Support the Center

Sponsorship of the Center for Community Studies

sponsorship Since 1999 the Center for Community Studies has been fortunate in having a wide variety of community-based organizations throughout the North Country that have generously financially supported the projects that the Center completes as a service to the community – the Annual Surveys of the Community in each of Jefferson, Lewis, and St. Lawrence County. The following agencies have sponsored these research activities in the past:

Community Bank
Niagara Mohawk
National Grid
Northern New York Community Foundation
Development Authority of the North Country

For more information about sponsorship opportunities and the community outcomes and benefits from these sponsorship agreements please contact the Jefferson Community College Foundation.

The Center for Community Studies Endowment Fund

In 2001, as a part of the Jefferson Community College Foundation, the Center for Community Studies established an endowment fund. This fund has been used to support all community-building activities and student experiential learning since its inception. The endowment fund was initiated with a generous initial contribution from CarFreshner Corporation, and since 2001 has accepted additional donations.

For more information about the Center for Community Studies Endowment Fund and its community outcomes and benefits please contact the Jefferson Community College Foundation.

Research Opportunities for Students

Undergraduate Students Exposed to Experiential Applied Learning through Community-based Research

The primary goal of the research activities completed at the Center for Community Studies is to collect data regarding issues of importance to the local Northern New York agencies and citizens. A secondary goal is to provide a very real, research-based, learning experience for undergraduate students enrolled at Jefferson.

In accomplishing this second goal, students are involved in all aspects of the research, from question formation to data collection (interviewing), to data entry and cleansing, to data analysis. The students analyze the data collected in this study annually as assignments in statistics classes. However, all final responsibility for question-phrasing, question-inclusion versus omission, final data analysis, and reporting of findings lies exclusively with the professional staff of the Center.

The discussions that lead to the inclusion of questions at times arise from classroom discussions involving students and Center staff. The decision to include any question as a legitimate and meaningful part of an annual survey, however, is made exclusively by the Center. Similarly, data analysis of the information collected through the annual survey will transpire with faculty and students in the classrooms at Jefferson while any statistical analysis reported in deliverable documents has been completed by the professional staff of the Center.

The Center typically trains and hires approximately 150 students per academic year to assist in the research activities completed by the college. Students are trained in all aspects of human subject research law and best interviewing techniques, and ultimately trained in data analysis and presentation. Many past students who have participated in research at the Center have used this experience to impact college transfer and future employment career goals.

"The education I received at Jefferson Community College along with the research we completed at the Center for Community Studies separated myself on my resume and interview with the company I still work for today, KS&R – almost 10 years later! KS&R is a global market research company, based in Syracuse NY. We utilize the same mathematics principles taught at JCC and used at the Center for Community Studies today at KS&R. However, the audience has changed from informing community leaders of public perception to educating and informing fortune 500 companies like Microsoft, Verizon and FedEx about their customer base. JCC and the Center for Community studies together provided me the opportunity to apply classroom know-how to the real world."Matt Biedekapp

To find out what we are working on or to receive copies of past reports, please contact us directly.

Contact the Center for Community Studies

Joel LaLone
Director, Center for Community Studies
Retired Professor of Mathematics
Jefferson Community College
1220 Coffeen Street
Watertown, New York 13601
jlalone@sunyjefferson.edu
(315) 786-2264

Larry Danforth
Research Director, Center for Community Studies
Assistant Professor of Mathematics
Jefferson Community College
ldanforth@sunyjefferson.edu
(315) 786-6553

Andy Draper
Research Coordinator, Center for Community Studies
Assistant Professor of Mathematics
Jefferson Community College
adraper@sunyjefferson.edu
(315) 786-2273