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Partnerships
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The UIC Neighborhoods Initiative integrates university-community partnerships with the classroom by hiring graduate students as research assistants for projects, either on-campus or off-campus, which UICNI is involved in. Below are a few descriptions and reflections about and from students on the partnerships they were a part of and how it enriched their education.
For 1995-1996, the graduate student interns placed at TRP included one intern from Architecture and one from Urban Planning. The Urban Planning intern had started working at The Resurrection Project (TRP) in January of 1995, beginning with mapping and identifying ownership of empty lots that were potential sites for new homes. For 1995-1996, she agreed with TRP to focus on collecting needed information about businesses along 18th St., from Wood St. to Racine., through a door-to-door survey, including ownership, size, number of employees, rental status, whether building was mixed-use, etc. TRP was interested in the possibility of rehabbing property for mixed-use, with lower level commercial and upper level residential. An architecture student intern, applying through Roberta Feldman and the City Design Center, was also placed at TRP; at the beginning of the year, she expected that TRP would assign her to work on one or two projects. Eighteenth St. Development Corp. (ESDC) took one architecture intern. His assignments at the beginning of the year were agreed upon by ESDC staff and a UIC Professor Roberta Feldman. They included block assessments and redesigning the facade of 5 key buildings that ESDC would choose for him as part of their plan to design attractive, unified business facades for the 18th St. retail district (Morgan to Wood).
Three students were placed in fall '95. An urban planning student worked with Resident's Development Corporation has been doing research on the potential for using some CHA buildings rumored to be scheduled for demolition for developing resident owned and operated cottage industries. An architecture student was placed with Near West Side Community Development Corporation (NWSCDC) on a project to investigate why construction bids from minority contractors tend to come in higher than non-minority contractors. This student had 12 years experience in the construction industry; the Executive Director of Near West asked a university faculty to recommend someone for this project, this person was recommended. Another urban planning student was placed with NWCDC in fall, 1995, working on a block by block map of the development area and on details of organizing the Executive Development Committee formed for developing specific commercial projects for the Madison Street commercial zone. A fourth Urban Planning intern was placed with the Chicago Rehab Network on the Development without Displacement project. Following is just one example of an architecture student's experience working on a project with one of our community partners. Laura Garcia worked at The Resurrection Project (TRP) for four semesters from Spring, 1996, through Spring, 1997. Her project was one that the City Design Center took over from the Voorhees Center. The original project for which she was hired was one that was not quite appropriate for the Community Outreach Partnership Centers (COPC) grant or for the Voorhees Center as an architectural studio project, yet it was one of those projects that had to be done before other projects. She has also worked on a project that was a joint venture with the UIC Health Center to create a community health center on 18th Street. She has done a sample program and site searching for buildings to house the planned center. Another major project she was involved with was the renovation of a church complex (St. Vitus) that TRP acquired (to create The Guadalupano Cultural Center, among other things). She is researching how to rehabilitate the building and arranging some practical aspects of clearing and utilizing the space in the meantime. At the end of the COPC grant extension, she was researching the possibility of its landmark designation. Garcia has essentially become absorbed into the organization, with her position there being characterized as the architect on staff; if something comes up, like they need somebody to take a look at a building or do this, that, or another thing, they will reach out to her. Earlier in 1996, when she was doing the housing investigations there was a level of confidentiality that made it hard for her to report back about her work. Like many of the interns to whom evaluation project staff spoke, Garcia is very protective about any information that might be considered proprietary as regards TRP.
During the 2001-2002 academic year, graduate student Claudia Saravia spent about 20 hours a week researching the housing needs of Latino senior citizens in Pilsen. Assigned to The Resurrection Project (TRP), a non-profit housing developer, Saravia produced a report demonstrating the need for senior housing for Latinos in the community. As a result, TRP is seeking funding to conduct a formal feasibility study to move forward on the project. An urban planning major and research assistant for the UIC Neighborhoods Initiative (UICNI), Saravia was assigned to TRP as part of UICNI's commitment to provide real-life experience to students and valuable assistance to community organizations. "The role of the university is critical to organizations such as mine," says Guacolda Reyes, asset management director at The Resurrection Project. "We don't have the financial resources to pay staff members to do research and analysis." Reyes points out that research is essential for the organization to make good decisions about future projects. "Are we going to develop a project and then find out we don't have a market?" she asks rhetorically. During the 2002-2003 academic year, UICNI urban planning graduate student Ruben Feliciano will survey tenants at 123 apartments developed by TRP in Pilsen and Little Village to assess how living in better housing has affected their lives. Opportunities such as these set UIC apart. "One of UIC's assets, and one of the reasons we're able to attract students, is that they can come here and while they are gaining textbook knowledge in the classroom, they can apply what they're learning and get real working experience," explains UICNI Associate Director Atanacio Gonzalez. Todd Wolcott, a graduate student in urban planning with a focus on community development, says his work setting up computers and selecting ESL (English as a Second Language) software for the Instituto del Progreso Latino has helped him refine his career goals. "I knew I wanted to do something in community organizing, but it [the assistantship] is shining a flashlight on it," he says. Gonzalez interviews
graduate students to match their skills with the needs of the community
organizations. Their tuition is waived, and they receive a monthly stipend.
Ideally students Recently graduate students have been assigned to community technology centers at Gads Hill Center in Pilsen and Westside Employment Education Center on the Near West Side. UICNI helped the two groups obtain a grant from the Illinois Department of Commerce and Community Affairs to purchase computer workstations with Internet access. Research assistants set up and maintain the equipment. "Computers need constant maintenance," Gonzalez points out. "It's difficult for organizations to find the staff to do that. We can provide a student who is very able and has experience working with computers," he adds. Elvira Reyes, a graduate student in urban planning, taught a class for middle school students with two other UICNI graduate students at Gads Hill Center last spring. The students learned Dreamweaver, a web design software program. "[The class] gives students the opportunity to use technology that they couldn't access on their own. That's very important," says Reyes, 28. She also maintained the Neighborhoods Initiative website. Youngjoo Kim, a doctoral student in education, is conducting an evaluation for the Westside Consortium of Childcare Home Providers Training Institute at Malcolm X College. The institute, which was created by UIC in partnership with West Side Consortium, trains people to be home day care providers. "Most of them are poor, and many don't have high school degrees. The program provides classes, but also provides an opportunity for them to be reconnected with learning," points out Kim, 31. She sees her work at the institute as important for her own development as an educator. "If [educators] lose the connection with the outside world, the knowledge they learn at the university is not useful," she says. Her assistantship offers her the opportunity to engage with others. "From engaging people in dialogue, we learn." Dena Al-Khatib, development supervisor for Bickerdike Redevelopment Corp. since 1999, credits her research assistantship at UICNI with significantly advancing her career. Al-Khatib, then a graduate student in urban planning, was assigned to the Near West Side Community Development Corp., where she worked on certifying homebuyers for an affordable housing program. Just before she graduated, the executive director of Near West Side CDC resigned, and she was offered the job of acting executive director. Al-Khatib held that position for about six months, before moving to Bickerdike. "Spending time at Near West Side and getting that experience was really important," she says. Even through it was a short-term permanent position, it gave me the leverage to get the job I have now."
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