Building Bridges? An Assessment of Academic and Practitioner ...

Building Bridges?address the most pressing concerns of society; and academic conferences shouldhighlight areas of interest to practitioners (Posner, 2009). Academics should alsobe cognizant of the language barrier between themselves and practitioners and soavoid using complicated jargon to report results. In addition, academics shouldclearly explicate the practical implications of their research findings. Posner (2009)suggests that universities should consider adjusting promotion and tenure decisionsto give greater weight to contributions made in research, writing, and consultingdone in public policy and business.Professional conferences are often viewed as a primary conduit for anticipatingthe usefulness of topics explored and transferring knowledge from results (Newland,2000; Posner, 2009). Gatherings of academics and practitioners during annualprofessional meetings afford time for face-to-face interaction and communication—avenues that offer the best prospects for knowledge transfer between academicsand practitioners. Academics and practitioners can potentially collaborate throughforums such as professional associations, informal work groups, policy issue networks,and conferences such as the ASPA National Conference. In addition, Web2.0 technologies (e.g., weblogs, wikis, social networking sites, and social bookmarkingapplications) provide online forums for facilitating academic-practitionerdiscussions regarding current events. Online forums for communication, such aswebinars, present an alternative to more traditional avenues for sharing the resultsof academic studies in the classroom (Milam, 2003; Posner, 2009).The potential for “pracademics” to serve as facilitators in bridging the knowledgedivide has not gone unnoticed. According to Posner (2009), pracademicsare exposed to both theory and practice, and are therefore in a position to contributeto both enterprises. For Posner, universities should be the driving forcebehind academic-practitioner collaborations in the form of pracademics. Moreover,he posits that students should use their theoretical background and research skillsto conduct evidence-based research that improves our understanding of publicservice. Students should spend time working in public and private organizations,and universities should invite practitioners to give lectures and work with students.Although Posner (2009) notes that few articles have been written about this groupof individuals, there is a growing recognition of their importance.Finally, Amabile et al. (2001) propose a set of collaboration models aimed tohelp academics and practitioners work together to solve problems. Their modelof cross-profession collaboration argues that successful collaboration depends oncollaborative team characteristics, collaboration environment characteristics, andcollaboration processes. Roper (2002) argues that collaboration efforts will provesuccessful if the goals of such efforts are clear, recognizable, and engagement oriented.Assessing Academic-Practitioner PerceptionsThe literature develops a clear case for continued assessment of academicpractitionerdifferences and suggestions for bridging the gap. For public administra-Journal of Public Affairs Education 753