the more detailed process to follow in the
studio including organization of teams, division of work, and development of a
work plan for each team.
Week Two: January 18. Completion of Work Plan and Discussion of Master Plans
and Master Planning
1. Students will meet by groups and complete their work plans. As part of this, they
will develop Plan B activities for key activities. Typed team plans should be
submitted by Thursday January 20th.
2. Instructors and students will engage in a brief conversation regarding the concept
and practice of master plans and master planning. Students will be directed to
examples.
Week Three: January 25. Stakeholder Analysis
1. Class will hold a discussion of the basic elements of stakeholder analysis (e.g.
identifying them, determining their interests, involving them in planning,
negotiating differences, and dealing with organized pressure). As part of this
activity we will discuss the convenience of and methods for gathering information
on stakeholders.
2. Class will conduct its own analysis of stakeholders inside and outside the
university identifying their respective interests, and potential conflicts. Discussion
will draw on past experiences (e.g., the south campus expansion).
3. Team presentation and discussion of work plans
University of Illinois at Chicago Urban Planning and Policy Program—Spring 2005
UPP 545: Stakeholder Analysis and Needs Assessment--Syllabus
Week Four: February 1. Community Participation in Planning. Involving
Communities in the Planning Process: Approaches, Pros, Cons, and Risks.
1. Review and assessment of the major approaches to community participation in the
planning process (from surveys and hearings to focus groups and panels and from
token formalities to direct participation)
2. Discussion of the pros, cons and risks of the various forms of community
participation and how to deal with community diversity.
3. Guest Speaker: Jim Foerster to discuss the South Campus expansion, planning
process and community reactions.
Week Five: February 8: Community Meetings
1. Community meetings: nature, alternative purposes and corresponding forms.
Conducting community meetings, enticing participation, processing information
from such meetings, dealing with expectations.
2. Guest speaker: Nacho Gonzalez, Great Cities Institute
3. Team meetings to advance work and receive assistance from instructors
Week Six: February 15. Public Hearings and Background Information gathering
1. The concept and practice of public hearings. Brief public hearing exercise.
2. Application of public hearing concepts to the process of holding community
forums to consult the stakeholders as part of UIC’s master planning process.
3. The public hearing from the perspective of entities holding them and of
individuals and organized forces taking advantage of them. Examples,
possibilities and limitations.
4. Developing background information to accompany the stakeholder analysis and
collecting background information on the communities surrounding UIC. Tying
this information to the analysis and consultations. Available sources and ways to
access them.
5. Guest speaker: To Be Determined
University of Illinois at Chicago Urban Planning and Policy Program—Spring 2005
UPP 545: Stakeholder Analysis and Needs Assessment--Syllabus
Week Seven: February 22. Conflict Management and approaches to dealing with
conflicts of interest
1. Guest speaker will make presentation on topic accompanied by simulation
2. Class will discuss the application of learnings to stakeholder consultation
3. Teams meet to prepare for presentations
Week Eight: March 1. Finalizing planning for community forums
1. Review of advance on data collection and analysis by team: team
presentations
2. Review of community outreach, dates and location of meetings and other
logistics
3. Discussion of plan for meetings, roles of participants, note taking/recording
4. Foreseeing and preparing for troubleshooting (e.g. potential hostility from
participants)
5. Finalizing questions/probes for the meetings
Weeks Nine and Ten: March 8 and 15. Holding Community Forums and One-on-
one meetings. Focus Groups.
Note: Since meetings will most likely take place at time slots different from those of the
class, we leave these dates relatively open. However, students should show up for class to
finalize their background and data analysis. Depending on the dynamics of the process,
the discussion of focus groups will take place in either of these two weeks. We will
determine the dates for these meetings at the beginning of the semester. One-on-one
meetings will be organized with particular individuals who cannot attend these meetings
or to gather more information on internal stakeholders).
1. Focus groups: concept, uses, significance/reliability for different purposes,
process.
2. Will hold a mock focus group with class participants including note taking
and analysis of results
March 22: Spring break: no class
Note: Transcripts and notes from public meetings will be distributed to students as soon
as available for class of week eleven.
University of Illinois at Chicago Urban Planning and Policy Program—Spring 2005
UPP 545: Stakeholder Analysis and Needs Assessment--Syllabus
Week Eleven: March 29. Analysis of Information from Community Forums and
Determination of Follow-up Issues for Focus Groups
1. Tips for collection and analysis of qualitative data and, in this case, data
from meetings and focus groups
2. Break up into small groups for preliminary analysis of information from
community forums
3. Group reports and general discussion
4. Identification of issues/major themes for further exploration in focus
groups
5. Determination of focus groups, topics, make up and possible participants
6. Discuss reading distributed before spring break
Week Twelve: April 5. Finalizing Preparation for Focus Groups. Panels
1. Identification of questions for focus groups
2. Participation of students particularly in note taking
3. Panels: concept, uses, and dynamics.
4. Team meetings as needed.
Weeks Thirteen and Fourteen: April 12 and 19th: Panel on University Master
Planning Best Cases.
Note: Focus groups will be scheduled to fit the times when stakeholders are available.
Depending on the number of stakeholders willing to participate and their availability, we
will schedule between 2-4 focus groups. In order to increase participation, we may start
contacting people by mid-March. We will make sure to contact as representative a sample
as possible of the major categories of stakeholders. Participants should plan to be present
in at least two of them, hopefully in all of them.
The panel will be open to the public, will be held in a convenient location and may not
coincide with the time when the class meets regularly. Panel will be prepared by research
assistant with the help of instructors and the office of the Vice-Chancellor for Capital
Programs.
University of Illinois at Chicago Urban Planning and Policy Program—Spring 2005
UPP 545: Stakeholder Analysis and Needs Assessment--Syllabus
Week Fifteen: April 26th. Presentations of Team Reports and Final Feedback
Note: The production of the final report is incremental. It starts with the gathering and
analysis of background information (draft due on March 1 and final soon thereafter) and
integrates elements from community meetings/public hearings, one-on-one meetings and
focus groups as these become available. In this way, groups should be able to present
their findings at this point.
Week Sixteen: May 3rd. Final presentations
Selected people from throughout the university and outside stakeholders will be invited to
these presentations. On the basis of the feedback received in this meeting, students will
submit the final written reports by May 6 at the latest.
University of Illinois at Chicago Urban Planning and Policy Program—Spring 2005