Community Engagement

Are you an honors college student who would like to join your peers in supporting the local community of Greater Lafayette? There are many entry points for you:

Heads Up Tutoring & Life Skills Program

Heads Up is an afterschool program offering academic support and social development for K-12 youth living in public housing complexes in east-Lafayette. Heads Up serves youth in the clubhouse where they live, eliminating the transportation barrier for youth. The Homework Club is partnered with EDCI 350 in fall and spring semesters, offering Purdue students a site to complete their service-learning hours and Heads Up youth more individualized support. There is room to create a scholarly project through this program. Sign up to volunteer with Heads Up at bit.ly/huvolunteers. 

Contact Dr. Temitope Adeoye Olenloa ( adeoye@purdue.edu) for further information.

What can you do?

• Inquire about how to apply for a new, paid Assistant Site Coordinator position open to JMHC students (email Dr. Temitope)
• Volunteer to help youth with homework and practice their academic skills after school through the Heads Up Homework Club during the academic year
• Mentor pre-/teenagers of color year-round in the Heads Up Teen Mentoring program as a mentor of color
• Volunteer to co-coordinate the Heads Up Teen Mentoring program
• Facilitate engaging educational and health activities in the Heads Up Sunny Days program from June-July while sharing a nutritious meal with youth and community partners
• Engage in longitudinal, community-based, mixed methods research that evaluates youth needs, learning, and development

HIFI Lab

HIFI is a community for nature-based learning, sound exploration, and real-world problem-solving for creative thinkers. Its aim is to cultivate a vibrant undergraduate interdisciplinary community of JMHC undergraduate students interested in the science, technology and culture of conservation and sound.

We engage in community-based approaches to conservation at regional levels through programs such as service-learning partnerships, ecological-based research, wildlife ambassadors, community celebrations, interactive displays and field ecology workdays. We will use sonic biodiversity as a novel approach to help understand impacts of noise and climate change on natural habitats, agroecological systems and wildlife dispersal.

Contact Dr. Kristen Bellisario ( kbellisa@purdue.edu) for further information.

What can you do?

• Applied research and exhibit work with a partner organization (current and previous partners include Niches Land Trust, Midwest Acoustic Society, Wolf Park, City of West Lafayette Parks and Recreation, Tippecanoe County Parks and Recreation, Purdue Forestry and Natural Resources Research Properties, Purdue Biology and Ecology Research Properties, Indiana State Museum, and Birck Nanotechnology Center)
• Conservation-based field workdays (transportation not included)
• Serve on the committee that builds awareness about wildlife conservation
• Volunteer to present or engage with youth in school or camp settings

COBALT

COBALT is a living learning community designed to help JMHC students transform themselves into confident, adaptable, challenge-ready leaders. Through innovative coursework, a peer-led residential community, and expert coaching, the program provides an immersive yet flexible experience that allows students to take charge of their own leadership journey and communicate their growth to future employers.

Contact Dr. Watkins ( aewatkin@purdue.edu) for further information.

Platinum House Engagement with Food Finders

In partnership with Food Finders Food Bank, this research team focuses on learning more about how people think about and understand food insecurity as well as the resources and programs that exist to help solve the problem. We look at the issue from multiple angles and try to better understand how people utilize existing resources in order to help design better resources and messages that enable people to get the most benefit out of those services.

Contact Dr. Jennifer Hall ( jgibb@purdue.edu) for further information

What can you do?

In addition to conducting surveys, observations, and focus groups, team members spend time volunteering for Food Finders. Students from all majors who have an interest in community health, assessment, food insecurity, message design, and community service are welcome.

TREKS - The Transformative Scholarship Research Generator

The Transformative Scholarship Research Generator exists to enhance students’ skill development and educational outcomes in the areas of qualitative and quantitative research and data science, engagement, and scholarship—to develop engaged citizens prepared to address societal issues wherever they are. The research generator will facilitate scholars’ development and educational outcomes via classroom learning, experiential learning and fieldwork within local, regional, national, and international communities and industries, and through scholarship venues such as domestic and international conferences, the publishing process, and through applying for national and international scholarships. The research generator works in partnership with the Office of Engagement to make undergraduate engagement an integral part of the undergraduate experience in the John Martinson Honors College and at Purdue.

Contact Dr. Jason Ware ( jaware@purdue.edu) for further information.

What can you do?

• Map neighborhood assets, compile demographic information, research community context, and assess livability for various Northend neighborhoods in Lafayette.
• Interview homeowners about how Habitat for Humanity has influenced their well-being.
• Create mini films that tell the story of Habitat for Humanity’s impact on partner families – for recruiting new families and fundraising efforts.
• Investigate correlations that exist between homelessness, health, and healthcare access.
• Determine where evictions are happening in Lafayette since the State of Indiana moratorium of evictions expired in August 2020.
• Explore and measure the impact that Grow Local urban sharing gardens have on the communities they serve.
• Automate community indicator data to provide the City of Lafayette with a data dashboard from which it can gauge the performance of key community development initiatives focused on neighborhoods, housing, and homelessness.
• Launch FIRST LEGO League teams within informal learning spaces, such as after-school programs hosted by community and neighborhood centers, to engage underrepresented minority youth in STEM activities.
• Serve at one of four local middle or high schools as a Students in Action (SIA) coach, and mentor youth as they identify important local challenges and issues. SIA coaches mentor and support youth as they design, develop, implement, and measure the impact of programs to address the challenges and issues they identify.
• Collect oral histories from Northend residents as part of the “Greatriarchs” program to recognize and celebrate elders and to incorporate them into community well-being initiatives.
• Build a digital mapping platform as part of a “community consultancy for quality-of-life" project that includes local residents in planning for and evaluating quality-of-life initiatives related to the built environment in Lafayette’s Northend – in conjunction with the Quality of Life Foundation, which is a London based charity.