Center for Community and Economic Development · 2012. 12. 12. · The Center for Community and Economic Development (CCED) at Delta State University (DSU) was organized in August

1

Center for Community and

Economic Development

“Building and Empowering Relationships That Strengthen Communities”

Strategic Plan 2012-2014

CCED Strategic Plan 2012-2014

2

The Center for Community and Economic Development provides quality community service through

management of resources and evaluation and support of grants and contracted services using highly

credentialed teams of academic personnel and successful practitioners. The Center anticipates achieving

and maintaining financial stability through external funding.


3

Message from the Director

The Center for Community and Economic Development (CCED) at Delta State University (DSU) was

organized in August of 1994 and Jerry W. Robinson, Jr., B. F. Smith Chair for Economic and

Community Development and Professor Emeritus in Sociology and Rural Sociology, University of

Illinois, Urbana-Champaign, was appointed Director. The CCED was tasked to engage in teaching,

outreach, and research programs that improve and enhance the quality of life in the Yazoo-Mississippi

Delta region and to address issues of poverty in the university service area by using university resources

to shape advancement strategies. At that juncture, the Center represented a new and dynamic partnership

for public service between Delta State University and Delta communities. The goals of the CCED

advances the public service mission of the University through its commitment to addressing the major

development issues of its home region, an area characterized by pervasive rural poverty and

underdevelopment. The programs developed and implemented through the Center are strong indicators of

Delta State University‘s renewed public service partnership with its home region -- the Yazoo-Mississippi

Delta.

Externally-funded projects provide primary financial support, necessitating limited university

supplements and use of facilities. Since its initiation, the CCED has established broad-based community

and contractual services in the public sector to obtain additional resources and support growth. Current CCED programs include: the Developing Personal Wealth program; Mississippi College Savings Account

Initiative; Breast Education Early Detection program; School Based Asthma Management; America

Reads Mississippi; AmeriCorps*VISTA and the Farmer‘s Market. It is estimated that the value of total

costs of all Center-related activity is about $12 million from 1995 to 2002, while the value of total

benefits ranges between $31.6 million and $32.8 million. Approximately one-third of these impacts are

attributable to increases in human capital investment associated with Center programs.

In 2010, amid acute budgetary constraint and economic restructuring, the CCED sought to streamline

fiscal operations and heighten its competitiveness in the arenas of projects and contracts. To this end, the

CCED became organizationally attached to the Division of Social Sciences and History (DSSH), thus

expanding its intellectual resource base and service capability. I was appointed by the DSU Provost and

Vice President of Academic Affairs as Director of the CCED in April 2011. I was tasked with an urgent

responsibility as Director to restructure the CCED, focusing on a new long-term sustainability and

viability model.

Since my appointment, a new organizational structure has been approved by the Provost and by the Dean

of the College of Arts and Sciences. Several tiers have been introduced in the CCED hierarchy. The

general DSSH budget funded a new Associate Director position with a dual role to teach graduate

community development courses in the Division. The new Associate Director administers and provides

on-site leadership. Several new faculty associates were added to the leadership structure of the CCED.

The addition of faculty associates strengthened the academic and research resources of the Center. New

associates‘ initiatives in renewable energy, environmental justice, and community-based conservation are

complemented by a central CCED focus of building household assets. An advisory committee is included

in the new organizational structure. The addition of faculty associates and an advisory committee

expands credentials and resource accessibility for CCED growth. The new advisory committee serves as

an influential support group for fiscal growth and CCED advocacy. ―Asset Building among Low Income

Families‖ has been designated as the signature project for the CCED for the next three years. To launch

this new focus the Federal Reserve Bank of St Louis hosted Asset Building Public Symposium and a

Workshop with diverse CCED stakeholders in Spring 2012.


4

Given the strong and storied history of the CCED, I am pleased to present the CCED strategic plan and

the appended CCED Business Plan to form the foundation for a renewed focus on creatively addressing

development issues in the Delta through community-based research and scholarship. It contains visionary

steps to place the CCED on a track for a viable and sustainable future. It isolates six guiding principles

and astute revenue generation strategies. Grounded by the mission and the strategic priorities of the

Center, the strategic plan spells out operational principles that will foster partnership with stakeholders in

communities of the state of Mississippi, the Delta, nationwide and even internationally.

As the CCED becomes an engine of change in the 21st century, we will continue to pursue excellent

programs and activities to improve the quality of life for the citizens of the Mississippi Delta. I anticipate

strong support from funders, on-campus teamwork and collaboration with other Mississippi institutions of

higher education, successful partnerships with private and public sector organizations and agencies, and

generous insights from the new advisory committee - bolstered by the dedicated and strong staff and

contractual affiliates of the CCED.

Most sincerely,

Paulette Meikle

i

Contents SECTION I: INTRODUCTION ................................................................................................................... 1

A. Justification for the CCED ..................................................................................................... 1

B. Mission ................................................................................................................................... 2

C. Goals & Objectives ………………………………………………………………………. 3

D. Guiding Principles.................................................................................................................. 4

E. Project Development Guidelines ............................................................................................ 7

SECTION II: MANAGEMENT STRUCTURE………………………………………………………… 9

A. Organizational Chart .............................................................................................................. 9

B. Advisory Committee ............................................................................................................ 11

C. Director - Position Description ............................................................................................ 11

D. Associate Director - Job Description ................................................................................... 12

E. Senior Faculty Associate – Position Description ................................................................. 12

F. Faculty Associate – Role Description................................................................................... 13

G. Project Leader - Position Description .................................................................................. 14

SECTION III: STRATEGIC PRIORITY I: REVENUE DEVELOPMENT .............................................. 15

A. Tiers of proposals to guide cost-benefit decisions ............................................................... 15

B. Three-year growth projections to achieve financial stability ............................................... 15

C. Fiscal Stability ...................................................................................................................... 15

D. Management of grants and contracting for services ............................................................ 16

E. Formative and summative evaluation of grants and contracted services ............................. 16

F. Reporting on grants and contracted services ........................................................................ 17

G. Determination of Fees for CCED Services .......................................................................... 18

H. Sharing of financial benefits with Division, CCED, and contributing faculty and staff ..... 18

SECTION IV: STRATEGIC PRIORITY II: PUBLICITY AND OUTREACH ........................................ 20

A. Organization ......................................................................................................................... 20

B. Content ................................................................................................................................ 20

C. Web-based Still Photography and Video Tape Media ......................................................... 20

D. Media Coverage ................................................................................................................... 21

E. Schedule for Development ................................................................................................... 21

SECTION V: STRATEGIC PRIORITY III: PROGRAM DEVELOPMENT ........................................... 22

A. Overview of Established Programs ...................................................................................... 22


ii

B. Emerging Program: Institute for Environmental Justice and Community-based

Conservation ............................................................................................................................. 24

C. Emerging Program: Renewable Energy and Education Project.......................................... 28

SECTION VI: STRATEGIC PRIORITY IV: STRATEGIES FOR SUSTAINABILITY ......................... 32

A. Fiscal Stability...................................................................................................................... 32

B. Integration of the CCED into the DSSH .............................................................................. 32

1

SECTION I: INTRODUCTION

A. Background

The economy and social infrastructure of the Delta is undergoing deep and long-term changes.

Agriculture employs significantly fewer persons in primary production than it did four decades ago, as

agribusinesses and industries restructure under pressure from fierce competition in a rapidly changing and

expanding world market. The service sector is growing, but unevenly, and many new service jobs pay

very little. Associated with such dramatic changes in the Delta are profound concerns about the

development of human resources, leadership capacities, and communities. Joblessness drives chronic out-

migration, including some of the Delta's most capable and educated young people. Exacerbating this brain

drain, are many remaining residents who are undereducated and lack the skills needed to support a diverse

and robust economy.

While the public sector is called upon to assume major responsibility for resolving the effects of

major socioeconomic forces on the Delta, neither federal, state, nor local governments have sufficient

resources to effect the transformations that the region requires. The development that needs to take place

to fill this void is the central mission of the Center for Community and Economic Development (CCED),

and indeed is paramount to the entire mission of Delta State University as it catalyzes economic and

social change in the region.

As financial constraints increase and leadership positions decrease, the Center must re-invent itself in

terms of available resources and its strong partnership with the Division of Social Sciences and History.

Four critical functions are evident: transition the Center‘s operation into the Division of Social Sciences

and History directed by the Division‘s Chair; maintain efforts for externally funded projects and

contracts; create new operational procedures based on availability of resources, cost-benefit, and mutual

benefit considerations; and faculty associates‘ community-based research initiatives. The task expectation

is to better use available resources to provide services through shared resources, seek external funding

through project writing and offering management services, provide contractual services for other

institutions, government agencies, and other Centers within and outside Delta State University, and

accumulate financial resources necessary for investment in Center marketing and accumulating staff

expertise as faculty associates and project managers.

Delta State University‘s Center for Community and Economic Development will take a leading role

in developing a collaborative network of research and community development programs and centers

associated with outside institutions doing work in the Delta region and beyond. Under this model, the


2

CCED will serve as hub for a broad and diverse group, including individual researchers,

academic/research units and colleges/universities. This group will pursue bilateral and multilateral

sponsored events, projects, funding proposals and contractual/sub-contractual relationships. Building

from an existing base of partners and expertise, the originating network partners to be invited include (but

are not limited to): The University of Mississippi Center for Population Studies, Mississippi State

University Social Science Research Center (and the affiliated Delta Directions Consortium), Southeastern

Louisiana University Department of Sociology and Criminal Justice, The University of Michigan School

of Public Health‘s Office of Public Health Practice, Harvard Law School Legal Services Center Health

Law and Policy Clinic, Brandeis University Sustainable International Development Program, Western

Kentucky University Department of Sociology, and the University of the West Indies, Jamaica.

C. Mission

The mission of the Center for Community and Economic Development is Building and Empowering

Relationships that Strengthen Communities through teaching, outreach, research programs, project

management, and support services that utilize, expand, and deepen the human resource base primarily in,

but not limited to, the Yazoo-Mississippi Delta. Primary personnel resources are faculty associates, Delta

State and external academic faculty and staff, successful practitioners, external experts, and organizations

capable of contributing to the achievement of the Center‘s mission.

D. Goals & Objectives

To fulfill its mission, the Center for Community and Economic Development works to fulfill six long-

term goals via the achievement of objectives related to human resources, leadership, organization,

community and economic development:


3

GOAL 1: To address wealth disparity in the MS Delta by mobilizing community members and

organizations as well as regional and state organizations to engage aggressively in asset-building

values and activities that stabilize low-income families and improve the quality of life for residents

of the Mississippi Delta.

Objective 1a: To provide financial education to members of low income families in the MS Delta.

Objective 1b: To develop programs that promote, educate, and expand opportunities for children and

their families who are unbanked or under-banked, and underserved, to start educational savings accounts

in local banks or credit unions in the MS Delta.

Objective 1c: To provide adults with practical money management strategies and assist with individual

development account (IDA) efforts for the purposes of homeownership, education, and or business

capitalization.

GOAL 2: To develop services and programs that maintain the identity of individuals, promote

inclusion, and foster appreciation among all members of the University and the Delta

Objective 2a: To develop and implement applied research projects

Objective 2b: To develop and implement educational workshops and conferences and other public service

programs

Objective 2c: To enable CCED academic staff to develop and provide on-campus undergraduate and

graduate courses, seminars and community engagement opportunities

Objective 2d: To develop and implement faculty associate initiatives at the CCED to better engage faculty

and students in applied projects and programs.

GOAL 3: To provide technical assistance to organizations in the Delta

Objective 3a: To provide technical assistance to private sector organizations;

Objective 3b: To provide technical assistance to non-governmental organizations;

Objective 3c: To develop leadership and professional competence to assist staff and local leaders in

building local and regional networks to create and manage change in their communities.


4

GOAL 4: To revitalize communities by providing effective and efficient programs in community

service

Objective 4a: To provide effective and efficient community service programs for youth

Objective 4b: To provide effective and efficient community service programs for mentors

Objective 4c: To provide effective and efficient community service programs for emerging leaders

Objective 4d: To provide effective and efficient community service programs for local government

Objective 4e: To provide effective and efficient community service programs for non-profit

organizations.

GOAL 5: To build partnerships in the Delta that will foster a sense of community consistent with

the Center’s mission

Objective 5a: To build partnerships with communities

Objective 5b: To build partnerships with regional organizations

Objective 5c: To build partnerships with community colleges and other institutions of higher education in

the area

Objective 5d: To build partnerships with the private sector

GOAL 6: To establish formal collaborative relationships with other institutions to develop and

implement applied research, educational programs and other public service activities in Delta

communities

Objective 6a: To collaborate with Mississippi institutions of higher learning

Objective 6b: To collaborate with institutions of higher learning outside Mississippi

Objective 6c: To collaborate with institutions in the private sector

Objective 6d: To collaborate with regional, state, and national public agencies

Objective 6e: To collaborate with foundations

E. Guiding Principles

We pursue community development through the transformational vitality of partnerships aimed at the

expansion of mutual learning and material growth. Our work in development is guided by recognition of


5

the interactions among open communities, embedded economies, technological innovation, the

environment, globalization, and education.

1. Open Communities. Open communities have no boundaries to their growth and engender fertile

and supportive relationships in the world. Although we recognize that human beings have a sense of

place and retain the fond legacies of their communities, we also recognize that history, tradition, place

and identity can also inadvertently form barriers to beneficial partnerships. Closed communities

produce social limits to their growth. These limits can be found in the ways that communities have

adopted scripts from their past and refashioned the present. Reconstituted in the present, these re-

scripted communities then produce social hierarchies that re-play the tyrannies of the past and whither

the ethical imaginations of communities. Open communities thrive because they move beyond this re-

scripting and benefit from the free flow of ideas while learning from the collective experiences of

other communities. By dissolving the circumscriptive limitations of traditions and histories, both

practitioners and communities can re-imagine and construct their shared futures. Practitioners can

advance the growth of real communities by creating rich partnerships and helping in the social

construction of shared futures.

2. The Embedded Economy. Economic growth is enabled by hard work and free flowing ideas

within the context of social consensus. On the one hand, economies are effective and healthy only

when they are embedded in a network of relationships across all citizens. On the other hand,

economic relationships premised simply on the myth of the free market, place communities at risk

because they surrender themselves to external manipulation. Abandoning embedded economies to

narrower purposes abandons the possibility of just income distribution and the vitality of human

exchange. It is the task of practitioners to respect embedded economies by empowering community

entrepreneurs with new ideas and technologies and by improving the chances for distribution across

and between local communities. Once again, effective partnerships can engender these relationships

through creative program planning and continued technical assistance.

3. The Environment. Practitioners should recognize the ―Gaia effect‖ both in terms of the

environment and the interdependency of communities. Maintaining healthy communities, advancing

healthy environments, and working toward sustainable environments should be advanced by finding a

mix of opportunities and incentives in governmental and non-governmental organizations.

Considerable information and direction can be found at the national level, in private, non-profit

organizations, and in other universities. Partnerships among these resources can result in significant


6

advances for local communities. Re-allocating investments to off-grid energy projects can produce

considerable savings for citizens, as well as placing a valuable resource in the hands of entrepreneurs.

Even small-scale reuse/recycling projects can offer communities ways of reducing waste disposal

while teaching younger members the value of caring for the environment. Caring for the environment

means finding opportunities that are scalable, economically attractive and educationally effective.

4. Technological Innovation. In the twenty-first century, communities cannot grow and progress

without a sufficient understanding and use of technology. Technology is essential to the development

of healthy communities when it is targeted and applied appropriately. Although it has the potential to

bring about dramatic transformations in communities, technological innovation can be most effective

in building the capacity to communicate, to inform and to reduce the costs of basic commodities and

services. In this sense, technology can enhance communicative functions, improve organizational and

productive effectiveness, and increase the value of public services. Combined with the previous

principle, technological innovation can uncouple communities from the costs of energy production

while protecting the environment. Practitioners must remain committed to the concept of appropriate

technologies and to adequate technical assistance to support these tools.

5. Globalization. Participating in development opportunities requires practitioners to acknowledge

the effects of globalization on local communities. In the past forty years, finance, production and

distribution have been gathered into one powerful global system. Thinking globally and acting locally

is now the mantra of most governments and organizations. However, just as globalization poses

challenges to open communities, embedded economies and care for the environment, communities

must search for ways to reap benefits from this powerful movement and counter marginalizing global

forces.

6. Education. Effective educational institutions are essential to healthy, democratic communities.

More importantly, they are the starting point for understanding and preserving the integrity of the

above principles. Open communities remain vibrant because their educational institutions open

citizens to the world and to the future. Education across the entire spectrum of community, from

youth to seniors, and across the trades and professions, is essential to the development of technical,

organizational and especially democratic leadership. An open community reflects its needs through its

commitment to effective and challenging educational programs, establishes a tradition of life-long

learning in its citizens, and opens pathways to meaningful futures by building a fund of understanding

across all groups in that community. A healthy educational system is the steward to a democratic


7

community. Practitioners can advance the effectiveness and sustainability of communities by

supporting, wherever they can, the strength of projects supporting education in communities.

F. Project Development Guidelines

Projects shall be enacted through collaborative interaction, led by the Director, Associate Director,

Faculty Associates, Center staff, and DSU‘s Director of Institutional Grants. The following procedures

are to be followed:

Identifying opportunities for proposal writing and contracted services;

Proposal writing and gaining contracts for services;

Management of grants and contracting for services;

Formative and summative evaluation of grants and contracted services;

Reporting on grants and contracted services

Determining internal costs to charge for Center services, to include indirect costs, supplies and

office services, rental of space, workroom equipment, and information technology use

Sharing benefits with the Division of Social Sciences & History, the Center, and contributing

faculty and staff

Tiers and staff positions depicted on an organizational chart, with generic job descriptions.

YEAR 1 (January 1 to June 30, 2012)

Senior faculty associates complete work that will support the mission and goals of the CCED and

facilitate reinvention and reinvigoration of the academic and community-based research components of

the CCED. To this end, activities that support generic functions and preparation of recommendations for

the management of program units within the CCED are isolated. These activities include:

1. Write and submit program/project proposals, proposal writers, and service contracts: Faculty

associates, Center Project Directors/Coordinators and staff, and interested faculty members and

external agencies and individuals. Identify key requirement stated in the RFP, best practices to

meet requirements, best credentialed support/contracts, budget, and schedule for writing, proposal

review by Associate Director, Chair, and Director of Institutional Grants, and submission as

directed in the RFP. Prepare responses to key areas and if appropriate to criteria for rating

projects and contracts stated in the RFP. Follow the format in the RFP for writing, assuring all


8

key areas have adequate responses within the prescribed criteria for project preparation. Seek

readers preferably with content expertise and editing skills to assure effective communication and

responses to key requirements stated in the RFP;

2. Identify area of interest and expertise of faculty associates;

3. Review posted requests for proposals on federal government website pertinent to area of interest

and expertise;

4. Review list of foundations on Internet pertinent to area of interest and expertise;

5. Identify successful projects or contracted services in the area of interest and review proposals and

communicate with representatives of funding sources;

6. Select RFP or contracted service and gain approval of CCED Director and Associate Director;

7. Obtain funding support for the recruitment of future senior faculty associates from indirect costs

of projects or contracts.

YEAR 2 (July 1, 2012 – June 30, 2013)

Recruit faculty, Center personnel, and external organizations to participate by broad-based dissemination

of presentations to small and large faculty groups and leaders of external organizations (state and federal

agencies, other university and college centers and distinguished faculty, potential contract service

providers by and to the Center, community organizations, faith-based organizations, and local political

and opinion leaders). Based on experience, revise/add technology mediated presentations and recruitment

efforts. Those recruited would follow the established procedures for Year 1. Implement and Evaluate new

program/projects at the CCED.

YEAR 3 (July 1, 2013-June 30, 2014)

Disseminate success of programs through website, targeted forums, video conferences, and publications.

The Center should develop a newsletter for broad-based dissemination in the University, Delta, and State

featuring accomplishments and opportunities for participation in grant writing through the Center. These

activities include:

1. Associate Director and Faculty Associates, and CCED contractors implement and evaluate new

program/projects.

2. Director completes new strategic plan for 2015-2018.

3. Director and Associate Director validate policies and procedures for grant and contract services

management through interviews with CCED stakeholders and other appropriate measures. The


9

Associate Director and Director of Institutional grants will cooperatively implement validation

procedures and prepare a report. The report will be presented in a Center staff meeting and a

Division faculty meeting.


10

SECTION II: MANAGEMENT STRUCTURE

A. Figure I: CCED Organizational Chart

Center for Community and Economic Development

Organizational Chart

Advisory

ComitteeDirector of

Institutional Grants

Faculty Associate Faculty Associate

Senior Faculty Associate Delta Evaluation and Support Institute

(DESI)

Staff Contractor

Program Leader/Program Coordinator

Staff Contractor

Program Leader/Program Coordinator Project Contractor Project Contractor

Associate Director

CCED Director and Chair,

Division of Social Sciences

and History

Dean of the College of

Arts and Sciences

In academic year 2010-2011, the Center was administered by a Director that reported to the Vice

President of Academic Affairs and Provost. Project Director/Coordinators reported to the Director who

was responsible for administration of program staff, proposal and contract development, and fiscal

control. Beginning in 2011-2012, a new layer of resources is added by the inclusion of CCED within the

Division of Social Sciences and History, represented by all positions and support elements above each

Program Leader/Project Coordinator positions (see figure I). This new organization was established by

the Director. The inclusion of faculty associates and an advisory committee expands credentials and

resources available for CCED growth. Although the Director of Grants has been an influential contributor

to the CCED, the revised role is to support an increased number of personnel tasked to produce revenue

by (a) submitting proposals in response to requests for proposals with Tier 2 and 3 level funding (see

section III), and (b) identifying contract opportunities and approving performance-based memorandums


11

of agreement. The advisory committee serves as an influential support group for fiscal growth and

information dissemination.

I. Advisory Committee

The advisory committee provides external expertise and public presence in support of guiding principles,

strategic goals and accomplishments of the CCED. The criteria for Committee member invitation are

contributions, credentials and accomplishments in their discipline and vocation, and commitment to serve

the Delta area. The Committee shall represent the following generic areas: DSU senior faculty associates,

faculty in DSU and other universities, deans of DSU colleges and schools, contributing partners, business,

community service organizations, foundations, Delta Area Association for Improvement of Schools

(DAAIS), the Delta Council and others. The Director of the CCED, who serves as Chair of the Advisory

Committee, selects and appoints Committee members to provide an annual rotation of staggered three-

year appointments. The Associate Director of the CCED is the administrator for the Advisory Committee.

Maximum committee membership is fifteen. The DSU Provost and Vice President of Academic Affairs

serves as an ex-officio member. The Committee serves in an advisory capacity to the Director as shown

in the organizational chart. Responsibilities of the Advisory Committee include:

(a) Providing advice on programmatic, financial, structural, and strategic issues relating to the success and

viability of the CCED.

(b) Working on specific tasks as assigned by the committee chair for the advancement of the goals of the

CCED.

(c) Understanding the mission, goals, resource opportunities and resource constraints of the CCED by

having comprehensive knowledge of the CCED‘s business/management plan.

(d) Attending bi-monthly meetings and extraordinary meetings convened by the chair of the advisory

committee.

II. Director - Position Description

The director provides superior and extraordinary leadership for the CCED. The director reports to the

Dean of the College of Arts and Sciences. Responsibilities:

1. Oversee all aspects of the management and administration of the CCED

2. Provide policy direction for the CCED by developing, reviewing, and monitoring policy

frameworks to ensure the efficient execution of CCED‘s mission and goals

3. Overall facilitation, coordination, and assessment of program progress at the CCED

4. Network with partners, funders and community members to broaden the scope of CCED activities

and building strategic paths for the organization

5. Communicate needs, opportunities, and risks regarding the CCED to the Dean of the College of

Arts and Sciences and other senior administrators at DSU


12

6. Oversee the CCED regarding technical issues and organizational compliance to DSU, state, and

federal regulations

7. Develop policy-making decisions pertaining to a strong collaborative relationship between the

Division of Social Sciences and History, other DSU academic units, and the CCED; increasing

partnership/projects between the CCED through faculty associate positions

8. Work in conjunction with the associate director to conduct annual reviews of program

implementation and effectiveness.

III. Associate Director - Job Description

Under the guidance of the director, the associate director has the following responsibilities:

1. Work systematically with the director, faculty associates, and Program Leader/Coordinators to

execute the business/management plan in support of the mission and goals of the CCED and

facilitate the development of the academic and community based research components of the

CCED;

2. Provide oversight and coordination for Center activities as assigned by the Director, including the

preparation of reports and grant writing and programmatic/administrative tasks necessary for the

overall functioning of the CCED;

3. Work with Project Director/Coordinators to apply for and secure external grants and contract

funds;

4. Work with the director of the CCED, faculty associates, and Project Director/Coordinators in

advancing the overall strategies and policies of the CCED;

5. Facilitate community engagement within the mission and goals of the CCED among Master of

Science in Community Development students, especially those working on projects through the

CCED;

6. Serve on the CCED advisory committee.

IV. Senior Faculty Associate – Position Description

A Senior Faculty Associate (SFA) is a tenured faculty member at DSU, and is appointed by the

Director. Responsibilities are to:

1. Lead research and evaluation, project development, and the creation of strategies for future

projects and contracts, publications, presentations, and media coverage for the Center.


13

2. Work with the Associate Director and Director of Institutional Grants to prepare proposals for

submission and funding in an area of his or her academic interest responsive to a published

request for proposal from a foundation, state, or federal source.

3. Work with Associate Director to identify contracted services and contractors from within and

outside the DSU faculty to provide primary and sub-contractor services contained in approved

projects and primary contracts. Work with Associate Director and Project Director/Coordinators

to identify contracts for evaluation and consultant/training services based on cost-benefit criteria

for the project.

4. Provide leadership and support to grant writing initiatives that build partnerships with local

communities through projects related to the mutual interests of the Senior Faculty Associate and

the CCED.

5. Provide technical assistance to CCED Project Director/Coordinators on specific community

development projects, as appropriate;

6. Serve as liaison between the Division of Social Sciences and History, faculty from other DSU

academic units and the CCED.

7. Facilitate and support the initiatives of faculty associates and Project Director/Coordinators.

8. Participate in CCED activities (monthly meetings, workshops, leadership development initiatives

program orientations, brown bags etc. as appropriate and available).

9. Consider the option of serving on the CCED Advisory Committee.

V. Faculty Associate – Role Description

The Faculty Associate (FA) is a faculty member at DSU or from another institution of higher

learning and is appointed by the Director. Responsibilities are to:

1. Work with the Associate Director and Director of Institutional Grants to prepare proposals for

submission and funding in an area of his or her academic interest responsive to published requests

for proposals from foundation, state, or federal sources.

2. Work with the Associate Director to provide advocacy to the mission and goals of the CCED,

particularly as it relates to efforts with local communities and organizations.

3. Provide leadership and grant writing initiatives to build partnerships with local communities

through projects related to the mutual interests of the Faculty Associate and the CCED.

4. Serve as liaison between his/her academic unit and the CCED.


14

5. Facilitate community engagement among DSU graduate students, especially those working on

projects through the CCED.

VI. Program Leader/Coordinators - Position Description

Responsibilities of the Program Leader/Coordinators are to:

1. Within delegated program objectives, each Project Leader/Coordinator provides overall

coordination of program activities, supervision of program staff and the day-to-day management

of the program office.

2. Writes and manages grant(s).

3. Facilitates and coordinates site and field activities.

4. Maintains consistent communication with program staff about program purpose, procedures and

outcomes.

5. Writes monthly reports as well as summative and formative reports as designated by funders and

the CCED director.

6. Oversees program expenditure according to organizational and funder stipulations.

7. Ensures that partners and staff are in compliance with federal regulations.

8. Conducts workshops and program orientations.


15

SECTION III: STRATEGIC PRIORITY I-REVENUE DEVELOPMENT

Grant Writing: Tiers of proposals and contracts are based on sum of proposed indirect and direct cost. A

10% revenue return is projected as CCED revenue from all proposals and contracts as allowed by the

funder. The following tiers classify projects and contracts based on the total approved amount of each

project:

A. Tiers of proposals to guide cost-benefit decisions

1. Tier 1: $1,000 to $99,000

2. Tier II: $100,000 to $499,000

3. Tier III: $500,000 and above

B. Three-year growth projections to achieve financial stability

1. 2011-2012: Approval of proposals and contracts to produce $100,000 from proposals, contracts,

and fees/rent for use of Center facilities. The projections include carryover from 2010-2011.

Emphasis is placed on submitting Tier 1 proposals with approval anticipated in 2011-2012;



Emphasis is placed on submitting Tier 2 proposals with approval anticipated in 2012-2013;



Emphasis is placed on submitting Tier 1 proposals with approval anticipated in 2013-2014.

C. Fiscal Stability

Definition of minimum annual revenue production for fixed costs and investments required for sustaining

Center operations:

1. Fixed costs are salaries for associate director, administrative assistant, receptionist(s), travel to

maintain contacts and build new relationships, investment in faculty associate contracts for new

proposal development and submission, and facility custodial care and utilities. This cost will

escalate with inflation and CCED program expansion;

2. Investment with risks are (a) support of personnel to produce Tier 3 proposals and execute

Tier 2 and 3 proposals, (b) building of relationships with funding source personnel, and (c)


16

creation and maintenance of partnerships supportive of CCED proposal preparations and

contract developments;

3. Investment to build a CCED resume reflective of its resource credentials and service are contracts

to prepare (a) publications, presentations by associate faculty, Project Leader/Coordinators, and

contractors; (b) web-based information technology; and (c) media;

4. Investment to expand CCED resume are partnerships with other Universities, organizations, and

successful/influential practitioners in support of preparing proposals and contracts.

D. Management of grants and contracting for services

Responsible parties: Principal investigator or Program Leader/Coordinator and Associate Director

Tasks:

1. Gain approval to execute procedures: a) Obtain a fund number from DSU Accounting Division;

b) Obtain access to Banner for fiscal management of project and when needed training to operate

project reporting system in Banner;

2. Schedule scope of work and reporting as specified in the narrative of grants and contracts;

3. Implement project and contracted services in compliance with funding source requirements, DSU

policies and procedures, and standards of professional service;

4. Execute procedures contained in grant proposals or signed memorandums of agreement for

contracted services as stated in formal document of approval;

5. Monitor procedures and outcomes as contained in approved grant or content of memorandum of

agreement;

6. Evaluate procedures and outcomes.

E. Formative and summative evaluation of grants and contracted services

Responsible parties: Associate Director and Principal Investigator or Program Leader/ Coordinator

Terms defined:

Formative evaluation: a management resource for making implementation decisions and tracking

progress, meeting day-today commitments, and assessing budget utilization

Summative evaluation: documents effectiveness of services on an annual basis and at the end of projects

and contracts. Summative evaluation also provides an analysis of performance and cost benefits based on

utilization of budget line items.


17

Procedures:

1. Develop an operational plan for formative and summative evaluation specified in approved

proposal or contract;

2. Assign responsibilities and schedule for data collection;

3. Assign responsibilities for data analysis and report preparation;

4. Develop a monitoring system to assure use of acceptable practices for collecting data, analysis,

and documenting conclusions.

F. Reporting on grants and contracted services

Responsible parties: Associate Director, principal investigator, and program leader/coordinator

Terms defined:

Written reports: formal documents showing levels of performance and conclusions for professional and

public use

Public presentations: verbal and/or electronic reports on levels of performance presented in an appropriate

manner for various publics such as professional meetings, and general public

Compliance: Verification of grant and service contract and accounting requirements, expectations, budget

utilization, and personnel services.

Standards: Professional processes of effective writing and presentations based on acceptable practices for

credibility

Tasks:

1. Principal Investigator or program coordinator manages report preparation to assure accuracy and

presentation of content;

2. Associate Director approves reports and presentations in advance.


18

G. Determination of Fees for CCED Services

Responsible parties: Director, Associate Director, and faculty associates.

Tasks:

1. Establish list of present costs to include indirect costs, supplies and office services, rental of

space, workroom equipment, phone service, and information technology use.

2. Establish policy that projects and contracted services are expected to pay a fair share of

operational costs for the Center, unless not approved by the funding source. No fees are charged

to Delta State colleges, divisions, departments, and centers.

3. Establish policy and procedure for remuneration of faculty and staff through contracted services.

Year 1—Prepare a pilot manual listing internal costs for preparing proposals and contracts for service.

Charges for indirect costs are applicable to federal projects, state projects, foundations, and service

contracts. Indirect costs may be imposed as conditions for proposal writing and contracted services. When

an indirect cost is optional, a minimum is eight percent of total costs. Included in the manual are charges

for all services in the center.

Year 2—Gain formal approval of a policy and procedural manual for project and contracted services.

Year 3—Validate policies and procedures for grant and contract services

H. Sharing of financial benefits with Division, CCED, and contributing faculty and staff

The Director of the Center:

1. Determines a financial formula for sharing benefits based on Delta State policies, federal

guidelines, and fairness.

2. Determines procedures and required approvals to pay DSU employees for services beyond

contracted obligations in compliance with federal regulations and Delta State policies, to include

buying contract time, overload, employment during time not included in individual contracts, and

consultant services.

Year 1—The Associate Director, Director of the Center, and Director of Institutional Grants determine

allowable benefits, applicable requirements, and appropriate procedures. Approval by the Vice President

of Academic Affairs is a minimum requirement.


19

Year 2—Prepare a policy and procedure manual for allowable financial benefits for proposals and

contracted services.

Year 3—Validate policies and procedures for financial benefits for fairness and compliance with external

requirements.


20

SECTION IV: STRATEGIC PRIORITY II - PUBLICITY AND OUTREACH

The public face of the Center for Community and Economic Development should reflect its work with the

regional community, the vital role played by the staff in implementing the mission of the Center, the work

of faculty in helping to shape the vision and construct the programs of the Center, and the guidance of its

directors.

The primary vehicle of public information about the Center is the Internet, starting with its presence

on the Delta State University web page. Other accommodations should be considered in line with

recommendations that follow below.

For greatest effectiveness, the CCED website will provide viewers with maximal visual exposure,

detailed information about members of the organization and its programs, and valuable contextual

information about the missions, programs, and achievements of the actors at the CCED.

A. Organization

Organizing the web site starts with an architecture agreed upon by the directors and principle faculty

associates. This guarantees a sense of representation of the Center‘s main purpose that must be broadcast

across each of the subsidiary sections of the site.

B. Content

The content of the web site, as indicated above, should always be accompanied by maximal visual

content. This starts with careful attention to the constituents of the Center. A section of the site must be

reserved for all participants in the Center, including all relevant information and a photo of each

individual.

C. Web-based Still Photography and Video Tape Media

Consistent with the goal of broadcasting beyond the immediate region, the Center must strive to populate

the pages of its site with as many images and information as possible. All images and video tape must be

shot with maximum quality and with a plan and purpose behind the work. Excellent video can be shot and

mounted on the web site within days of its production. Still photos shot by anyone should meet a

threshold level standard of quality. This can be agreed upon by a small group dedicated to the

maintenance of the site. Photography and video should be a part of every event at the Center and in its

programs. Planning ahead by a select group or single person is always useful.


21

Staged interviews are most effective in giving viewers of the web site a stronger sense of the work

and commitment of the staff and faculty. Sections of the site that contain information about programs and

staff will be converted into PDF format so that viewers can download and convey information for

themselves and others.

D. Media Coverage

The web site can also be a way of conveying information to the local media. The Center must promote

itself in as many ways as possible. Sending e-mail pamphlets and messages to local media outlets can stir

interest in the Center‘s work and place the Center in a regular cycle of news and information spots on

local cable and radio stations. The value of this process can be incalculable, given the site as a source of

information to media outlets as well as to the public at large.

Although much of the Center‘s contact with news outlets can be negotiated with the Office of Public

Information, Center staff and faculty must develop informal contacts with these organizations to boost the

Center‘s presence in regional outlets. However, it is crucial to the future of the Center that its visual

appeal and effective communication be broadcast beyond the Mississippi Delta.

E. Schedule for Development

Developing the technological expertise and accessing the equipment will be accomplished through a

partnership between the Madison Center and the Center for Community and Economic Development. The

timetable for development should start as soon as the Center business plan is approved.

Site development should work on two tracks: re-development of the DSU site now occupied by the

Center; development of an off-campus site completely within the control of the Center for Community

and Economic Development. Again, this will be achieved through a partnership with the Madison Center.

Basic standards for the site and proposals for design should be approved by the Thanksgiving vacation

2011. live-site activity should appear on the web by the first week of the 2012.


22

SECTION V: STRATEGIC PRIORITY III – PROGRAM DEVELOPMENT

A. Overview of Established Programs

The Center for Community and Economic Development (CCED) manages several ongoing programs.

These include:

Community & Economic Development

Children‘s Savings Account Program: Project coordinator manages this pilot project to

promote, educate, and expand opportunities for students in early education and their

families who are unbanked/underbanked and underserved to open educational savings

accounts in local banks/credit unions

Developing Personal Wealth Program: Project coordinator provides financial literacy

training to underbanked and underserved adults in Leflore County

Health and Wellness

Breast Education and Early Detection Project (BEEP): Project staff targets low income

women in the Delta to provide breast cancer education and mammograms

Self-Management Motivating Awareness and Reduction Training for Cardiovascular Health

Program (SMART): Project staff increase public awareness and screening to promote

better cardiovascular care in the Delta

School-Based Asthma Management Program (SAM): Project staff provides a comprehensive

asthma case management training program for Delta school nurses to identify, assess, and

intervene with students who have a diagnosis, work with school health councils, provide

support services for awareness, and conduct an asthma summer camp

Volunteer Service

America Reads Mississippi (ARM): Project staff members tutor low income children in

grades one through three in Delta schools

Mississippi Delta Service Corps/AmeriCorps*Volunteers in Service to America (MDSC/A*

VISTA): Project staff members serve within nonprofit organizations in the Delta as

capacity builders to reduce poverty in low income communities.


23

Beyond these programs, the CCED is regularly involved in other projects with community and regional

partners. For example, in 2011 the CCED coordinated/managed the Cleveland Farmers Market‘s

―Farmers Market Promotion Project‖ funded by the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

The Delta Evaluation and Support Institute (DESI)

The Delta Evaluation and Support Institute at the CCED is an evaluation and management support group

designed to address (a) effective evaluation processes to measure activity-based programs, (b) use of

evaluation data/information by project managers, and (c) performance reports of outcomes and processes

that ―tell the story‖ of project accomplishments using both formative and summative information and

data. The Institute has available faculty resources at the University plus external sources, thus the

capability to assure quality, credentialed work compliant with standards for quality services. Under each

service contract, the Institute appoints a principal evaluator who has impressive academic credentials,

experience, and full support of faculty associates.

The focus of the evaluation is a logic model that describes the logical linkages of program

resources, activities, outputs, service recipients, and short, intermediate and longer-term outcomes. Once

this model of expected performance is produced cooperatively with program managers, critical

measurement areas are identified by using a systems approach to identify milestones for formative

assessment reports. Summative evaluation reports address performance benefits. Information collection

processes are selected on ―most appropriate‖ criteria, and include (a) quantitative data review of

performance reports, performance data, and written/published tests; and (b) qualitative information/data

collected through on-site observations, questionnaires, focus groups, group discussions, and

conversations.

McLaughlin and Jordan (1999)1 best describe the logic model by its generic elements depicted below.

1 McLaughlin, J., & Jordan, G. (1999). Logic models: A tool for telling your program's performance story.

Evaluating and Program Planning, 22, 65-72.


24

Resources include human and financial resources as well as other inputs required to support the

program. Information on target populations is an essential resource to the program. Activities include all

those action steps necessary to produce program outputs. Outputs are the products, goods and services

provided to the program‘s direct customers (populations).

The Institute then works cooperatively with project managers and decision makers to identify

project short-term outcomes, intermediate outcomes, and long-term outcomes and problem solutions.

These data based resources provide managers with credible information for formative and summative

reporting to specific customers such as funding sources, boards, advisory groups, and the public.

B. Emerging Program: Institute for Environmental Justice and Community-based Conservation

In 2011, Dr. Mark Bonta joined the CCED as a Senior Faculty Associate. The brand-new Institute, under

his leadership, will strive to fulfill the vision described below, responding in this way to the guiding

principles of the CCED As an integral part of the Center for Community and Economic Development and

the Division of Social Sciences and History at Delta State University, the Institute brings together the

expertise of scholars, practitioners, and community activists to research and solve problems facing socio-

environmentally marginalized groups and communities in the Delta and elsewhere. These problems

include, but are not limited to: loss of biodiversity; lack of publicly-accessible lands; erosion of existing

access to public lands and common property resources; air, water, and soil pollution; human health

issues linked to environmental contamination; vulnerability to natural disasters such as floods,

earthquakes, and hurricanes; vulnerability to global climate change.


25

1. Purpose

The Institute is designed to respond to the needs of communities and to help communities network

across state and national boundaries. Existing models such as ‗conservation dialogues‘ (see Seven

Names for the Bellbird: Conservation Geography in Honduras, M. Bonta, Texas A&M Press, 2003)

are promoted, and new models are developed, that provide a way by which local communities,

outside experts, and policy-makers can communicate in project visualization and design, in research,

and in effective conservation and activism. The typical initial stage of a community-based project,

once a need is identified, involves open-ended, exploratory ethnographic research in communities as

well as extensive scholarly literature review and analysis that identify community priorities, existing

TEK (Traditional Ecological Knowledge), and scientific state-of-the-knowledge on the place and

problem in question. Environmental education is generally a desired part of any justice and

conservation project, and it often goes beyond the classroom into field-based initiatives that can

involve the training of parataxonomists, citizen scientists, and mapmakers from communities—

children and adolescents as well as adults—who can themselves document, interpret, and preserve

existing knowledge as well as add to it. For example, local common-property resource inventories

and atlases, enriched by the input of outside experts, become the property of the communities

themselves, and serve as resources for community-guided planning and protection of community

parks, green spaces, school grounds, watersheds, riparian corridors, privately-held habitat (in forests

and farmland), backyard habitats, and so forth. Affiliates of the Institute are already involved in such

efforts in Honduras and elsewhere, and it is hoped that through the Institute successful experiences

and ideas can be introduced to the Delta, where true community-based conservation is as yet quite

limited.

2. Short-term Outlook. The initial actions of the Institute (2011 and 2012) are to:

a. Develop an overall strategic plan;

b. Attract research and activist affiliates who can collaborate on projects via the establishment

of the Delta Environmental Sustainability Network (see below)

c. Develop and begin to implement activities under the three broad-based initiatives (see

below);

d. Garner funding to support c.


26

3. GIS Linkage. When funding becomes available, the Institute will contract with the Center for

Interdisciplinary Geospatial Information Technologies (CGIT) at DSU. This will help provide the

critical component of geospatial database design and management that will be necessary for several

components of the projects the Institute expects to lead or be involved in.

4. Evaluation and Assessment. The Institute can also provide the expertise for rapid assessment of

biodiversity and for numerous community-based research needs related to environmental questions; it

is affiliated with the Institute for Community-based Research (ICBR) consortium and in this respect

can also provide evaluation and assessment of existing biodiversity and natural resource-focused

projects, particularly those that involve or impact rural communities, in Mississippi and in Latin

America.

5. Field Courses. A further initiative of the Institute is to offer field courses in the US South and in

Latin America that educate and in some cases involve participants in environmental justice and

conservation issues. Opportunities also exist for volunteers to become involved in scientific

expeditions, primarily to Honduras, that work with local communities in monitoring of endangered

rain forests and other crucial habitats as well as the keystone species that inhabit them. To the extent

possible, via the Office of Continuing Education at DSU, the Institute will collaborate with DSU‘s

Coahoma County Higher Education Center (Director Jen Waller) for education, outreach, and field

course coordination in the Delta.

6. Broad-based Initiatives

a. Biogeography, Endemicity, and Community-based Conservation in the Honduran Highlands

(partnership with the Honduran Biodiversity Research Coalition)

b. Human Uses of Cycads (partnership with The Cycad Society)

c. Vulnerability and Marginalization in the Yazoo-Mississippi Delta

1) Environmental hazards education

2) Environment and human health

3) Community-based conservation and environmental education

7. Delta Environmental Sustainability Network (DESN)


27

The DESN is a resource for communities, groups, and individuals in the Yazoo-Mississippi Delta. It

was initiated in September, 2011 and holds monthly meetings at the CCED. The ad hoc coordinator is

Mark Bonta, and there is a small steering committee. We support: Energy Solutions: clean,

renewable, affordable, sustainable, eco-friendly; Environmental Justice: awareness, monitoring, and

policy advocacy related to air, soil, and water quality issues; Community-based Conservation:

protection of the environment for the benefit of local communities; Recycling. What We Do: provide

an online and live forum for the exchange of ideas; facilitate connections between communities,

entrepreneurs, and experts; pool our resources to raise funds for worthy causes related to our three

broad areas of support; education: organize lectures, workshops, field trips and other activities

(speakers bureau). Who We Are: current members include the Center for Community and Economic

Development at Delta State University; Friends of the Environment, Alligator, MS; Charity for Delta

Development; City of Mound Bayou; Delta Environmental Center for Education and New

Technologies; Cleveland Chamber of Commerce; private businesspeople and representatives from

Cleveland, Doddsville, and Winstonville. There only prerequisites for membership are interest in and

dedication to the ideas presented above; there are no membership fees or other formal requirements;

meetings are open to all. The DESN. will continue to expand, and to refine its mission, throughout

2011 and 2012. Initial activities include: 1) visit to GreenTown project, Greensburg, KS (Oct27-29);

2) support for an environment/energy youth group; 3) support for energy and environmental projects

in Alligator, MS.; 4) development of a website/clearinghouse for information and ideas (with

accompanying Facebook page)

8. Proposals for funding: Projections 2011-2012

a. To the extent possible, DSU undergraduate and graduate students will be involved in research

and other activities that result from grants awarded;

b. Primary emphasis will be placed on grants that provide indirect costs to the university;

c. $100,000 is the target total amount for garnered funding by the end of FY 2011-2012;

d. Further potential support from anonymous donors is not included in #3, but is anticipated;

e. Several trips involving requests for funding from DSU between 9-1-2011 and 6-30-2012 will

be necessary to further collaborative activities and meet with potential funders;

f. ‗Biodiversity and endemism in unsurveyed cloud forests of northeastern Honduras,‘ a

proposal for $20,000, was submitted to the National Geographic Society on Oct. 1, 2011.


28

C. Emerging Program: Renewable Energy and Education Project

The Renewable Energy and Education Project (REEP) is a partnership with the Madison Center and a

program under the aegis of the Center for Community and Economic Development, under the oversight of

CCED Senior Faculty Associate Professor Garry Jennings. The purposes of REEP are to develop

community partnerships in the Delta that will be the beneficiaries of renewable energy, leading

eventually to full capacity usage in the out-years of the project. Through this project communities will be

able to take advantage of renewable energy, to establish educational programs, and to change the culture

of energy usage so that Delta communities can reduce dependency on conventional energy generation.

The change in culture, however, must begin in the leadership of CCED, REEP, community partners and

Delta State University. Within DSU, REEP is a partnership between the Madison Center and the CCED.

Consistent with these two general purpose are seven goals.

GOALS

1. Delta State University Demonstration Program -- Develop a program that can serve as a

showcase of renewable energy projects to future partners.

a. Establish pilot projects that will have immediate and material benefits to the university;

b. Create connections between these projects and course work in existing undergraduate and

graduate courses;

c. Develop student support for REEP and related renewable energy projects as appropriate to

the development of the overall project;

d. Extend REEP to the current Environmental Science Program in the Division of Physical and

Biological Sciences;

e. Engage colleagues in the Environmental Science Program to develop a model curriculum

related to Goal IV below;

f. Seek a planning grant to create campus demonstration projects and to establish and document

regional partnerships in the amount of $250,000.

2. Renewable Energy Partnerships in the Delta -- Cultivate renewable energy partnerships

with Yazoo City and Mound Bayou communities.


29

a. Organize meetings with and between Yazoo City and Mound Bayou communities for

orientation to REEP;

b. Enhance partnerships by expanding the scope of partners within these communities to direct

support of REEP objectives;

c. Begin identifying possible beneficiaries in each community for renewable energy projects,

especially the government and church communities;

d. Cultivate project partners in communities outside the Delta. These national partnerships will

help develop the practical application and lead to other sources and methods for application;

e. Seek a planning grant for renewable energy education projects at the state and national levels

in the amount of $500,000.

3. Build a Publicity Campaign -- Broadcast the work of REEP and its partners

a. Use the Gaia Project page on the Madison Center to establish a publicity campaign for REEP;

b. Document campus demonstration projects from planning, through site establishment,

installation, and inspection by campus officials, partners, and potential donors and investors;

c. Use both still and video documentation for publicity;

d. Engage journalism majors to cover campus and regional events;

e. Seek coverage by local, state and national news organizations for the project;

f. Employ interviews and blog commentary to develop interest in renewable energy;

g. Seek $50,000 in grant funding to support and extended publicity for renewable energy.

4. Renewable Energy Curriculum for Delta Middle Schools -- Develop renewable energy

programs in middle school curriculum within Delta partnership school systems.

a. Consult with the College of Education at DSU in developing renewable energy programs for

program partners;

b. Meet with members of the governor‘s office and the appropriate state agencies to seek

support for a renewable energy program throughout the state;

c. Seek assistance and guidance in the Mississippi Department of Education in order to establish

a renewable energy curriculum;

d. Develop partnerships with Delta regional science teachers to establish a renewable energy

curriculum;

e. Create and/or acquire lesson plans on renewable energy;


30

f. Develop connections with school systems to include lesson plans;

g. Organize and fund teacher workshops to support the teaching of the renewable energy

curriculum;

h. Design, plan, implement and host the ―Renewable Energy Education Summit‖ (REES) at

Delta State University in order to demonstrate, education and stimulate support for renewable

energy in the Delta;

i. Seek grant funding in the amount of $500,000 to support the development of a renewable

energy curriculum in Delta regional schools.

5. Develop and implement the plan to install solar energy projects in selected partnership

homes.

a. Develop standards for potential candidates for renewable resource usage;

b. Establish the standards for recipients of renewable energy projects;

c. Recruit undergraduate and graduate students for community survey work;

d. Seek a $200,000 planning grant for the renewable energy research.

6. Extend the Renewable Energy Partnerships -- Create partnerships with select communities

in the Delta

a. Use the work of the REES as a resource to extend and motivate partnerships for REEP;

b. Contact select academics with an expertise in renewable energy for the purposes of

presentations at the CCED;

c. Design, produce, implement and lead a renewable energy summit in the Delta;

d. Seek a $200,000 planning grant to support REES.

7. Implement renewable energy installation in partnership homes and offices.

a. Establish partnerships with professionals who will help install renewable energy units in

partnership homes and offices;

b. Recruit high school students in Delta partnership communities to learn the basic installation

procedures for renewable energy equipment;

c. Recruit DSU students to assist installers and to document the work of the renewable energy

team;


31

d. Document for publicity and record-keeping the progress of renewable energy installation

throughout the Delta;

e. Use this first stage implementation to extend partnerships to other Delta communities and to

plan for the next generation of renewable energy development in the Delta;

f. Seek $3,000,000 in grants and donations for the implementation of renewable energy

installations in partnership homes and offices.

Total grant goal across all goals: $4,700,000


32

SECTION VI: STRATEGIC PRIORITY IV- STRATEGIES FOR SUSTAINABILITY

Long-term sustainability of the CCED is found in successful grantsmanship, performing contracted

services, and investment management. Revenue sources are (a) indirect costs from grants and (b) fee-for-

services through contracts and use of facilities, and (c) investment return. As the Center transitions into a

more academic environment and focuses on opportunities for grant writing and contracted service,

achieving financial stability and sharing benefits with participating faculty and staff are critical

considerations. The focus is on increasing broad-based capabilities and personnel resources for managing

grants, contracting personnel services, and evaluation. The Division faculty is a priority resource for

credentialed and professional service providers. However, when Division resources are not available or

adequately credentialed, external resources are used. As depicted in the organizational chart, faculty

associates are key contributors for an expanding resource for grant writing, contracted services, and

creative revenue producing opportunities.

A. Fiscal Stability

Through accumulation of financial and physical resources, the CCED targets a financial reserve of

$150,000 and physical resources in the excess of $150,000 (CCED building and inventory). For

accounting purposes, an existing fund with a DSU fund number will be used to manage cash resources

and investment transfers.

Charges for services and indirect cost rates are management considerations based on options available

in guidelines for Requests for Projects and customary rates for contracted services. For indirect costs, the

University has an approved indirect cost that must be applied when required by the federal funding

source. For determining an indirect cost that is not required and for service contracts, the Associate

Director will determine a fair and customary rate. Typically, the rate will not exceed 10% unless extra

management support and facility use is required to fulfill obligations of CCED and/or Division.

B. Integration of the CCED into the DSSH

The CCED for years has functioned as an autonomous Center for Excellence under the Vice President for

Academic Affairs. The Division of Social Sciences and History has been affiliated with the CCED since

the latter‘s inception, but the nature of the relationship has now changed. The Director of the CCED is

also the chair of the DSSH; the Associate Director is a DSSH tenure-track faculty member; the CCED

Project Director/Coordinators report directly to the Associate Director. Thus, the CCED is now fully a


33

part of the Division; steps will need to be taken to integrate the CCED into the DSSH in more than a

formal sense.

Several factors impede the integration of the CCED into the Division. These include the physical

distance between them, the lack of faculty and graduate student involvement, the history of rapidly-

changing CCED directorships and operational philosophies that have tended to create an atmosphere of

insecurity among CCED staff, and the lack of knowledge within the university community as a whole

about the accomplishments of the CCED and its roles and functions.

The addition of faculty associates will help mitigate some of the pressing issues, particularly with the

onset of a coherent vision and guiding principles beginning in August 2011. There will be ample

opportunity to involve current CCED staff in faculty-led research and service projects funded by major

grants, and ample opportunity for faculty to link their own projects, and classes, to current and future

CCED projects. These are outlined elsewhere in this plan. However, the integration of the CCED needs to

occur at a more organic level, and needs to be part of the ongoing integration of the Division –an ever-

growing and ever-more-complex association of faculty, staff, students, undergraduate and graduate degree

programs (in sociology, community development, political science, geography, history, social science

education, social justice and criminology), alumni, , and affiliated donors, with offices in Kethley Hall,

Jobe Hall, and the CCED building. Thus some of the actions to be taken below should be viewed within

the broader context of the DSSH‘s own increasing strength and growing sense of community.

Activities:

1. Regular DSSH social events that are open to faculty, staff, and students.

These should be of the ‗meet and greet‘ variety that cost little to nothing in terms of budget, but that

facilitate the kind of social interaction that is so crucial for instilling a sense of inclusion and

acceptance. Given the extraordinarily busy schedules of all DSSH stakeholders, a regular venue that

is known and open to all—like a restaurant or university lounge space--is preferable to occasional

events that are hit-or-miss in terms of who can attend. An online group or at least an email list should

include all announcements about such a venue, when DSSH people will be present, and, if

appropriate, if any refreshments are available.

2. Brown bag luncheons.

The Gender Studies Group, and/or the DSSH as a whole, will incorporate presentations by CCED

staff, preferably in collaboration with DSSH faculty and/or students. DSSH brown bags are well

attended by members of the university community, and provide an excellent opportunity to foster

understanding of CCED projects and their effects on the Delta.


34

3. Service-learning.

Students in DSSH classes will be offered the opportunity to interview with CCED personnel for

potential inclusion in their projects.

4. Graduate and undergraduate student involvement in research.

Faculty will involve students in CCED research projects via the new institutes and other mechanisms.

5. Involvement of CCED staff in DSSH classes.

CCED staff with requisite degrees and interests should be encouraged to offer classes, including

workshops that involve development in the Delta. Beyond this, CCED staff profiles and project

descriptions will be made available to DSSH faculty to facilitate contact opportunities—such as guest

lectures—that will enrich classes.

6. Professionalization of CCED staff.

DSSH faculty will plan and offer professional workshops for CCED staff in skills and knowledge

necessary for interaction and collaboration in an academic environment, for writing grants, for

tracking and analyzing data, etc. Furthermore, the CCED associate director will work with CCED

staff to identify their own professional goals and objectives and aid them in procuring support for

furthering their educations and professional skills.

Documents

Center for Community and Economic Development · 2012. 12. 12. · The Center for Community and Economic Development (CCED) at Delta State University (DSU) was organized in August