The ACRI team had a busy semester; we were able to accomplish some important work for a special place in Fayette County. Breaking into groups based on our different academic programs, there were four focus areas that produced their own results.
The business cohort researched the needs of local entrepreneurs using surveys and interviews, then used the feedback to identify topics that would be in demand as a training workshop. If I could magically guarantee success for any one of our deliverables, I would want it to be this one. If small businesses in Fayette County are given the resources that our business students have in mind, then they would be much better equipped for success. Programming could assist all kinds of skills: accounting, grant application, tech literacy, social media, marketing, and more. The first program that they will deliver this spring will introduce local artisans to Etsy, which will allow them to sell their products worldwide. This could potentially open income streams for these people that they weren’t aware of before.
Our sustainability students continued to assist the Uniontown Pride social media campaign and their interns at Uniontown High School. This campaign helps the students advertise important things going on in their school and community. Also, they began research with multiple Fayette County high schools to figure a path towards more career education opportunities for students. If students are more aware of careers that could be possible in their area, as well as a line of contact to people in that field, then it will be easier for Fayette County to field a diverse and well-prepared pool of workers.
The urban studies students have successfully collected the data necessary to finish their asset map. This includes valuable sites across the county, and there are so many of them that they’ve run into a new challenge: classifying them in a way that is intuitive and useful. They were able to decide on asset categories
Erin and I, the political science students, laid out plans for a focus group research model based on past research; it will address three primary areas of interest tied to our goals in Fayette County. These areas of conversation have to do with: business and the local economy, political attitudes, and perceptions of the University and our work. Based on our site visit to the County, the conversations we’ve had with people, and the body of research done by past students in this program, we feel that the first two areas are especially relevant to the goal of economic development. Getting input about business and economy is going to help our peers inform their work, especially the students developing programming for the entrepreneurship center. It will also help the students searching for assets and those interested in professional opportunities for students. Understanding the political attitudes of people in the County is essential; politics and local government can be a driving force for development, but we need to fully grasp its current role and its future potential. Enfranchisement has to be both economic and political. The third topic, perceptions of the University and its work, will allow us to monitor our progress and get a better idea of Pitt’s place in the greater Pittsburgh community. Pitt ought to have relationships with its neighbors and be invested in their success.
Having grown up in another part of Appalachia, Fayette County felt very different than home but also vaguely familiar. It’s similarly post-industrial, but much more populous. The proximity to Pittsburgh introduces a dynamic that’s good and bad. On the one hand, it’s the reason that the University is dedicating resources in Fayette County in the first place, and there is an urban center near enough that people could live in the County and commute to work in the city. On the other hand, it means that jobs and residents can bleed to the city and widen the gap between Fayette and Pittsburgh. We’ve seen that this is a huge issue when it happens to young people; that’s brain drain. Regions of Appalachia have some things in common, but the differences are nuanced and important. Those can be cultural, demographic, economic, geographic, even topographic, but probably a combination of them all and that’s what makes Appalachia incredibly diverse.
Someday, I’ll be proud to tell people about this semester because it was a learning experience where we were laying a path to actual positive change. Also, I did it alongside an impressive group of students and advisors that I could tell were all committed to the success of the County. I enjoyed spending time with every one of them. After our first site visit, it felt like things shifted; we thought less about the work as a class project and more about doing right by the people we met. It felt good to know that everyone was on the same page. There aren’t many chances to do something like this in college; it was different than any other program that I’ve experienced in my academic career. There was more flexibility to take things in the direction that we thought was most sensible, but the right amount of guidance from our advisors to make sure that we’d land in a place with real, valuable deliverables. I thought our commitment shone through in our D.C. presentation. It was professional, dense, and inspired. I’d recommend this program to any student at Pitt, and eagerly await our Connellsville reunion in seven years!