SOC 316: Community Research

“Middletown Green Business Initiative”

for Jonah Center for Earth and Art

by Laura Masulis, Tanya Moss, Miller Nuttle, and Paolo Speirn

This project aimed to facilitate environmentally responsible business practices in Middletown. A group of four Wesleyan students was commissioned by the Jonah Center for Earth and Art to complete this project as part of the Community Research Seminar class.  The student researchers interviewed Middletown business owners and environmental leaders to develop a checklist of green business practices.  Based on feedback from businesses, the research group expanded the project to create a comprehensive Middletown Green Business Initiative.

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“Parents’ Experiences with the 2008-2009 HUSKY Network Transition”

for Middlesex Coalition for Children

by Roy Chung, Ari Tolman, Ashley Un, and Liana Woskie

The purpose of this study was to investigate the experiences of HUSKY families following January 2009 changes to the program that required families to choose among three new provider networks.  A team of four Wesleyan University students collaborated with the Middlesex Coalition for Children to examine the effects of this most recent transition in the program on parents’ satisfaction with their new plans and services, access and use of healthcare for their children, and general opinions about their experiences navigating the HUSKY program.

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“Even Start Family Literacy Program Evaluation: Measuring Parental Involvement in Education”

for Even Start Family Learning Program

by Shayna Bauchner, Katie Hanna, Isaac Maddow-Zimet, and Holing Yip

This report is the final product of a semester-long collaborative study between a group of student researchers from Wesleyan University and the Middletown Adult Education Even Start Family Literacy Program (Even Start), an early child learning and adult education program in Middletown, Connecticut. Since Even Start is founded on a parent-child joint learning model, this study focuses primarily on the effects of the program on the parental involvement level of its former participants, with secondary foci on parent and child educational achievement after leaving Even Start.

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“Exploring Employers’ Attitudes on Hiring Individuals with Serious Mental Illness”

for River Valley Services

by Stephanie Quainoo, Sara Shor, Sarah Tracy-Wanck, Jennifer Veloz

This report examines employers’ attitudes on hiring individuals with a serious mental illness (SMI) within River Valley Services’ (RVS) Catchment Area 10- Middlesex County. The purpose of the study was to explore the presence of prejudicial attitudes among these employers and gauge how stigma can influence hiring practices. Furthermore, we investigated the attitudes towards supported employment agencies to provide RVS with suggestions on maximizing the effectiveness of their employment services.

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“An Investigation of the Impact of Non-Taxable Properties on Fire Departments in the City of Middletown, CT”

for Middletown Council Fire Services Cost Committee

by Tara Abaring, Steve Koch, Miriam Rosenau, and Rob Wohl

This report is the product of a semester-long study assessing the fiscal impact of providing fire services to the tax-exempt properties within the three fire districts in Middletown, CT.  It was commissioned by the Middletown Common Council’s Fire Services Cost Committee, and conducted by student researchers in Wesleyan University’s Community Research Seminar with the assistance of the Middletown, Westfield, and South fire departments. Research strategies included calculating the cost of providing services to non-taxable property, determining the tax revenue lost due to tax-exemption, and appraising the effectiveness of Connecticut’s PILOT (payment-in-lieu-of-taxation) program, which reimburses municipalities for the taxes that would be paid on certain kinds of tax-exempt property, namely state property, private colleges, and hospitals.

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“Art is Life; Life is Art:” A Study of Access to Higher Education for Low-Income Art Students in Middlesex County

for Artists for World Peace

by Priscilla Bustamante, Sarice Greenstein, Rithi Mathias, and Mariel Matze

In collaboration with a community organization, Artists for World Peace (AFWP), a research team of four Wesleyan students studied the factors that influence whether low-income high school students from Middlesex County who are interested in the arts will:

• Attend college rather than enter the work force;
• Attend a four-year college instead of a two-year college such as a community college; and/or
• Continue to study and pursue their interest in the arts after they graduate high school.

Data were obtained in order to assist AFWP develop a potential scholarship for low-income art students.

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