Formative Evaluator's Report: Bridging the Gap, Phase II

3.9 Practical Instructors

The practical instructors were the supervisors of the practical component of Bridging the Gap. They were employees of the employment partner and ensured the work the clients did was to the standards and quality of other employees. The practical instructors were valuable in their contribution to the learning process at the work site, and they were an important of the overall team. Their contributions and feedback were critical to the success on the site of the participants and enabled the clients to get an excellent grasp of the required workplace skills and processes.

3.10 Random North Development Association

RNDA is the provincial sponsor for BTG. As such they were responsible for:

  1. advice, issue resolution and support to the individual sites, particularly at the beginning of the project;
  2. book–keeping for the entire project and financial accountabiity for all of the sites to the funding partners
  3. managing the formative evaluation
  4. promotion and public awareness
  5. documenting "lessons learned" and best practices
  6. negotiating with partners such as the College
  7. developing and adapting policies, procedures, roles, and responsibilities as required (see Appendix for an example of the Roles and Responsibilities around the Skills Set Design) and
  8. acting as a liaison between individual sites and the partners, as required.

There is no doubt Random North has done a superlative job in their management and implementation of this second phase of the project. Michelle Brown, the provincial coordinator uses superb communication and consensus–building skills to assist people and Ina Marsh, the book–keeper/financial manager for the project kept meticulous records and was thorough in her interpretation of the "rules of expenditure" from the funding partners.

In some cases, RNDA was observed as being little too involved in the projects. Most of the CLNs and Project Co–ordinators appreciated their focus on detail and constant availability, others wanted to be more independent. RNDA recognized this and they were les involved with some sites than others. To be continually successful, it is important the management team at RNDA always strive to recognize the amount of desired involvement varies with the approach, experience, and personalities of the CLN.