The SIUE Successfull Communities Collaborative (SSCC) is halfway through our partnership with the City of Alton. The partnership, which spans the 2018-2019 school year, is being driven by Alton's strategic plan. During the fall semester, the partnership involved three academic courses that engaged students on six different city projects which included developing a marketing strategy as a means of boosting tourism and economic development, evaluating best practices for business incubation and small business start-up initiatives, and development of system requirements for a mobile app that will highlight upcoming events and tourist attractions within the city. SIUE Public Relations students, furthermore, created an internal marketing plan for the collaborative to increase visibility among campus stakeholders. This same group of students is planning a wrap-up event in April 2019 to celebrate a successful end to the partnership year.
During the Spring 2019 semester, 3 groups of students will be tackling issues in Alton. A civil engineering class will work with engineers at Sheparrd, Morgan & Schwaab to generate an alternative intersection design, produce curb ramp designs and develop a stormwater management plan. In addition, sociology students will be researching perceived barriers to starting a business in Alton, Illinois, and will do so through interviews and an online survey of community members. The City of Alton will use the data to determine needs and to guide future outreach efforts. Lastly, over the course of the next two semesters, a computer science project team will develop an app containing information about local events and businesses.
