Solving a problem in a research project came to mean more than just 45 percent of their course grade to students in Professor Leda McIntyre Hall's public management class when they "got into it and began to realize that our work could be very important to the citizens of Mishawaka," say Mat LaCluyze, Rachel Washington and Harlan Williams. The three, all seniors majoring in public affairs and criminal justice in the IUSB SPEA program, worked with the Mishawaka City Planning Department and the historic review board to develop a strategy to identify future historic districts in the city and to design an educational brochure geared to homeowners to encourage preservation of historic homes.
Regina Molnar, a junior in management, picked a project precisely because it related to her real-life experience as a student renter. Molnar, along with fellow students Nealie Gillis and Cathy Alwine, seniors majoring in management and health systems management, respectively, worked with the city planning department to propose solutions to encourage better housing code enforcement for maintenance of rental houses. In the process, they researched the comparative effectiveness of code enforcement programs in Mishawaka, South Bend and San Bernadino, Calif., to propose a mix of staffing, landlord training programs, repair agreements and code enforcement strategies.
"This partnership with the City of Mishawaka began last year as the result of a SMART grant to support service-learning research projects," says Hall. "I had been using case studies to help students think in 'real terms' for public service, but this program provides them with a 'real world' opportunity."
Service-learning research expands the student's knowledge of a particular subject through hands-on experience working, under the guidance of faculty, with individuals and organizations in the community to address real issues and problems. The results--and the benefits--for everyone involved can be both immediate and far reaching.
Students are put to the test, says Hall, but with support."The students are presented with a real problem, and they have to come up with three alternatives to debate, defend and choose to propose," she says. "After an initial orientation day, the students are on their own to meet with department heads, directors and employees. As the last step, they make a final presentation to the mayor and the city department heads, and even other agency representatives who may come from as far away as Indianapolis to hear the ideas."
Hall notes that the city departments generally have small staffs so they can really use the assistance, while at the same time the small size provides a good learning environment where students can feel and see that they make an impact.
For their part, LaCluyze, Washington, Williams and Molnar agree that while the projects were initially somewhat daunting and quite time consuming, in the end, "it was rewarding to put it all together, make the presentation and have them really listen to our findings and recommendations."
"It was good to have a practical experience rather than only study a 10-year-old case from a textbook," says Williams. "In the classroom you look to a book for an answer, but outside in the public sector, it's up to you to create the research and create the answer."
"We learned how things work and how you get things done," Washington comments. "We saw how much under staffing affects efficiency in doing a job, so we included that perspective in our report to the mayor, suggesting internships as one solution. We don't know what they'll think of some of our recommendations!" she says.
For his part, Mishawaka Mayor Robert C. Beutter has been both pleased and impressed with the students' work with the city.
"It's been very useful," says Beutter. "It's not been just an academic drill. I solicited each of our 24 department heads from police to utilities, engineering and finance, to send me real problems that we just haven't had a chance to deal with and for which we welcome help."
In addition to the historic preservation and code enforcement projects, Hall's SPEA students have undertaken research to design a safety incentive program for the department of human resources to encourage employees to practice preventive measures on the job; to develop a pollution prevention public awareness package for Mishawaka utilities; to evaluate current practices to determine how the parks department could operate more efficiently; and to recommend ways to restructure the way cases are assigned to detectives and evaluate the rank structure of the detective bureau for the police department.
"Our experience is that the students take the work very seriously," says Beutter. "And we take their recommendations seriously. Last year, we used the information from a leaf pickup survey, and this year, the housing code enforcement department is following through on some recommendations."
In fact, last year the recommendations of five out of eight student presentations were implemented into public policy. This year, of six proposals presented, two will be implemented into public policy and the rest are still under consideration.
"Sometimes we don't like everything we hear," Beutter says with good humor. "But the ideas and approaches can be applied to any problem. The end result is we can provide better service to our citizens."
Regina Molnar, a junior in management, picked a project precisely because it related to her real-life experience as a student renter. Molnar, along with fellow students Nealie Gillis and Cathy Alwine, seniors majoring in management and health systems management, respectively, worked with the city planning department to propose solutions to encourage better housing code enforcement for maintenance of rental houses. In the process, they researched the comparative effectiveness of code enforcement programs in Mishawaka, South Bend and San Bernadino, Calif., to propose a mix of staffing, landlord training programs, repair agreements and code enforcement strategies.
"This partnership with the City of Mishawaka began last year as the result of a SMART grant to support service-learning research projects," says Hall. "I had been using case studies to help students think in 'real terms' for public service, but this program provides them with a 'real world' opportunity."
Service-learning research expands the student's knowledge of a particular subject through hands-on experience working, under the guidance of faculty, with individuals and organizations in the community to address real issues and problems. The results--and the benefits--for everyone involved can be both immediate and far reaching.
Students are put to the test, says Hall, but with support."The students are presented with a real problem, and they have to come up with three alternatives to debate, defend and choose to propose," she says. "After an initial orientation day, the students are on their own to meet with department heads, directors and employees. As the last step, they make a final presentation to the mayor and the city department heads, and even other agency representatives who may come from as far away as Indianapolis to hear the ideas."
Hall notes that the city departments generally have small staffs so they can really use the assistance, while at the same time the small size provides a good learning environment where students can feel and see that they make an impact.
For their part, LaCluyze, Washington, Williams and Molnar agree that while the projects were initially somewhat daunting and quite time consuming, in the end, "it was rewarding to put it all together, make the presentation and have them really listen to our findings and recommendations."
"It was good to have a practical experience rather than only study a 10-year-old case from a textbook," says Williams. "In the classroom you look to a book for an answer, but outside in the public sector, it's up to you to create the research and create the answer."
"We learned how things work and how you get things done," Washington comments. "We saw how much under staffing affects efficiency in doing a job, so we included that perspective in our report to the mayor, suggesting internships as one solution. We don't know what they'll think of some of our recommendations!" she says.
For his part, Mishawaka Mayor Robert C. Beutter has been both pleased and impressed with the students' work with the city.
"It's been very useful," says Beutter. "It's not been just an academic drill. I solicited each of our 24 department heads from police to utilities, engineering and finance, to send me real problems that we just haven't had a chance to deal with and for which we welcome help."
In addition to the historic preservation and code enforcement projects, Hall's SPEA students have undertaken research to design a safety incentive program for the department of human resources to encourage employees to practice preventive measures on the job; to develop a pollution prevention public awareness package for Mishawaka utilities; to evaluate current practices to determine how the parks department could operate more efficiently; and to recommend ways to restructure the way cases are assigned to detectives and evaluate the rank structure of the detective bureau for the police department.
"Our experience is that the students take the work very seriously," says Beutter. "And we take their recommendations seriously. Last year, we used the information from a leaf pickup survey, and this year, the housing code enforcement department is following through on some recommendations."
In fact, last year the recommendations of five out of eight student presentations were implemented into public policy. This year, of six proposals presented, two will be implemented into public policy and the rest are still under consideration.
"Sometimes we don't like everything we hear," Beutter says with good humor. "But the ideas and approaches can be applied to any problem. The end result is we can provide better service to our citizens."