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Research

Recent Publications | Ongoing Projects | The Center for Applied Community Research and Development

The Center for Applied Community Research and Development

The Center for Applied Community Research and Development (CACRD) brings partners together to engage in high-quality, collaborative community-based research to enhance localized community development and economic improvement. The CACRD supports the study and creation of solutions for important community-related concerns and strives to build stronger and closer ties between communities and researchers are the University. The community-based, participatory research combines methods of inquiry with community capacity-building strategies to bridge the gap between research and practice. This approach to conducting research requires close collaboration in the identification of research questions and topics, research design, dissemination of research findings and implementation of recommendations.

The CACRD promotes cross-disciplinary work by serving as a venue through which researchers who are already engaged in community-based research can review each other’s work and engage others in discussions about projects with community members.

The CACRD goals:

• enhance the quality of life for community residents by engaging in applied research on problems that are important to them
• promote the advancement of community-based participatory research in academic disciplines through publications, technical assistance and research support for scholars
• engage communities of interest in proposal development and dissemination to improve discussions and dialogue among all members in local settings

Student Involvement in the CACRD

Students benefit from their involvement through course work, community projects, internships, graduate assistantships and volunteer work.

CACRD Projects

• Performance Budget Project – a collaboration of Schuyler County departments, CACRD research associates and students created a new county performance budget and made it accessible to the public online

 

• Center City Coordination Program (C3) – Binghamton University has partnered with over 60 community organizations, agencies and public offices to assess and address the crucial needs faced by the population living in the center city of Binghamton, N.Y. (districts 7 and 9) to help revitalize neighborhoods within the target zone by improving the overall quality of life for the residents. The project focuses on the coordination of existing services for optimal use, expanding outreach and referral capabilities and meeting unmet needs with additional service and resource development.

Interns working with the C3 Program have the opportunity to apply their academic knowledge and interests to real-life situations experienced by the many diverse populations living and working in downtown Binghamton.

Internship opportunities include:

• conduct door-to-door surveys of residents, businesses and community organizations
• assist area agencies in assessing available community resources, promote ownership, build cooperation and increase community capacity for prevention and intervention through planning, coordination and implementation
• work with C3 staff and the C3 Karen Wenzel Community Center in downtown Binghamton
• enter and analyze data collected by C3 or other area organizations
• create, develop, present and facilitate programs that address the identified needs in the community. These programs will be offered to the community and presented at the C3 Karen Wenzel Community Center, community meetings or by invitation of various service providers in the area
• work with community agencies that have requested C3 interns including the YWCA, Urban League, Broome County Youth Bureau, AVRE, HAMA Associates, Inc. and others
• design and teach a course in your major to area children or tutor GED candidates
• translate area agency materials into Spanish
• design and teach computer classes at area technology centers
• Work with area youth on various arts and multicultural initiatives
• create, design and maintain websites for C3 and other service providers in the targeted area
• participate with after-school educational programs by helping with homework and/or tutoring area youth
• partake in health and well-being initiatives that address the needs of the residents in the targeted area

Initiatives are also being developed in conjunction with Binghamton University’s Decker School of Nursing.
           
Internships offer a variety of opportunities to learn and participate in the revitalization of a community. The internships can be designed as two- or four-credit courses depending on the number of hours students want to contribute. This internship is for credit only. Volunteers are also needed.

 

For additional information, contact the C3 Karen Wenzel Community Center at (607)777-4862 or jcenter@binghamton.edu.

• Capacity Building for Shared Services Project – makes use of lessons learned from earlier initiatives and, if funded, will create a framework that will help expand shared services agreements among municipalities throughout the county.

 

• Multidisciplinary Community-Based Inquiry: Uniting Participatory Research with Professional Practice – this symposium dealt with issues associated with applied community-based research. It provided a forum for meaningful, scholarly exchange on the roles of various models of community-based research within the University setting. It helped establish a network of multidisciplinary scholars who engage in community research within New York state and the Northeast region and developed the capacity to form broader research foci. The overall goal of the symposium was to build stronger professional ties among faculty across institutions, particularly those from public health, public administration, social work, education, nursing, human development, political science, management, geography and other social sciences.

CACRD Policies and Principles

• Community-University Engagement – community members actively participate in all CACRD activities, from the generation of ideas to the establishment of research priorities and research design to the dissemination and use of research outcomes

 

• Openness – the CACRD publishes all requests for research that it receives and publicly documents the actions that those requests generate. All research produced under its auspices is disseminated to anyone who requests it
  

• Community-Based Participatory Approach – the CACRD encourages the development of community-based participatory research as a respected research program within the academic community

 

• Interdisciplinary Focus – the CACRD promotes the use of multiple disciplinary and methodological approaches to address important practical and theoretical issues
  
  

• Student involvement – the CACRD provides students with authentic research and participatory experiences

 

• Mutual Respect – informed and democratic decision-making, including community-based participatory research, requires participants to value all individual and collaborative contributions to the enterprise; the Advisory Council meets regularly off campus to accommodate the needs of community members.

• Integration – the CACRD develops opportunities to integrate research, teaching and service activities using a unified and collaborative approach