Daba Coura Mbow
As the Undergraduate Research Opportunity Program (UROP) celebrates its 20th anniversary, a new opportunity for student research is launching that includes community engagement.
Building trust between the university and the community is a major goal of any higher education institution. Many community partners in Flint have been asking the university to contribute more to community-led efforts. Students have also expressed interest in learning more about what is happening in the community beyond what they are learning in the classroom. The Flint Community Engaged Research Project (FCERP) is a response to those growing expectations. and needs. Organizationally, FCERP may just be another dimension to the long-running Undergraduate Research Opportunity Program (UROP). But instead of working with faculty mentors, students will work directly with Flint community organizations and nonprofits. The goal is to allow Flint-based organizations to evaluate and learn more about the effectiveness of their initiatives and programs, by relying on the research skills and assistance of our students.
Some of the projects that come forward include research on the cognitive behavior of at-risk youth, how to build networking opportunities for youth development, and revitalizing or renovating housing and infrastructure across the city.
This kind of community-engaged research allows students to be involved in the creation of new knowledge and hands-on experience that often is generally unavailable in the classroom curriculum. This kind of research experience is more like an internship and will allow students to develop skills that connect theory and practice. FCERP will allow students to apply their energy and skills to help underfunded or understaffed community organizations carry out their goals. Students who participate in FCERP are eligible to receive up to $1,000 for each funding cycle they participate in the program, at a rate of $15/hour. The students who are part of this new program (FCERP) will be working on various projects, depending on the community organization and their focus. If all goes well, FCERP will create a footprint that extends the intellect and energy of UM-Flint students well beyond the downtown location of the campus and demonstrates to community partners that the university is their university too.
FCERP