Center for Community Research and Consulting

Bloomsburg University's Center for Community Research and Consulting (CCRC) features a dedicated team of faculty and students who collaborate to improve the community through internship opportunities, research and professional development.

The center is directed by Susan Dauria, Ph.D., and Christopher Podeschi, Ph.D., who collaboratively lead a student staff in helping to meet the needs of communities and organizations.

Internship Opportunities

As a CCRC intern, students get the opportunity to assist the center on various research projects that focus on the community, allowing them to have a hands-on approach to improving the community while utilizing skills that have been learned in the classroom.

Research Experience

Students take part in various research projects geared toward improving the surrounding communities. Students are involved in various forms of data collection and produce useful materials for communities and organizations.

Professional Development

Students have the ability to collaborate and network with professionals from a wide range of disciplines and expertise. This development occurs in a hands-on and interactive environment where students have the ability to enhance professional skills from working directly with our directors and with other community and organization leaders.

CCRC Tasks

Columbia Montour Family Health

• Literature review
  • Benefits of family planning education
  • Benefits of STD education
  • Benefits of regular checkups
  • Benefits of small specialty clinics
  • Similar organizations' successes
• Searching for grants
• Grant writing
• Producing marketing/awareness raising materials

Second Chance Pell

• Literature review
  • Impact of higher education on recidivism
  • Impact of higher education on currently or formerly incarcerated individuals
  • How to help returning citizens be successful in higher education
  • How to help incarcerated individuals succeed in higher education
  • Cost of higher education compared to cost of incarceration
• Prison visits TBT
• Writing policy manual

Foster Care (ANCHOR)

• Literature review
  • Impact of higher education on youth in care
  • Needs of youth in care before, during, and after higher education
  • Successful higher education programs for youth in care
• Find potential grants
• Draft case statement

Civic Engagement and Environmental Awareness (CEWE)

• Choose questions to answer, run analysis, and write brief summary (indicate specific questions)
• Go to classes and collect data
• Enter data into dataset

Drug Testing Transcript

• Type transcripts

Community Needs Assessment Survey

• Data analysis and report writing for client and provider surveys.

United Way Goals

• Opioid Crisis
• Transportation
• Housing stability
• Early Childhood Education
• Poverty and the ramifications of living in poverty in this community

Mental Health

• Attend meetings in Northumberland

College of Liberal Arts Strategic Planning

• Revise survey
• Plan focus group

Downtown Parking Research

Led by student researchers, Stephen Staats, a senior criminal justice major, and Tony DiBiase, a junior geoscience major, a group of 30-plus student volunteers are conducting a creative parking study in the Town of Bloomsburg, utilizing mobile GIS devices not for mapping but to monitor downtown parking spaces and collect data to better understand parking tendencies.

The hope is to improve Bloomsburg’s congestive parking situation. Success of this study could serve as a model for other municipalities across the country trying to improve their parking efficiency.

The project, funded by the Bloomsburg University Foundation, Inc., is being done in collaboration with several local municipal agencies and university departments, as well as BU’s Center for Community Research and Consulting.