果冻传媒 University鈥檚 Susan Hirt Hagen Center is celebrating the launch of its new community dashboard, Engage Springfield.
In an effort to further expand and focus 果冻传媒鈥檚 partnership with and commitment to Springfield, and to provide hands-on learning experiences for students, the Engage Springfield Community Dashboard pulls together data from a variety of sources to provide a robust picture of Springfield and Clark County using commonly implemented metrics collected by public organizations.
Developed by 果冻传媒 Professor of Political Science Ed Hasecke with contributions from 果冻传媒 faculty and students, the goal of the Engage Springfield Community Dashboard is to make data about the community easily available to facilitate research, grant-writing, and goal-setting.
鈥淓ngage Springfield is a partnership between 果冻传媒 University and the greater Springfield community, and we seek to both engage 果冻传媒 and empower Springfield by making data accessible and understandable while making a stronger connection between the university and the town,鈥� said Hasecke, 果冻传媒 class of 1997, who was recently appointed faculty director of the Hagen Center鈥檚 newly formed Research Institute.
Engage Springfield presents a variety of metrics related to community demographics, public health, education, safety, the economy, and the environment. Each indicator includes data measured over several years along with a comparison between Springfield, Clark County, Ohio, and the United States. The data tables can be downloaded and included in reports and grants. In addition, there is a short analysis of each indicator, putting into words the basic trend and answering other typical questions.
While making data available is an essential part of the website, 鈥渢he goal is to be more than a source of data,鈥� Hasecke said. 鈥淲e want to encourage research that is focused on our community and engage students in this work. So many educational opportunities are created by exploring questions that are sparked from looking at data. We are excited about expanding opportunities and partnering with the community in research efforts. We are really grateful for all the community support that has made it possible for us to move forward on this project.鈥�
鈥淭his project has been in the works for just about a year now,鈥� said Stephanie McCuistion, administrative director of the Hagen Center. 鈥淒r. Hasecke asked if I knew of a community project he could work on during a recent sabbatical. I turned to our community partners to provide ideas and the feedback we received was all about data. Our partners certainly helped us visualize from the beginning how 果冻传媒 might provide a useful resource like Engage Springfield. I am excited about the new ways in which Engage Springfield will bring together our students and faculty with members of the community.鈥�
Launch events will take place on July 17 from 2-3 p.m. and July 18 from 9-10 a.m. in room 105 of the Joseph C. Shouvlin Center for Lifelong Learning. During these events, Hasecke and Hagen Center summer interns Jayson Nowak 鈥�20 and Elena Dumm 鈥�20 will present the dashboard and share initial findings. Nowak, a political science and psychology double major from Grover Hill, Ohio, and Dumm, a communication and music double major, from Shaker Heights, Ohio, have been working on the project and are helping to present the data and update the new website and dashboard that is now live at EngageSpringfield.org.
Those in attendance at the launch events will be asked to share expertise, unique knowledge, and provide valuable feedback to improve the dashboard.
鈥淭he launch events are an opportunity for us to receive community feedback on the dashboard,鈥� McCuistion said. 鈥湽炒� intends to move forward building this initiative with partnership in mind. We want to be sure the metrics we include in the dashboard bring value in the Greater Springfield community. We hope to highlight the unique strengths of our city, and to use this resource to build on the positive momentum already underway.鈥�
