CCDD's Purpose: Education
Education is an equally important part
of CCDD's mission, and we implement it in a variety of ways.
Like all academic units, we see our mission as one of creating
and disseminating knowledge. Our emphasis is on applied research
and practice in all fields of knowledge. Naturally, we are also
involved in the creation, testing, practice, and publication
of knowledge within the field of community development.
Our education roles can be summarized in
several categories, outlined below.
- CCDD helps faculty integrate applied research
into their classes by finding appropriate clients in need of
assistance and by facilitating student roles in the work of these
organizations.
- CCDD trains students in these courses
covering the basics of community development so that they can
more effectively apply their knowledge to finding and implementing
solutions to real problems.
- CCDD develops specific teams of faculty
and students to respond to applied research requests and facilitate
the work of these groups. This type of applied research and community
development work gives students the practical knowledge of how
to apply their education to real-world problems. They often report
that their activities as team members or team leaders are the
most valuable educational experiences that they have while in
college. Center staff also brings expertise in group facilitation,
cooperative community development practice and project implementation
to the team and help train team and community members in these
methods.
- CCDD develops service-learning courses
in disciplines where they are desired and assists faculty in
finding appropriate placements, managing student volunteer work
and ensuring client satisfaction. Such courses currently are
found in Psychology, Geography and Environmental Studies, Ethnic
and Minority Studies, and Interdepartmental Studies. Other courses
and service-learning applications are being developed in Economics,
in Philosophy, for the Freshman Seminar Program and for the Junior
Seminar. The Center is also working with the UCCS First Year
Learning Experience Task Force to build service-learning activities
into strategies designed to encourage retention.
- CCDD keeps faculty aware of opportunities
to use service-learning in their classes and to obtain funding
to develop and implement such components. This year, CCDD helped
faculty obtain two one-year grants (of $2,000 each) to add service-learning
to classes. In Computer Science, students will evaluate the use
of virtual reality software and a force-feedback device to teach
shape recognition to visually impaired people. In Geography and
Environmental Studies, where students will analyze and report
on air quality data.
- CCDD develops special, intensive service-learning
opportunities for spring break and other events. Several week-long
spring break service trips have taught students theory and practical
skills in natural hazard mitigation while they assist low income
residents with safety improvements. One performed in the San
Luis Valley integrated Hispanic cultural awareness training with
flood prevention and was documented in a professionally-produced
video. This project received a national award from the National
Association of State Flood Plain Managers.
- CCDD is currently expanding its ability
to develop and manage more service-learning activities with a
new program called the Campus and Community Institute Program
(CCI). With $76,000 per year from the Colorado Campus Compact
and more coming from other sources, CCI will help the Center
and the campus expand community development opportunities by
funding 5 Faculty Fellows in Service-Learning and 15 Service-Learning
Corps student volunteers interested in performing and managing
service-learning efforts. Three full-time Team Leaders will also
be funded to help manage the activities. Training sessions are
being planned. Faculty and student participants will network
with compatriots on six other CCI campuses in Colorado. Activities
will include:
- new service-learning courses
- new service-learning projects
- spring break service-learning adventures
(similar to two created in recent years)
- half-day service projects at the start
of Fall Semester (coordinated with the Freshman Seminar Program)
- service-learning components for other
elements of Project Transition (especially the Junior Seminar).
- CCDD performs a public education mission
in response to requests from public and nonprofit organizations
or in collaboration with them. Activities include:
- networking to help media and community
organizations find appropriate faculty to address particular
issues;
- helping schools and higher education institutions
develop service-learning and community development activities;
- facilitating public meetings; and
- designing and hosting public discussions
and/or trainings on pressing community issues such as:
- minority dropouts
- youth support networks
- youth support projects
- regional flood hazards
- land use planning
- park master planning
- historic preservation planning
- collaboration among nonprofit organizations
- neighborhood organizing
- neighborhood planning
- neighborhood revitalization
- environmental mediation
- citizen participation in planning and
community development
- community development
- conflict resolution
- consensus building
- demographic data collection and analysis
- environmental analysis
- environmental and cultural sustainability
- group facilitation and recording
- growth management
- inter-governmental management
- inter-jurisdictional cooperation
- landscape design
- managing citizen participation
- managing community development
- managing service-learning efforts
- master planning
- natural hazard mitigation
- nominal group process
- program evaluation techniques
- strategic planning
- surveying design and application
- team building techniques
- volunteer management
- CCDD also acts as a liaison with community,
county, regional, state and federal agencies and organizations,
and provides educational services to them. Examples of the types
of educational consulting services provided are listed below.
- CCDD taught staff in the Community Based
Environmental Protection Unit of the U.S. Environmental Protection
Agency, Region VIII, how to develop and evaluate appropriate
techniques to enhance their public participation efforts.
- CCDD taught staff of the Colorado Office
of Emergency Management how to bring the practice of community
development into their natural hazards management work (previously
practiced primarily within a civil defense and population control
paradigm), and trained dozens of interns and students to do this
work. One spring break service project related to this effort
received national recognition.
- CCDD taught citizen participation and
conflict resolution techniques to El Paso County Parks staff
and docents and to members of local environmental groups in order
to give them the tools they needed to successfully mediate a
dispute over the potential development of important, natural
habitat in Fountain Creek Regional Park.
- CCDD trained students, parents, teachers
and local business and government leaders how to perform a nominal
group process facilitation to reach community consensus on actions
to improve the well being of youth in Fountain, Colorado
- CCDD trained students at Mitchell High
School how to conduct a campus and community needs assessment,
and how to establish community development activities run by
students.
- CCDD hires and trains many students as
staff for the Center and gives them valuable on-the-job educational
experiences that complement their chosen fields of study. Students
learn a wide variety of skills in this work, including:
- community development philosophy
- community development techniques such
as:
- needs assessment
- stakeholder identification
- dispersed group communication
- public meeting management
- group facilitation and recording
- conflict resolution
- volunteer management and referral
- networking
- community organizing
- team building
- leadership
- project and program evaluation
- program planning
- project teamwork
- alternative, group management techniques
- inter-personal skills
- professional presentation skills
- contract management
- applied research design
- budgeting of time and funding
- outreach
- marketing
- fund raising
- grant writing
- data collection and analysis
- survey techniques such as:
- field assessment of environmental conditions
- survey design
- field testing
- survey distribution
- bulk mailing
- confidentiality assurance
- data recording
- data entry
- data management
- quality assurance
- report writing
- technical reading and writing
- publication editing
- press release writing
- specific technical skills such as:
- geographic information systems and computer
cartography
- database design and management
- computer programming
- web page design
- office automation system development
- word processing
- desktop publishing
- graphic design
- computer maintenance
- accounting
- personnel position management and trouble
shooting
- procurement and inventory techniques
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