Applied research that builds community agency, civic engagement, citizen ownership of decision making, empowerment, and a range of outreach/extension initiatives. Efforts are both domestic and international.

Seeks to enhance and expand applied research that builds capacity in local and regional communities to ensure community agency, civic engagement, citizen ownership of decision making, empowerment, and a range of adoption and diffusion of outreach/extension initiatives.  These efforts, both domestic and international, enhance individual, family and community resilience, self-efficacy, and social relationships.

Initiative 1: Community development, civic and social engagement, and capacity building research and program development

  • Goal: Resilience and Local Community Capacity Building
    Contribute to the emergence of community capacity and agency through applied community-based research and programming leading to civic and social engagement and abilities to ensure effective local and regional decision making.
  • Goal: The Diversity of Sustainability and Adaptability
    Develop research and programming that enhances local well-being, sustainable development, and adaptability that allows for sustained local community development across generations, demographic changes, and other conditions.

Initiative 2: Workforce Development and Education

  • Goal: Entrepreneurship and Creative Cultures
    Build the capacity of the workforce development approach to respond to state and local needs. Recognize entrepreneurial environments and develop approaches to match entrepreneurial traits to achieve personal career goals.
  • Goal: Education
    Connect and align state, local, and organization workforce, education, human service, and economic development policies to grow and sustain a healthy local economy. Integrate career-readiness skills into existing education curriculum. Provide professional development to cultivate successful learner engagement and program development in formal, informal, and non-formal education settings. Endorse strategies to learn competencies including practical experience utilizing experiential learning approach.

Research Projects

Faculty Working in this Area