As shown in Table 1, we interviewed multiple sources to gather first person perspectives on the impact of the WCPC. The most insightful stories for impact assessment came from the WCPC alumni and past project sponsors. We were able to gain a good understanding of the individual impact the Worcester Community Project Center has on alumni and sponsors through
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both types of interviews, but the sponsor interviews gave us a more in-depth view of impact on organizational, community, and systemic level impacts.
On the individual level, all the sponsors and WCPC alumni we interviewed expressed that they have been personally impacted by the IQPs run through the WCPC. The alumni we interviewed often reflected that their experience at the Worcester Community Project Center affected their work ethic or professionalism skills moving forward in life. This is reflective of the examples of potential impact, as shown in Figure 1, particularly the professional development skills and personal growth. In our interview with an alumna from WPI’s class of 2016, she shared, “I’ve taken so much away from [the IQP] experience in terms of work ethic, playing to one’s strengths, and highlighting those strengths from the beginning.” Other interviews we conducted reinforced this sentiment and many interview participants emphasize the relevance of skills learned during ID2050 in their lives post-graduation. She specifically noted that she felt as though her team’s project would not have been able to succeed without the structure of ID2050 and the skills covered in the course.
Furthermore, as previously stated, alumni shared that they felt more connected to Worcester as well as the WPI campus after conducting their IQPs at the WCPC. Multiple alumni reported having feelings of fulfillment by giving back to the local community and pride in the projects they completed. These responses demonstrate cross-cultural learning and empathy, asset accumulation, as well as confidence and a sense of contribution examples from Figure 1. Some of our survey responses emphasize that Worcester becomes home for undergraduates for four years, but many students never get a chance to explore the city. As one survey participant shared, “Doing a deeper dive into our local non-profit community really helped give us a better understanding of the Worcester Community as a whole and took us out of our bubble at WPI. The most memorable
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aspect was effecting change to our neighboring communities for the people who needed it the most.” Another survey participant wrote, “Through working with Mass. Department of Environmental Protection, we not only completed our project, [but we were] submerged in an invaluable experience. [We] learned the social science and project management knowledge, but also got to learn how as a pilot program, we explored options and means to help build a better community.” This testimonial further emphasizes the opportunities for incredible, meaningful projects offered by the WCPC.
At the organizational level, the sponsors were able to give us firsthand feedback on how working with the WCPC has benefitted their organizations. We mostly noticed that these impacts manifested at these organizations through planning and project development, assets, and resources. Since IQPs intend to solve problems through social science and technology, the final deliverables sponsors receive varies from recommendations to a finished product (WPI, n.d.c.). Every sponsor we spoke to reported that they always implemented their IQP team’s deliverables if it was feasible for the organization. We interviewed Jean Des Roches and Steven Kessler from the Seven Hills Foundation, and they described their favorite project; creating an assistive technology exposition held in central Massachusetts. The Seven Hills Foundation is an organization that works on the “development and delivery of a wide spectrum of clinical, educational and behavioral health services,” to aid people who have “significant challenges so that [they can achieve] personal well- being and independence” (Seven Hills Foundation, 2020). They expressed that while assistive technology expositions exist, they are usually in the Boston area, and therefore access to this technology is an issue. Seven Hills had two IQP teams work on the project consecutively, the first team designed and developed the plan and the second team put the plan into action. After these IQPs finished, Seven Hills had the plans and knowledge to be able to host the assistive technology
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expositions individually. Kessler highlighted that by hosting these expositions, members of the community utilizing these products are more independent sooner because they can access the products locally.
The sponsors we spoke to were also able to give us insight on how the WCPC’s IQPs positively impact the Worcester community. Examples of community impact include community sustainability and the enhancement of health and well-being. We interviewed Kelsey Hopkins from the Worcester Department of Health and Human Services, who has sponsored four WCPC projects over the past few years. She told us about her favorite project, Stigma-Free, a solution to reducing the stigma surrounding drug addiction, homelessness, and mental illness. The goal of this team was “to create an accessible directory of substance use treatment services and related resources in Worcester through the creation of a mobile application” (WCPC, n.d.d.). Hopkins excitedly shared, “Our IQP team that did Stigma-Free won the [WPI] President’s [IQP] Award... and they are being honored by the Mayor of the City of Worcester with keys to the city.” As previously mentioned, winning the President’s IQP Award is a significant accomplishment at WPI, mainly because it takes all IQPs (about 200) from the academic year into consideration. Being granted keys to the city proves undoubtedly that the project has a massive impact on the community, which was reinforced by Hopkins.
The last level of impact we assessed was systemic impact. One indication of a systemic impact is when the strategies used by a community diffuses into other communities. We interviewed Debbie Maruca-Hoak from Habitat for Humanity (MetroWest/Greater Worcester), and she reflected on a recent project they sponsored. Habitat for Humanity’s mission is to provide an opportunity for safe and affordable housing to community members in need (Habitat for Humanity, 2020). The team “completed a 360-degree organizational cultural assessment focusing
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on 11 aspects of organizational culture” that allowed them to create a more efficient and organized donation process for the ReStores in the MetroWest/Greater Worcester area (Howard et al., 2018). Maruca-Hoak explained that the ReStores are donation centers run by Habitat for Humanity that allow for more sustainability within communities. People can donate appliances, materials towards building houses, furniture, and more, which keeps material out of landfills and allows other community members to purchase these items at a reduced price. Furthermore, the profits of the ReStore contribute to the cost of materials for building houses. The IQP Debbie described assessed the dollar amount made per pound of donations that go into the ReStore, which they did not have an exact number for previously. The team was able to create a process for calculating the value and found the desired amount. Debbie Maruca-Hoak shared that the findings of the IQP team are now utilized by ReStores across the state and by Habitat for Humanity International. Although the IQP was sponsored by Habitat for Humanity (MetroWest/Greater Worcester), this WCPC IQP was able to create an impact on the international scale and, therefore, diffuse its methods into other communities.