2023 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Community-University Relationships in Environmental Engineering Service-Learning Courses: Social Network Vectors and Modalities of Communication

Abstract
Purpose
The service-learning program, Project Local (anonym), seeks to benefit communities and educate students in engineering and STEM service-learning courses in three areas: brownfields, stormwater, and climate change [9]. People in local municipal government known as “community liaisons” connect universities and communities.
Emerging from the field of social capital, ‘social networks’ include relationships of people and access to useful resources available through them [17]. ‘Sociocentric’ models of social networks look at configurations of relationships between people in a network, as opposed to ‘egocentric’ models, which have a focal individual. We ground our analysis of Project Local in such sociocentric social network theory.
This exploratory study aims to offer a process of inquiry building (i.e., method of study) to understand the mechanisms through which community liaisons come to engage with university-community partnerships as well as offer a glimpse of the case at Project Local. Indeed, the approach and results presented may serve as a starting point to consider how such programs become connected to the community, and how recruitment may be augmented using bolstered networks to broaden access to underserved areas.

Methods
We surveyed community liaisons (n=12) who helped contribute to the previous ~100 student projects in the five years that the project had been underway. All liaisons (N=~30) were invited to take the survey via email sent from a Project Local instructor or the study’s project manager. The survey adapted Lin’s [19] position generator instrument wherein respondents were asked about ties to people in identified social positions (e.g., professor, STEM professional, municipal employee). Descriptive statistics were employed on closed-ended items, while thematic analysis was used on open-ended responses using a codebook based on the research question, survey items, and data itself [20]. Finally, a sociogram was crafted based on the social network data to illustrate the network connections.

Conclusions
Our results showed that the social networks of liaisons were dense, that is they were connected to the university via the partnership through several vectors (individuals and programs) at the university, organizational, and governmental level, with the ties often knowing each other. In addition, the social networks were quite homophilous, with many white, men, and upper-class members. At the same time, liaisons become connected to Project Local through various mechanisms (e.g., word of mouth, email listservs), but these initial connections were buttressed by existing relationships. Finally, liaisons reported on the multiple outcomes of the Project Local student projects, including receipt of EPA grants and recommendation for stormwater management practice changes and more. This study gives insight into the range of network configurations and access modalities through which community liaisons connected to Project Local and offers a mode of study for future work.