3.2.2. UIC's Capacity to Recognize Needs and Opportunities

Additionally, several interviewees described the university's unique capacity to recognize the need for and engage a diverse group of stakeholders to collaboratively learn about and plan for upstream action to address drivers of precarious work. Several interviewees described the unique features of the university as a convener, including its commitment to community engagement and its existing relationships with community organizations (further described below) that made the HWC especially impactful in a way that it would not have been without UIC's involvement. One interviewee summarized these sentiments below:

*"I doubt we would have had the same kind of people, diversity of entities in the room and in conversation. Without you all* ... *I doubt the conversation would have happened without the (HWC), the grant funding which all happened behind it."—TA recipient.*

At least one TA recipient also noted that the representatives in the HWC would not have had the opportunity to connect if it were not for the convening of the HWC.

*"It is really helpful to bring groups together who haven't worked together before and who we may not always think of—and see how it ties back to our work—unless we get connected and seek it out on our own, which we don't really have time for, we don't have access to these new relationships."—Labor expert TA provider.*

#### 3.2.3. Time and Content Balance

Despite the many touted benefits of UIC's TA provision in the HWC, participants described some of the limitations, challenges, and opportunities for change given their experience in this HWC process. Many of the TA recipients, in particular, described the challenges of digesting so much new content in such a short period of time. Some TA recipients also felt that there was not enough time built in to reflect upon and apply what they had learned in the HWC sessions. One TA recipient summarized these sentiments below:

*"It was super structured and a lot of stu*ff *over a short timeline. There was a balance that it needed to be structured so it didn't lose the thread* ... *But it still was quite a bit."—TA recipient.*

Several UIC TA providers also attributed challenges in timing with what TA recipients were able to accomplish through the HWC process. UIC TA providers felt that the readiness of TA recipients to both engage with a complex new issue such as precarious work and actively plan implementable interventions outside of the HWC sessions varied between groups and individual TA recipients. One UIC TA provider noted that the timing of the HWC was based solely on UIC researchers' own needs and not on the needs of participants, including both the readiness piece and the amount of time participants, including TA recipients and labor expert TA providers, needed in between sessions to digest information and prepare for subsequent sessions. One UIC TA provider summarized these observations below:

*"I think the timing issue was really a very important factor in influencing what went on and what went well for some and what didn't go well for others."—UIC TA provider.*
