Tuesday, August 01, 2006
Institutional Research assists in efforts to improve downtown Evansville
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USI’s Office of Institutional Research and Assessment recently completed a survey designed to determine the child care needs of downtown Evansville employees, and is currently at work on another survey concerning downtown traffic patterns for Downtown Evansville Inc. The Web-based child care survey was distributed through the Human Resources departments of seven employers: Fifth Third Bank, The Evansville Courier Company, Old National Bank, St. Mary’s, Southwest Indiana Mental Health Center, Casino Aztar, and Vectren. Employees were sent a link to the survey and 737 responded. Katherine A. Draughon, director of Institutional Research and Assessment, said the survey found that the greatest need among downtown employees was for infant care, followed by child care for 2 to 5-year-olds. Approximately 50 percent of respondents said they prefer that day care be close to work rather than home. Amy Casavant, diversity and work life specialist for Old National Bancorp, said, “Katherine Draughon and Intuitional Research associate Joe Wingo were a great team to partner with on this project. They were able to add valuable insight and recommendations regarding the survey, and I could always depend on a quick response to any questions throughout the process.” The traffic survey for Downtown Evansville Inc. will help to determine public opinion about traffic flow in downtown Evansville. “This survey is going to get the feedback to find out what the community wants in their downtown,” said Mick Conati, director of Downtown Evansville Inc. “Once we receive the results, we will present them to the downtown implementation committee, who will in turn put together a recommendation based on the master plan.” The public will access the survey online through Downtown Evansville, Inc.'s Web site in August. “This partnership validates the survey. Downtown Evansville Inc. is a not-for-profit organization, so we don’t have the resources to do projects such as this without outside support,” Conati said. Susan Ellspermann, director of USI’s Center for Applied Research and Development, met Conati at the Chamber of Commerce 2006 Inter-City Leadership visit to Lexington, Kentucky, in May. She facilitated the partnership between Downtown Evansville Inc. and the Office of Institutional Research and Assessment. “Institutional Research, through its community survey work, has exemplified how USI staff can have an important impact on our community and region,” she said. “We know USI has tremendous intellectual capital residing on this campus. As we leverage this ‘brainpower’ to assist organizations and businesses in our region, USI will be an even greater force accelerating healthy economic and community development in southwestern Indiana.” USI News and Information Services will make the link to the survey available through the USI Web site when the survey "goes live." |
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