SSW Social Innovation Fund

Fall 2023

Project: Developing a Centralized Database and AI-Assisted Analysis for the Community Learning Lab

Team: Tony Hillen and Katie Shumway

The team will develop a database to enhance data collection to support CLL’s educational, research, and engagement capabilities. This initiative will introduce a sophisticated technology integration to streamline data collection and reduce errors, enabling quick, informed decisions. The project also includes an AI-assisted analysis of a decade’s worth of community projects to identify trends and needs, ensuring the database’s relevance to community partners. Funding will facilitate the development of a database prototype and content analysis. This initiative will significantly benefit faculty and students by providing accessible, detailed community partner data, thereby strengthening community ties and enhancing the visibility and impact of the CLL. Increased database use, collaborative feedback, and perceptions of CLL’s profile will evaluate the project’s success.

Project: Enhancing Research Visibility and Student Engagement through the Creation of Collaborative Research Labs/Teams at the School of Social Work

Team: Rachel Garthe, Janet Liechty, Carol Wilson-Smith, Kate Wegmann, Chi-Fang Wu

This initiative aims to create and promote research labs/teams to enhance the School’s research visibility, student engagement, and collaborative culture. Activities include consulting services for faculty to design research labs/teams, developing webpages for these labs, organizing events to showcase the labs/teams, and marketing materials to promote the labs further. With three existing research labs, this initiative seeks to bolster training, research, and engagement missions within the School, improving connections within the campus and community. The proposal targets four key impact areas: increasing research visibility, student recruitment, creating a BSW-to-graduate program pipeline, and fostering a community of intellectual inquiry. Success will be evaluated through student learning contracts, retention numbers, website traffic, and faculty and student satisfaction surveys.