Source: David Procter, 785-532-6868, dprocter@k-state.edu
http://www.k-state.edu/cecd/
News release prepared by: Andy Badeker, 785-532-6415, abadeker@k-state.edu
Tuesday, September 11, 2007
K-STATE'S CENTER FOR ENGAGEMENT AND COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT LINKS UNIVERSITY EXPERTISE WITH GREENSBURG NEEDS
MANHATTAN -- The acute need for housing in tornado-ravaged Greensburg is driving several projects that grew from a meeting sponsored by Kansas State University's Center for Engagement and Community Development.
Forty-two faculty members attended the Aug. 22 meeting, according to David E. Procter, the center's director. Four people from Greensburg participated via conference call, including two residents and a representative of the Federal Emergency Management Agency.
"It was pretty crowded," Procter said, but the housing requirements of Greensburg came through loud and clear. Most of the projects proposed have to do with shelter, particularly energy-efficient and "green" varieties.
Although still in the early stages, possibilities discussed include:
* Affordable housing and other buildings that incorporate advanced "smart" technology, perhaps underwritten by the U.S. Department of Agriculture;
* A business incubator that would support such smart technology in agriculture, health care and housing, along with biosurveillance and leadership development;
* The broad use of energy-efficient technology and passive solar installations;
* Recovering the ability to gather and disseminate local news, probably via the Web.
These and other suggestions from the meeting will be coordinated by eight volunteers, Procter said. "We will continue to work as a liaison between resources at K-State and Greensburg," but faculty members are expected to pursue their plans without too much input from the center.
"We are a connector," Procter said. "Sometimes we say we are a broker" for ideas and applicable research.
Although K-State Research and Extension has always had a mission of getting useful information into Kansas communities, Procter's center was developed at the behest of the K-State provost's office to extend that concept.
In some aspects, the center is "a reincarnation of the Kansas Center for Rural Initiatives," Procter said. Although the new center works closely with K-State Research and Extension, its goal is to encourage and broaden community development by engaging academic departments and resources campus-wide.
"We have people from every college working with us," Procter said.
Continuing projects include the Rural Grocery Store Sustainability Initiative, technology transfer to rural manufacturers, and business development through a Web-intensive array of resources.
"We're now scheduling meetings with rural business leaders to show them how to use the Web site, and to figure out which of the many new technology avenues are best for them," Procter said.
In addition to benefiting Kansas towns, the center does at least a couple of good things for K-State, Procter said: It emphasizes to faculty members their university's enduring land-grant mission of public service, and it demonstrates to accreditation groups that K-State is usefully engaged with the world that surrounds it.
In the future, Procter expects the center to tackle preparedness. "It's important for K-State to create a model for disaster response," he said. "What is K-State's role?
"We'll be part of that discussion, and we may end up playing a part, depending on what the university decides." He foresees the possibility of a "floating disaster coordinator" who can bring resources to bear when calamity strikes.