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Community Based Organizations in Trenton-Ewing
Team Faculty Mentors: Diane Bates and Elizabeth Borland
Student Collaborator: Susan Cosgrove
The purpose of this project was to determine the need for community-based research partnerships between the faculty and students at TCNJ and local community and non-profit organizations. While TCNJ already has strong relationships with some organizations through the Bonner Center, this project sought to gain a better understanding of the population of organizations in the Trenton and Ewing area. The first step was to compile a database of the community and non-profit organizations in this region. From this list of almost 800 organizations, we randomly selected 83 to contact. I designed a brief phone survey to gather information about whether the organizations have worked with students in the past, whether they would be willing to work with students and faculty in the future, and if they have any immediate research needs or projects. I also designed and completed a phone survey for four organizations that worked with student groups for an applied sociology class last fall.
The work I have done on this project is just a step towards incorporating community-based research at the College. During the phone interviews, a number of organizations expressed great interest and enthusiasm at the idea of partnering with the college. Some even mentioned specific projects that could utilize TCNJ students and faculty. The next steps in this project will involve determining faculty interest in partnerships and finding ways to pair up organizations with members of the College community.
