SIUE Successful Communities Collaborative is Piloting its Program in Highland and Godfrey
Investigating ways to increase awareness and education about opioid abuse in Highland is just one way Southern Illinois University Edwardsville Successful Communities Collaborative (SSCC) is partnering with the public to tackle important community issues to advance local resilience and livability.
“The objective of the program is to focus SIUE’s most valuable resources, which are motivated students and experienced faculty on real-world issues facing communities,” said Tim Engelman, associate director of Educational Outreach and SSCC program director.
“SIUE Successful Communities Collaborative matches faculty and students from multiple disciplines, with regional communities who need to address projects of sustainability,” added Connie Frey Spurlock, PhD, associate professor in the Department of Sociology and Criminal Justice Studies and SSCC faculty director. “The initiative also fits SIUE Chancellor Randy Pembrook’s desire for the University to increase its High Impact Community Engagement Practices (HICEP).”
SIUE’s Successful Communities Collaborative initiative is fashioned after the Educational Partnerships for Innovation in Communities (EPIC) model created in 2009 by the University of Oregon. The University joined EPIC, a network of more than 30 colleges and universities in March.
“SIUE has always had service learnings projects,” Frey Spurlock said, “but the EPIC approach makes the impact greater for communities and allows more faculty and students to be involved and crosses all disciplines.”
“Specifically, in a typical year, SSCC will address 10-15 projects through 10-20 courses involving up to as many as 12 academic departments,” said Engelman. “More than 300 students could potentially be involved, dedicating up to more than 20,000 hours of student work.
“The work may focus on projects related to sustainable urban design, planning, cost-benefits analysis, environmental concerns, economic development, community health, legal and policy analysis, community engagement and more,” he said.
In Highland, students from the SIUE School of Nursing are currently doing needs assessment to lay the groundwork for future nursing students who will develop prevention and educational programming in regard to opioid abuse.
In Godfrey, students from the Department of Applied Health within the School of Education, Health and Human Behavior, will help establish a robust recycling program for the city.
SSCC’s pilot program began in fall 2017 and will conclude in May 2018. The inaugural, one-year program will start in fall 2018. In spring 2018, SIUE will request applications for other cities who want to be involved in the collaborative.
