The Office of Community Engagement & Partnerships is pleased to announce the creation of a Sulphur Springs Working Group! A number of faculty and graduate students from across campus have on-going relationships with members of the Sulphur Springs community. Our faculty and graduate students have taught service-learning courses, developed research projects, and provided technical assistance to Sulphur Springs organizations. Several of those working in Sulphur Springs have expressed an interest in learning more about the work of their USF colleagues, and figuring out whether there are ways to better coordinate the various USF efforts there.

On May 2nd, 2012, the OCEP held a luncheon meeting with faculty and graduate students in order to discuss how a Sulphur Springs Working Group could enhance USF community engagement in Sulphur Springs. Those present discussed ways USF faculty and students can better coordinate the many research, teaching and service projects underway in Sulphur Springs. They decided that a Working Group that met face to face periodically could be very useful for sharing ideas and information, as well as for learning more about the work in Sulphur Springs being done by faculty and student colleagues from various departments and colleges. Please contact us if you would like to be included in the Working Group and/or added to its mailing list.

The OCEP will also help provide a platform for sharing information and research results. This page will soon contain an online database through which anyone can search for Sulphur Springs projects that have been funded by the OCEP or its predecessor. We will also create a page for storing and retrieving all manner of research (reports, photos, oral histories, published papers) on Sulphur Springs. These pages will be user-friendly and easily accessible by faculty, students, and community members alike. If you have material you would like us to include, please contact us. We will be seeking descriptions of projects to add to our database, as well as actual research products to attach to our webpage.

Finally, the Working Group has already discussed a number of ways to reach out to the Sulphur Springs community and bring service providers, community organizations, and residents into these discussions. Early in the fall 2012 semester, we hope to hold a community event in Sulphur Springs that could serve to let our partners there know about USF’s working group collaboration.

Return to this page for future updates on this exciting development!