Mary Beth Robinson, an associate professor with the college of architecture and design at the University of Tennessee in Knoxville, left, stands with architectural student Taylor Dotson at the kick-off of UTK's Smart Communities Initiative at the Museum Center at Five Points in Cleveland, Tenn. Dotson, a Cleveland native, poses near a series of 20 civic project summary boards she designed in support of the program, which will place college students in work-learning environments that will address a number of needs identified by city planners.CLEVELAND, Tenn. - The Smart Communities Initiative, a University of Tennessee-Knoxville student service learning program, has officially kicked off and its first partner city is Cleveland.
The program will give students hands-on experience as they tackle 19 civic projects, including stormwater mapping and analysis, streetscape improvements, greenway extensions and redevelopment of old industrial sites.
Faculty, students, city staff and community stakeholders recently praised the initiative during its opening event at the Museum Center at Five Points in downtown Cleveland.
"This is a critical step forward for us as we look forward to helping our students learn by doing," said Dr. Susan Martin, UT provost.
The initiative is a great way to merge "theory and practice" for both students and faculty in meaningful and useful ways, she said.
Faculty and city staff will lead the projects while students handle the work, write reports and make suggestions for resolving issues they study. The program will involve hundreds of students throughout the 2014-15 academic year.
For Cleveland, it provides the opportunity to address a whole package of needs.
"As a professional planner, SCI is like winning the lottery," said Greg Thomas, city planning director.
UTK officials announced in March that Cleveland had been selected as a pilot city for SCI.
The city agreed to provide $3,000 to $9,000 for each project, up to a maximum of $100,000, according to the program agreement.
The Smart Communities Initiative projects evolved from a collection of long-range city and county planning efforts.
City personnel, nonprofit organizations and the business sector have combined to make Cleveland a "perfect partner city," said Kelly Ellenburg, UT campus coordinator for service learning.
Creating the groundwork for SCI involved a holistic approach that embraced environmental viability and sustainability as well as social integrity, she said.
Taylor Dotson, a UTK architectural student and Cleveland native, designed 20 project summary boards that were on display at the museum as part of the kick-off event.
"This is an example of what I'm talking about, where people were just coming up wanting to contribute," Ellenburg said. "I've benefited extremely from her help."
Dotson said that when she heard about the project and its partnership with Cleveland, she had to ask how she could help.
Students attending the kick-off event also expressed excitement for the opportunities to engage in real-world practice.
"It's an interesting project to be involved in," said Jacob Walker, a senior geology student who will get to use new tablet-based technology in conjunction with his work on the city's stormwater study.
Paul Leach is based in Cleveland. Email him at paul.leach.press@gmail.com.