Community Policing

President Obama Commends Camden: This “City Is On To Something”

May 15, 2015
, , , , , , , , Community Studies, The Melior Group Results

In The Melior Group’s line of work, it’s always encouraging to see the results of our research put into action by our clients. It’s even more gratifying when just two years later that President Obama is touting your client for its innovative policing model.

Such was the case, when President Obama visited struggling Camden, New Jersey, to commend the community policing model that the relatively new Camden County Metro Police have been using for the better part of two years. This new model was implemented when the County replaced the city’s police force with a new county-run force.

Before moving forward with hiring the new force, The Melior Group engaged with Camden’s residents, civic leaders, and area law enforcement to learn what was working relative to policing in the city and what wasn’t – and how they could envision the members of the new police force interacting with members of the community. Our work contributed to the community policing model – the results were incorporated in a hiring plan for new Metro police officers, emphasizing themes of cultural awareness and sensitivity, community engagement, and compassion.

See more about our work:  Case Study:  This City Is On To Something

A sitting U.S. President last visited Camden in 1940 – when Camden was in its prime. Now the city has given our current President a reason to return and pay closer attention to the city that, for decades, has been in trouble. Its issues are numerous, among them an aging infrastructure, failing schools, and broken relationships between police and the community. Despite the challenges, Camden has started to address these issues and is repairing police-community relations, to national recognition.

Take a look at two recent articles for more information:

This City Is On To Something – Philly.com May 2015

Obama To Recommend Camden Policing As National Model – Philly.com May 2015

 

For more information on our work, please visit our Government/Civic page or contact Elizabeth Foley at 215-545-0054 ext 111/ [email protected] or Linda McAleer at 215-545-0054 x104 / [email protected].

College marketing logo

Who Manages The Relationship With Area Employers? Hint: It’s Not Always Career Services

April 24, 2015
, , , , , , , , , Higher Education, The Art of Research

In our previous post in the series – “Closing The Perception Gap: Are Students Trained to Put Theory Into Practice?”- we briefly touched on the importance of advancing communications and partnerships with employers to improve the general perception about a college or universities ability to deliver on career preparation. The focus was primarily on strategies that enable students to put theory into practice. When you consider developing partnerships at the executive level, doors can open that lead to true innovation.

While internships, hands-on training and job placement opportunities are vitally important to hiring rates and alumnae career trajectories, this aspect of the employer to institution relationship is largely handled in career services departments and is almost entirely student-focused. If this is the only way the institution is engaging employers, it’s likely that significant longer-term growth strategies have been missed.

Especially important to regional public universities and small private colleges are the following questions. What local or regional challenges exist that your graduates may be highly qualified to resolve? Will they be able to develop specific skills or knowledge that give them the competitive advantage in the hiring process?

Put Market Research To Work

The Melior Group worked with a quasi-urban school district in helping them to develop and enhance partnerships with universities who, with some tweaking, could develop programs that would deliver top-notch teachers who were ready to step-in and work in the type of environment where the district is located. A true partnership, the school district worked directly with faculty to make a direct and significant positive impact on area schools.

Along the way, The Melior Group made an informed pivot in their research design and adjusted geographic parameters to discover that there were nearby rural area school districts that could also benefit greatly from the same innovative techniques. The graduates, armed with the know-how to handle challenges perceived to be urban would also be well suited to assist specific rural populations.

Original Innovation Serves A Second Purpose

Universities that are new to this type of partnership development will want to re-examine the relationships they currently have with area employers by proactively asking insightful questions. What are these employers looking for from a partnership with a university? What unique quality can the university offer an employer to make the relationship valuable?

Buy-in from the top of the administration – with accountability and responsibility at the Vice Presidential level – to develop healthy relationships with employers can significantly increase hiring rates, elevate the school’s image as an innovative partner and substantially improve the longer-term vitality of the community.

The Melior Group works with large research institutions, regional public universities and small private colleges to improve the perception of their schools’ effectiveness by discovering where gaps in perception exist and drilling into what strategic mix of programmatic, communication and partnership initiatives can allow institutions to more easily deliver on expectations.

To learn more about our work with colleges and universities, visit our Education page or please contact Elizabeth Foley at [email protected] / 215-545-0054 x111 or Linda McAleer at [email protected] / 215-545-0054 x104.

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