USU Community
Bridge Initiative
Education for the Public Good
Kate Stephens, Center for Civic Engagement & Service Learning;
Emily Malik, Logan City Conservation Coordinator
What is CBI?

CBI is an intentional, placebased approach to ServiceLearning that enables
students to utilize
knowledge obtained in the
classroom to tackle realworld problems identified
by the community.

Courses are matched with
community projects that
have been identified by
Logan City as high priority.
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.
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.
Dr. Courtney Flint, Sociology
Associate Professor
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.
The SCYP Model
 A one-year partnership
between the U of O
and a City or County
 Coursework spans
multiple departments
 Fee-for-Service
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.
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.
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.
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.
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
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
OBJECTIVE:
PRIZES:
DEVELOP AN EDUCATIONAL PUBLIC SERVICE ANNOUNCEMENT POSTER
ON HOW PEOPLE IN THE COMMUNITY MAY CONTRIBUTE TO KEEPING
CACHE VALLEY’S AIR HEALTHY, ESPECIALLY DURING THE WINTER
INVERSION MONTHS.
LOGAN HIGH STUDENTS WILL BE MENTORED BY ED STAFFORD AND USU
STUDENTS TO HELP DEVELOP HIGH QUALITY AND IMAGINATIVE POSTERS.
THERE WILL BE ONE GRAND PRIZE FROM LOGAN CITY OF $100, WITH
SEVERAL OTHER “SECOND” PRIZES INVOLVING $50 GIFT CARDS AND
OTHER EQUIVALENT AWARDS DONATED FROM LOCAL BUSINESSES.
WINNING POSTERS WILL BE RECOGNIZED AT A CEREMONY AT LOGAN
HIGH SCHOOL SOMETIME IN EARLY APRIL, AND THEY WILL BE REPRINTED
AND DISPLAYED THROUGHOUT THE COMMUNITY IN LOCAL CITY
BUILDINGS AND BUSINESSES TO EDUCATE THE PUBLIC ABOUT CLEAN AIR
IN TIME FOR EARTH DAY, APRIL 22, 2015.
RULES:
STUDENTS CAN WORK INDIVIDUALLY OR IN TEAMS (OF TWO OR THREE)
AND SUBMIT AS MANY POSTER ENTRIES AS THEIR IMAGINATIONS WILL
ALLOW.
ENTRIES ARE DUE: MARCH 27th 2015
TIMELINE:
TURN YOUR POSTER IDEAS IN TO YOUR TEACHER OR CLUB ADVISOR
LATE JANUARY: ED STAFFORD WILL INITIATE THE CONTEST BY GIVING HIS PRESENTATION , “SELLING CLEAN AIR,” TO VARIOUS INTERESTED CLASSES
OR CLUBS TO INSTRUCT STUDENTS ABOUT “GREEN MARKETING” AND “MESSAGE FRAMING” TO DEVELOP PROVOCATIVE, MOTIVATIONAL MESSAGES.
STUDENTS WILL BE GIVEN A HANDOUT BY ED STAFFORD ON SAVVY MARKETING MESSAGING AND ON LOGAN CITY ’S SPECIFIC OBJECTIVES
(E.G., ANTI-IDLING) AND OTHER CLEAN AIR TIPS/IDEAS THAT THEY CAN USE TO DEVELOP THEIR POSTER MESSAGES AND VISUALS .
FEBRUARY/MARCH: ED STAFFORD AND ROS BRAIN’S STUDENTS WILL OFFER ONGOING MENTORING OF THE STUDENTS AS THEY DEVELOP THEIR
SLOGAN IDEAS AND VISUALS (OVER 6 TO 8 WEEKS).
EARLY APRIL: JUDGES INCLUDING LOGAN CITY OFFICIALS, THE MAYOR, ROS BRAIN AND HER STUDENTS, ED STAFFORD AND OTHER COMMUNITY
MEMBERS FROM THE CACHE CLEAN AIR CONSORTIUM WILL SELECT THE BEST ENTRIES , AND A CEREMONY WILL BE HELD AT LOGAN HIGH TO
ANNOUNCE THE WINNERS. THE HERALD JOURNAL, UTAH PUBLIC RADIO, OTHER MEDIA, AND LOCAL BUSINESS AND COMMUNITY MEMBERS WILL BE
INVITED WHERE ALL THE POSTERS WILL BE DISPLAYED AT THE CEREMONY .
APRIL 22 (EARTH DAY): REPRINTS OF THE WINNING POSTERS (100 TO 200 POSTERS) WILL BE DISTRIBUTED THROUGHOUT LOGAN CITY FOR DISPLAY
IN THE LIBRARY, CITY BUILDINGS, LOCAL BUSINESS WINDOWS AND BULLETIN BOARDS, ETC. ORIGINAL POSTERS WILL REMAIN DISPLAYED AT LOGAN
HIGH SCHOOL.
QUESTIONS? CONTACT EDWIN STAFFORD ED.STAFFORD@USU.EDU
Dr. Randy Martin, Engineering
Assoc. Research Professor
Dr. Jessica Lucero, Social Work
Assistant Professor
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