2026 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Work in Progress: Economic and Institutional Impacts of an HBCU as a Community Anchor Institution

Historically Black Colleges and Universities are central to the education and economic life of Black communities in the United States. Beyond educating students, many of these institutions now see themselves as “community anchors” that shape local development, partnerships, and neighborhood conditions.
This work in progress study explores how community members connected to a public HBCU in the United States perceive its role as a community anchor institution. A structured questionnaire was administered to students and alumni living in nearby communities. The survey captured basic demographics and Likert scale ratings across four domains: anchor role and vision, economic impact, community partnerships and inclusion, and equity and future impact. Seventeen respondents completed the survey, most of whom identified as Black or of African heritage and reported at least a bachelor’s degree.
Across all four domains, mean scores fell between “agree” and “strongly agree”, with the strongest ratings in community partnerships and trust building. Respondents generally agreed that the university helps improve local neighborhoods, supports jobs and small businesses, and leaves the community better off overall. At the same time, more neutral and occasional disagree responses appeared on items related to local hiring, local procurement, and the influence of local voices in decision making.
These early findings suggest that the HBCU is viewed as an important and beneficial presence, while also pointing to specific areas where anchor strategies and communication could be strengthened. For engineering and technology education, the study offers an emerging measurement framework that can guide how HBCUs assess and deepen their community engaged STEM and technology programs.

Authors

Johnson Boluwatife Odumosu Morgan State University
Julius Ogaga Etuke http://orcid.org/0000-0002-2710-2803 Morgan State University [biography]

Julius Ogaga Etuke is a seasoned civil engineer and Ph.D. Candidate in Civil Engineering at Morgan State University, where his research focuses on sustainable and resilient infrastructure engineering. With over 15 years of consulting and project leadership experience, primarily in Nigeria's infrastructure landscape, he brings a robust, practical perspective to academic inquiry. His doctoral research is at the cutting edge of transportation resilience, integrating virtual and augmented reality (VR/AR), climate adaptation modeling, and data-driven solutions to improve disaster preparedness and risk mitigation in complex transportation systems. As a COREN-registered engineer and member of the Nigerian Society of Engineers, his work emphasizes impactful research and consultancy that bridges structural design principles with urgent sustainability and resilience challenges.
Dr. Oludare Adegbola Owolabi P.E. Morgan State University [biography]

Dr. Oludare Owolabi, a professional engineer in Maryland, joined the Morgan State University faculty in 2010. He is the director of the Sustainable Infrastructure Development, Smart Innovation and Resilient Engineering Research Lab, Department of Civil Engineering at Morgan State University
Dr. Uttam Gaulee http://orcid.org/0000-0002-3010-2812
Sarah Halleluyah Adeyemi Morgan State University [biography]

Sarah Halleluyah Adeyemi is a Master student in the Department of Bioinformatics at Morgan State University. She holds a B.Sc. in Microbiology from Mountain Top University, Nigeria. Her research interests focus on gene expression analysis, cardiovascular genomics, antimicrobial resistance, and the application of computational tools in biomedical research. She is also currently working towards being a Data Scientist.

Sarah has research experience from the Nigerian Institute of Medical Research, where she contributed to infectious disease diagnostics and antimicrobial studies. She also worked in the R&D division at FrieslandCampina WAMCO, gaining insight into food safety, quality control, and process validation. Currently, she serves as a graduate assistant on interdisciplinary research projects funded by NASA and ETA-STEM, supporting data analysis and science education initiatives.

She is a member of ASEE, IEEE, passionate about STEM education and is passionate about integrating bioinformatics and molecular biology to solve health-related challenges and promote inclusive scientific research.
Dr. Olushola V. Emiola-Owolabi http://orcid.org/https://0000-0002-8521-5769 Morgan State University [biography]

Olushola Emiola-Owolabi is an engineering pedagogy specialist, researching active learning in engineering classrooms and specializing in qualitative methods research on teaching and learning – particularly in remote synchronous learning environments.

Note

The full paper will be available to logged in and registered conference attendees once the conference starts on June 21, 2026, and to all visitors after the conference ends on June 24, 2026