Browsing by Subject "Partnerships"

Now showing 1 - 8 of 8
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    Assessing a Solar Project and a Virtual Power Purchase Agreement Between the Red Lake Nation and the Minnesota Department of Transportation
    (Minnesota Department of Transportation, 2023-03) Chan, Gabriel; Harrington, Elise; Grimley, Matt
    In this report, we analyze the feasibility of a northern Minnesota solar project and accompanying Virtual Power Purchase Agreement (VPPA) between the Minnesota Department of Transportation (MnDOT) and the Red Lake Nation. We analyze three sets of benefits for MnDOT: government-to-government relations, environmental, and economic. In government-to-government relations, we find great potential for the VPPA to further a first-of-its-kind Tribal energy project and Tribal sovereignty. We also summarize lessons from other governmental entities in pursuing VPPAs. For environmental benefits, we find the array will avoid between 48,000 and 89,000 metric tons of carbon dioxide-equivalent gases, resulting in a monetized environmental value of between $1 million and $9.4 million in avoided emissions-related damages. Finally, for economic benefits while we find the array has a net present value (NPV) between a negative $5.5 million and negative $16.5 million to MnDOT, we identify several project adjustments that could increase the value to more than a positive $3 million in NPV. In conclusion, we recommend MnDOT form a "strike team" to develop the project further, communicate the project clearly, and consult with outside experts on further project opportunities.
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    Faculty Agency in a U.S.-Colombia University Development Partnership: Bending Toward Justice
    (2017-06) Pekol, Amy
    This dissertation explores faculty engagement at the crossroads of higher education and international development policy through a comparative case study of a U.S.-Colombia human rights university partnership. There is a tendency for ideologies, policies, and practices to flow from North to South in university development partnerships, which reinforces deeply entrenched hierarchies and structural inequalities within the global political economy. This study investigates the cumulative effect on faculty working within such partnerships. Faculty engagement is examined through interviews with faculty participants and international development specialists across five universities and two development agencies in the United States and Colombia. Interviewees reflect on faculty engagement at various stages—design, initiation, negotiation, collaboration, and conclusion—of a three-year partnership. A focus on faculty engagement—namely faculty agency perspectives and behaviors—across four dimensions—individual, institutional, partnership, and geopolitical—highlights multiple layers of influence and inequality within these partnerships. This study advances two key arguments. First, this study calls for greater attention to the role of professional capital —a product of human, social, and decisional capital—in perpetuating or overcoming inequalities within university development partnerships. Second, this study affirms the importance of empathy and the potential of individual participants to reduce and even reverse the power dynamics inherent within many North-South partnerships. Although university development partnerships do not occur on equal terrain, this study reveals opportunities for participants to make them a little more equitable and expand faculty agency in the process.
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    Minnesota's District/Area Transportation Partnership Process - Volume I: Cross-Case Analysis
    (Minnesota Department of Transportation, 1997-02) DeCramer, Gary; MacGillis, James; Klancher, Wendy; Krinke, Mara; Johns, Robert
    This report presents the results of a study conducted by the University of Minnesota's Center for Transportation Studies on Minnesota's district/area transportation process (ATP). Building upon existing planning processes, the ATPs involve a broad range of transportation professionals, elected officials, special interest groups, and the public in developing the State Transportation Improvement Program (STIP). Through eight case studies, one for each district/ATP, and a cross-case analysis, the study documents information gathered from ATP members and representatives from the Minnesota Department of Transportation (Mn/DOT) on the key features of the ATP process. A summary of the perceived strengths and challenges for the three themes of partnership, prioritization, and planning shows that several of the strengths and challenges appear more than once across the three themes. Volume I of the report includes the cross-comparison of ATP processes and practices, findings from the common characteristics of the research data, and issues and challenges identified by ATP members in the interviews. As the ATPs and Mn/DOT explore the possibility of future changes, the cross-cutting issues in the ATP process are: the composition of ATP membership; the nature of public involvement; decentralized decision making; enhancement projects; ranking regional significance; intermodalism; urban and rural tension; fiscal constraint; and the role of planning in the ATP process. Volume II includes eight case studies that report the data heard from the members of the eight ATPs. It also contains other perspectives from the point of view ofMn/DOT's Central Office, federal agencies, non-ATP members and Metropolitan Planning Organizations (MPOs) directors.
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    Minnesota's District/Area Transportation Partnership Process: Volume II: Case Studies and Other Perspectives
    (Minnesota Department of Transportation, 1997-02) DeCramer, Gary; MacGillis, James; Klancher, Wendy; Krinke, Mara; Johns, Robert
    The University of Minnesota's Center for Transportation Studies conducted a study on Minnesota's district/area transportation process (ATP). Building upon existing planning processes, the ATPs involve a broad range of transportation professionals, elected officials, special interest groups, and the public in developing the State Transportation Improvement Program (STIP). Volume II of this study includes eight case studies that report the data heard from the members of the eight ATPs. It also contains other perspectives from the point of view of the Minnesota Department of Transportation's (Mn/DOTs) Central Office, non-ATP members and Metropolitan Planning Organizations (MPOs) directors. The case study information is organized around these key features: project selection and ranking process, ATP membership make-up, boundary issues, financial data, goals, relationships with regional entities and local units of government, the role of elected officials, and the public involvement process. Through eight case studies, one for each district/ATP, and a cross-case analysis, the study documents information gathered from ATP members and representatives from Mn/DOT on the key features of the ATP process. A summary of the perceived strengths and challenges for the three themes of partnership, prioritization, and planning shows that several of the strengths and challenges appear more than once across the three themes. As the ATPs and Mn/DOT explore the possibility of future changes, the cross-cutting issues in the ATP process are: the composition of ATP membership; the nature of public involvement; decentralized decision making; enhancement projects; ranking regional significance; intermodalism; urban and rural tension; fiscal constraint; and the role of planning in the ATP process. Volume I of the report includes the cross-comparison of ATP processes and practices, findings from the common characteristics of the research data, and issues and challenges identified by ATP members in the interviews.
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    Neighborhood Stories: Creative Placemaking for Multicultural Communities
    (2015-04) Smith, Hilary
    85% of people in America live in urban areas often comprised of culturally insular pockets within a larger, more diverse, densely populated geographic footprint. As a result, people may not what they have in common with others and be hesitant to engage with their neighbors. Neighborhood Stories is a program that uses creative placemaking, community engagement, art, and open expression to explore what it means to be neighbors. Using theater as a bridge, the Neighborhood Stories program will help the diverse residents of multicultural neighborhoods build a new sense of community, and connect the diverse fibers of the individual populations into a stronger whole.
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    Relationship development to build sustainable research data management and sharing on campus.
    (2024-11) Marsolek, Wanda; Hunt, Shanda; Farrell, Shannon L
    Poster created for and presented at the Research Data Alliance (RDA) 23rd Plenary Meeting – hosted at the University of Costa Rica, San José, Costa Rica in November 2024.
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    The Role of Trust in Creating Sustainable Change through Interorganizational Collaborations in Health Care Education
    (2015-07) DeVries, Renee
    The sectors of higher education and health care are experiencing increased calls for accountability regarding their outcomes and affordability. The elevated scrutiny and superimposed fiscal constraints create an opportunity for growth and redesign. Partnerships and collaborations have emerged as one approach to addressing challenges in both arenas. The purpose of this study is to examine the impact of trust on the success of collaborations between institutions of higher education in the health care arena. A multiple case-study design is used to examine three partnerships created through the National Center for Complementary and Integrative Health (NCCIH) CAM Practitioner Research Education Project Grant Partnership (R25). The selected partnerships include three colleges of chiropractic, each paired with a university with very high research activity. The historical tension between chiropractic and traditional medicine, largely due to philosophically different approaches to health care, make the study of trust especially intriguing. The mixed-methods study design includes qualitative data collection through interviews of 11 key participants from the chiropractic and research intensive institutions from all three partnerships. Qualitative interview data are used to provide description regarding the three partnerships and to explore the impact of trust on the formation of the collaborations. Quantitative data are collected through surveys of 101 faculty and administrators from the chiropractic institutions. Additional qualitative data are also gathered through open ended survey questions. Quantitative data are used to examine the impact of trust on the perceptions of success of the collaborative efforts. The qualitative findings suggest that interpersonal trust, specifically the role of boundary spanners, plays an important role in the formation of collaborations. The most significant themes related to partnership formation are generative capacity, defined as the willingness to partner with someone based on positive experiences of a past partnership, and transferability, or the transfer of trust to an unknown person based on trust of a third party known by both individuals. With regard to the willingness of individuals to participate in the activities of the collaboration, identifying, or the degree to which individuals perceive the priorities of the project as similar to their own, emerge as the most significant theme. Disclosing, or the willingness of individuals to disclose their weaknesses, trusting that the information will not be used against them, is the second most frequent theme. The most significant themes related to interorganizational trust are: reliability; personal connection; reputation; communication; and expertise. Results of a multiple regression analysis indicate statistically significant findings for organizational trust (b = .60, t = 4.17, p < .001), interorganizational trust (b = .30, t = 2.52, p =.01), and interpersonal trust (b = .16, t = 2.74, p = .01) as explanatory factors in perceptions of project success. As health care institutions and health care delivery systems respond to the demands for improved services, better outcomes, and increased affordability, interprofessional education and collaborative practice will become the norm. Given the increased evidence for the effectiveness and cost effectiveness for chiropractic care in the treatment of musculoskeletal conditions, specifically spine pain, chiropractors should be considered as valuable contributors to integrated health care teams. As academic and health care administrators look to expand opportunities for collaboration between CAM and traditional medicine, they would be wise to consider the important role of trust on the success of these collaborations.