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Funded projects from previous years
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2006
2005
UCP Grants
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Forgetting:
A Narrative/Documentary -
Digital Cinema Project
Professor Chris
Strobel, Communication Department
with
Greater Cincinnati Chapter of the Alzheimer’s
Association
$40,460
"Forgetting" is a digital
cinema project created for the purpose of supporting and educating the
families of Alzheimer's Disease patients about the social, emotional and
practical impact that the disease has on their lives as it slowly
decimates their loved one. By combining a narrative storyline with
documentary-style interviews, a more complete view of the impact of
Alzheimer's Disease on the family will be achieved.
Northern Kentucky
Nursing Research
Collaborative
Professor
Judi Frerick, School of Nursing & Health Profession with
St. Elizabeth Medical Center, St. Luke Hospital, River
Hills Healthcare, Kentucky Nurses Association
$45,906
The Northern Kentucky
Nursing Research Collaborative will conduct research workshops,
seminars, and professional meetings to introduce nursing research to
novice researchers and students while providing advanced research
opportunities for experienced nurses. It will prepare nursing graduates
to function as researchers, expanding their employment opportunities and
career mobility, while assisting community healthcare partners in
developing nursing research at their facilities and addressing the
shortage of nursing researchers in Northern Kentucky.
Pathways to Nursing
Professor Adele Dean and colleagues from the School of Nursing & Health
Professions with Simon Kenton High School, St. Elizabeth Medical Center,
Riverhills Healthcare, Inc.
$61,484
The "Pathways to Nursing"
program intends to encourage high school students to pursue careers in
nursing by providing both academic and clinical experiences that include
participation in the Freshman Academy at Simon Kenton High School, Nurse
Career Days, and Summer Nurse Camp. By inspiring and motivating high
school students to choose nursing, this program will improve the health
of the Northern Kentucky Region in future years.
Reducing
Foster Care Reentry
Professors
Mary
Baggett, Department of Mathematics & Ken Engebretson, Department of
Social Work & Human Services
with
Northern Kentucky Office of the Cabinet for Health &
Family Services; and the University of Kentucky Northern Kentucky MSW
Program
$67,150
To reduce the occurrences
of children returning to foster care after being reunited with their
natural families, the NKU Burkardt Consulting Center and Department of
Counseling, Human Services & Social Work will team up with the Kentucky
Cabinet for Health and Family Services to provide case workers with
guidelines for identifying children whose families require special
attention prior to reuniting them. This will involve developing a
profile of children who exited and reentered the foster care system to
determine the statistical differences between children who are
successfully reunited and those who aren't, so caseworkers can develop
more effective procedures for assisting the latter.
Building Educational Success for Foster Care Youth
Professors Willie Elliott, Department of Social Work & Human Services and Lowell Schechter, Chase College of Law
With the Children's Law Center; The Point One-by-One Advocacy; Cabinet for Health and Family Services
$74,994
This partnership
will develop a special education advocacy project for foster children
with disabilities. The project will provide advocacy services and
training to parents, kinship caretakers, and foster parents on special
education rights. It will include curriculum development of a special
education law course offered to law, social work, and education
students, opportunities for civic engagement, and service learning by
students working directly with foster children and families.
Library Link: Bettering Life In, Life Out
Professors Laura Sullivan, Steely Library and Melissa Moon, Deparment of Political Science & Criminal Justice
With Kenton County Detention Center
$ 74,983
This three-way
partnership between the W. Frank Steely Library, the Political Science
and Criminal Justice Department, and the Kenton County Detention Center
is meant to insure inmates' access to information resources, support
life skill development and facilitate a smoother reintegration into
society upon release from jail. “Library Link: Bettering Life In, Life
Out” is a two-year project that will establish a jail library as the
mechanism for inmate access to these resources. It’s based on research
that shows an activity such as reading not only improves the "in jail"
environment, but that an educated prisoner returns more productively to
society and with a lower chance of returning to jail. As inmates return
to the general community, the personal life skills they will have gained
through this project are certain to impact the larger community.
Working Together to Build Better Brains
Professor David Agard, Department of Mathematics & Computer Science
With Campbell County School District
$53,689
This partnership
between the Campbell County School District and the Burkardt Consulting
Center in the NKU Department of Mathematics and Computer Science will
enhance an award-winning program called "Building Better Brains" (BBB)
operated in the Campbell County schools. Its activities have included
introducing chess and Spanish into the curriculum at all grade levels, a
breakfast program, and promotion of literacy from birth onwards. The
proposed project has two major thrusts: (1) a baseline evaluation and
analysis of BBB components that have already been implemented and (2) a
plan for the continued evaluation of the program and of specific
component changes which will occur after the grant period ends. These
goals will be met by faculty and student consultants from NKU working
closely with colleagues from Campbell County schools.
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2006
2005 |
2004
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UCP Grants
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Battery Hooper
Professor James A. Ramage, History & Geography
With the City of Fort Wright
$32,000
P-12 education is going to be enhanced by including area teachers and
students in restoration and public display of one of the region’s Civil
War defensive fortifications, Battery Hooper in Fort Wright. From NKU,
about sixty Archaeology students and at least twenty-four History
students will be involved in research and development. Permanent public
exhibit of the site by the City of Fort Wright will provide visitors a
model of what a community can accomplish working together in a
threatening crisis comparable to terrorist attacks today.
Expanded Women’s Health Care Initiative
Professor Marian Cummins, Nursing & Health Professions
With Transitions, Inc.; Welcome House; Women’s Crisis Center
$59,100
Health disparities continue to exist among segments of the population.
Women in vulnerable situations, such as those in treatment for substance
abuse, those who are homeless, and those who are victims of intimate
partner violence, are particularly at risk for health problems and
disparities. Due to multiple barriers to care these women have
significant difficulty utilizing the health care system, and may use it
inappropriately. Organizations that interface with these clients can
improve services and help eliminate disparities through a collaborative
approach.
Licking River Watershed Environmental Information System
Professor William Hansen,History & Geography
With Licking River Watershed Watch
$30,000
The Licking River Watershed Watch has been conducting monitoring and
educational activities in the Licking River Watershed since 1995, and
has trained hundreds of volunteers in water quality sampling. During the
most recent sampling only 8 % of the streams samples met the US EPA
classification of unimpaired for either drinking water, swimming or
aquatic life. The valuable information collected by this group is not
widely distributed and is not available to investigators, environmental
regulators or the general public. This project will create an
Environmental Information System to store, manage and analyze the wealth
of data collected in the Licking Basin.
Updating Community Education Programs about Mental Disorders
Professor Perilou Goddard, Psychology
With Mental Health Association of Northern Kentucky
$24,702
Mental disorders are among the most stigmatized of all public health
problems, but the stigma may be reduced through community education. In
1992, Perilou Goddard was awarded a three-year Science Education
Partnership Award by the national Institute of Mental Health that
allowed her to work with the staff of the mental Health Association of
Northern Kentucky to develop a series of empirically based education
programs about mental disorders. Although they have been demonstrably
effective in significantly reducing the community’s stigma toward mental
illness, the programs require frequent updating. The two-year project
will allow Dr. Goddard to train MHA staff and NKU students engaged in
service learning with the MHA to keep the programs constantly up to
date.
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2004 |
2003
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UCP Grants
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Energize Your Life;Enhancing Senior Wellness and Fitness
Professor Mary Kirk, Educational Specialties
With Campbell County Human Services
$28,640
In
2011, baby boomers will turn 65 and the population of seniors in the
United States will skyrocket. The years leading up to 2011 may be
considered a grace period for addressing the health and wellness of
seniors. The Energize Your Life program will be designed to meet
these needs. The goals of the program will be for area seniors to attain
and maintain higher levels of positive and proactive wellness behaviors
and to provide an effective service-learning program for NKU students.
Expected outcomes include: Increased student knowledge and experience in
developing and facilitating senior wellness programs; increased wellness
program opportunities, quality of life, balance, functional abilities,
and physical activity levels of participants in Campbell County and
beyond; and the creation of a strong collaboration between NKU and
Campbell County Human Services for the promotion of increased wellness
and physical activity for seniors.
Expanding School-based Prevention Strategies
Professor Louise Niemer, Nursing
With the Newport Independent Schools School Based Health Center Collaborative
$30,174
It
has been demonstrated that better academic outcomes correlate with fewer
days of school missed. Additionally, lower rates of absenteeism improve
per diem state funding. Multiple school days can be missed because
health resources are not available, or a provider cannot immediately
accommodate the child. Additionally, parents may be uncertain if a
child’s status warrants missing school and/or a visit to a provider.
School-based health clinics (SBHC) were implemented in the 1990s in
response to high rates of absenteeism and hardships created on families
who lacked resources. Their efficacy in this regard has been
demonstrated. The Newport school system serves a predominantly
impoverished inner city population. It established two SBHCs in 2000
which have proven effective in providing timely care for common health
problems, promoting healthy behaviors, and reducing school absenteeism.
This grant request for $30,000 will serve to establish a mutually
beneficial partnership between the Newport SBHC and NKU.
Homeless Youth Project
Professor Lowell Schechter, Chase College of Law
With the Children’s Law Center
$62,572
Homeless youths have many special needs, including finding safe housing,
continuing their education, and overcoming the legal disabilities
imposed on minors. Far too often, current laws, regulations and policies
either do not adequately address the needs, or are detrimental to the
interests, of homeless children. This collaborative project between NKU
and the Children’s Law Center seeks to help provide remedies by:
drafting specific proposals for reforming statutory provisions,
administrative regulations and agency policies which do not adequately
address the needs of homeless children; developing special training
materials and workshops targeted at professionals and administrators
whose actions effect homeless children; developing educational material
and programs more suitable for the community at large; providing direct
legal representation to homeless youths who are not receiving mandated
educational, housing and other services; and undertaking a study
assessing the special needs of poor and homeless immigrant children.
A Partnership of Northern Kentucky University’s Department of Mathematics and Computer Science and the Kentucky School Based Health Center (SBHC) Collaborative.
Professor Andy E. Long, Mathematics and Computer Science
With the Kentucky School Based Center Collaborative
$74,666
The
Kentucky School Based Health Center (SBHC) Collaborative represents
twelve school based health centers (SBHCs) serving approximately 9000
students in Kentucky. These centers wish to collect data consistent
across centers to share with individuals and groups interested in SBHCs,
as well as to allow comparisons across centers. This data will describe
the unique characteristics of each host school, student demographics,
service provision and outcomes unique to school based health center
services. The data set and resulting analysis will enable individual
centers to provide funding agencies, community organizations, medical
partners, and legislators with quantitative information about the
quality of the services the SBHC provides. The Department of Mathematics
and Computer Science, Mathematical and Statistical Consulting Center (MSCC),
and the Kentucky SBHC will evaluate programs across Kentucky. This will
be carried out through four project components: design of an appropriate
software tool for collecting essential data, design of the appropriate
analyses for measuring and demonstrating effectiveness, collection of
the data, and statistical evaluation of the results.
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2003 |
2002
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UCP Grants
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Communicating the Dangers of Household Hazardous Waste: A Strategic Framework for Northern Kentucky and Beyond
Professor Matthew Shank, Management and Marketing
With Northern Kentucky Household Hazardous Waste Coalition
$26,336
Nearly all households generate hazardous wastes that can harm human
health or the environment if improperly handled. In fact, Americans
generate 1.6 million tons of Household Hazardous Waste (HHW) per year
and Northern Kentuckians are no different. The Northern Kentucky
Household Hazardous Waste Action Coalition (NKHHWAC) was formed in 2001
to address the concerns surrounding HHW. The coalition seeks to make the
citizens of Northern Kentucky aware of the dangers of hazardous waste
and ultimately changing their behaviors with respect to the disposal of
household hazardous waste. To that end, NKHHWAC and Dr. Matt Shank,
Chair of the Management and Marketing Department at NKU, formed a
partnership to develop a systematic framework that includes a
pre-assessment, communications plan design, execution of the
communications plan, followed by a post-assessment. It is anticipated
that the outcome of this year-long project will be a model for assessing
and communicating the dangers of HHW in Northern Kentucky and in other
communities.
Health Scan Health Screening: Community Area Network
Professor Denise Robinson, Nursing and Health Professions
With Northern Kentucky Independent Health Network
$56,636
Often low income people do not receive the necessary screenings for
various conditions and diseases, as they lack health insurance. This
project developed a Health Screening Community Area Network (HEALTH
SCAN) Partnership to provide screening to 1,000 underserved residents.
They are screened for skin, colorectal, breast, and prostrate cancers,
as well as for heart disease, osteoporosis and chronic lung disease.
The project provides training, screening, and data analysis while also
providing service-learning opportunities for NKU nursing students. This
project works to create healthier communities and overcome complex
societal problems through collaborative solutions that bring communities
and institutions together as equal partners and build upon the assets,
strengths, and capacities of each.
Kenton County GIS-Based Brownfields Inventory and Database
Professor Macel M. Wheeler, History and Geography
With Northern Kentucky Area Planning Commission
$25,128
The
Department of History and Geography, the Northern Kentucky Area Planning
Commission, and the Environmental Resource Management Center are working
together to compile a brownfields inventory and database for Kenton
County. Brownfields are historically commercial/industrial properties
that are vacant or underutilized due to real or perceived environmental
contamination. Re-development of brownfields contributes to many facets
of community vitality, including economic, public health, environmental,
aesthetic, and other interests. The creation of an inventory is the
first step to implement a deliberate, community-wide program to promote
and facilitate brownfields re-development. The outcomes for this
project include a Geographic Information System-based brownfields
inventory and database for Kenton County, over 500 project hours of
service-learning experiences for NKU students, and public availability
and presentation of the data. The ultimate goal is to create a product
that assists planners, economic development professionals, citizens,
investors, and other interested parties to re-develop brownfields and
return them to environmentally safe and productive use.
A Pilot Project to Establish a Partnership between Local Grant Makers and NKU to Address the Evaluation Needs of Greater Cincinnati/ Northern Kentucky Nonprofit Agencies
Professor Joan Ferrante, Sociology
With partnership of 13 agencies (Evaluation Planning Committee)
$22,800
In
recent years foundations and other grant-makers have come to expect that
grant-seekers and recipients demonstrate that a project is worth the
investment. However, most grant making bodies do not have an evaluation
office or evaluation staff. As a result, grant-making programs struggle
with how to build the evaluation capacity of the nonprofits with which
they work, support their evaluation efforts, and improve the quality of
the information reported to the grant-makers. This project pilots a
national model for collaboration between grant-makers, both public and
private, and a local university to address the need in the local
nonprofit community for training and technical assistance regarding
evaluation.
Silver Grove: Still Waiting for a Floodwall
Professor Gary Clayton, Economics
With Silver Grove City Commissioners
$26,040
The
city of Silver Grove, Kentucky is located on the Ohio River and lacks a
necessary floodwall to protect property from flooding. NKU’s Department
of Economics and the city of Silver Grove are conducting a cost-benefit
study designed to evaluate the feasibility of a floodwall to protect the
city from the periodic ravages of the Ohio River. This partnership
project provides an opportunity for faculty to apply academic expertise
and theoretical models to a real-world problem. It gives NKU students an
opportunity to work with faculty and community leaders in a way that
enriches their education as they earn academic credit toward their
degrees, and the study addresses a problem that tears at the very heart
and fabric of a valued neighboring community.
Student Achievement and Retention Program
Professor Carol Ryan, Education
With Holmes Junior High, Alternative Center for Education and Retention and the Housing Authority of Covington
$37,680
Public schools are serving a growing number of students who are
“at-risk” for not completing or benefiting from their school
experiences. Students are considered at risk for various reasons:
socio-economic status, race, ethnicity, language and cultural barriers,
and other factors. On a regular basis, community agencies that address
this issue contact NKU’s Department of Elementary, Middle and Secondary
Programs to requests NKU students as mentors/tutors for area P-12
students. Typically the community agency asks for volunteers, as they
are not able to pay a stipend to the NKU student. Unfortunately, there
are very few, if any, NKU Education students that can volunteer due to
their various commitments (study, work, and/or family). The S.T.A.R.
(Student Achievement and Retention) program is an attempt to alleviate
this problem by providing modest stipends to NKU student mentors. These
mentors serve in several community agencies that have expressed a need
and desire to work with NKU.
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2002 |
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