1. USU Community Bridge Initiative Education for the Public Good Kate Stephens, Center for Civic Engagement & Service Learning; Emily Malik, Logan City Conservation Coordinator

2. What is CBI?  CBI is an intentional, place- based approach to Service- Learning that enables students to utilize knowledge obtained in the classroom to tackle real- world problems identified by the community.  Courses are matched with community projects that have been identified by Logan City as high priority.

3. Win-Win Partnership  Cities often lack the funds and capacity to implement innovative projects.  Ideas and human capacity abound in universities. College students have professional-level training and a need for practical work.  CBI brings these two entities together in an exciting interdisciplinary partnership.

4. A Vision for the Future  CBI is much more than technical assistance; it is direct engagement, knowledge transfer, and visioning.  The model combines faculty expertise with student enthusiasm to offer the community a vision for the future.

5. Dr. Courtney Flint, Sociology Associate Professor

6. Background  The CBI model is loosely based on the University of Oregon’s nationally recognized Sustainable City Year Program (SCYP).  In April 2014, a team from Logan attended the University of Oregon’s SCYP annual conference to learn more about how this model might be applied to our university and community.

7. The SCYP Model  A one-year partnership between the U of O and a City or County  Coursework spans multiple departments  Fee-for-Service

8. The CBI Model  Like SCYP, CBI offers a multidisciplinary approach to tackling community identified projects.  Logan is somewhat geographically isolated and many students have employment and family commitments - not feasible for USU students to travel outside of Cache Valley on a regular basis.  We wanted CBI to bridge the University-Community divide, and strengthen communication and establish greater reciprocity.  CBI is a long-term commitment to a single community (Logan) rather than one-year commitments to multiple communities.

9. How does it Work?  CBI matches a multidisciplinary set of courses to a community identified set of projects.  Process – Logan City employees submitted project proposals to the mayor’s office. The top 10 projects were selected and USU matched them with faculty and courses.  Students and faculty work with community leaders to define meaningful solutions, develop action plans and implement projects directly relevant to their course curriculum.

10. Results  As a result…students are given greater depth to their course content and come away with the experience of addressing locally relevant issues, and…  Cities gain the knowledge and inspiration needed to transform their communities.

11. 2015 Pilot Year  This spring, 7 classes are working on 4 projects.  This fall, we plan to have at least 10 classes working on 6 more City identified projects.  A community survey is being conducted by an ENVS graduate student, and the results will be used to inform the City as they identify and prioritize projects. The survey results will give project selection greater validity.  Graduate student is also surveying students and faculty participating in the first pilot semester and will utilize these results to make program recommendations.

12. Benefits to Logan City  Thousands of hours of work from students - increased capacity  Cutting edge ideas - a fresh look at projects with a lot of energy behind it.  The program adds breadth to the project - several disciplines may look at a project for a unique outcome  An opportunity to test the water and look at riskier solutions  Increased energy (Internally and as External Engagement)  Good Press  Re-trains staff  Progression of ideas we’ll be using for years to come

13. Air Quality: A CBI Pilot  Roslynn Brain: Assistant Professor in Sustainable Communities – College of Natural Resources.  Randy Martin: Research Associate Professor – College of Engineering  Courtney Flint: Associate Professor – College of Humanities & Social Sciences  Edwin Stafford: Associate Professor – Huntsman School of Business  Emily Malik: Conservation Coordinator - Logan City Environmental Department

16. Dr. Randy Martin, Engineering Assoc. Research Professor

17. Dr. Jessica Lucero, Social Work Assistant Professor

18. Want more info? Kate Stephens, Asst. Director USU Center for Civic Engagement & Service-Learning kate.stephens@usu.edu Emily Malik Logan City Conservation Coordinator emily.malik@loganutah.org