Community Engagement Spotlight | Urban Research Grants

Theresa Barron-Mckeagney, Ph.D., and Jerry Deichert, M.A., issue requests for CPACS faculty to apply for research funding known as Urban Research Grants. The grants support research that relates to urban issues, with the potential to apply the findings into practice in Nebraska, Iowa and beyond.

Since 2014, 25 grants and a total of 250 thousand dollars have been awarded to CPACS faculty.

Faculty who receive funds for a project get a chance to match the urban mission and involve community partners, while they contribute to research and tenure goals. Dr. Barron-Mckeagney says that "faculty members get very engaged and fired up about what they are doing. They are doing research in a way that is impacting them and transformations are happening".

CPACS has always had an urban mission, and one way that mission is served is to perform applied research.

Projects are very diverse in purpose and method but have helped faculty gain opportunities to present at conferences, fund student workers and even graduate assistants to help complete their research. "In some cases, students have presented at a conference with faculty," says Deichert. Dr. Barron-Mckeagney and Deichert, feel that everyone is a winner because it gives faculty recognition that their work is valued.

One example can be found in a faculty member who researched the long-term impact for hoarding, which led to creating new policies and procedures within the area.