Photo by Tim Fitzgerald, University Affairs
By the numbers
A
potential small business wants to better assess the market for its products. A
non-profit organization strapped for funds seeks help gathering information for
a grant proposal. An economic development group has the data it needs but lacks
the ability to analyze all of it. A neighborhood association hoping to attract
new businesses and residents seeks a detailed breakdown of the area's
demographics before moving forward.
Varied needs spread throughout
Nebraska, all addressed by the Center for Public Affairs Research at UNO, a
research and community outreach branch of the College of Public Affairs and
Community Service (CPACS).
The center began more than 35
years ago as the Center for Applied Urban Research. Jerry Deichert (pictured)
joined the office in 1987 as a senior research associate. Today, he also serves
as its director.
"There is more information
widely available today through a variety of sources," he says. "The Center for
Public Affairs Research plays a vital role in not only assembling data but also
assisting others in determining how to apply it by helping to identify and
analyze the good or useful information."
UNO priority program
The center was identified by UNO
as a priority program for business and civic outreach and is the 2006 recipient
of the Chancellor's Strategic Planning Award for community engagement. It is
increasingly called upon to provide technical assistance or consulting to
organizations throughout Nebraska interested in acquiring or analyzing specific
data.
In addition to Deichert, the
Center for Public Affairs Research (CPAR) staff includes Russell Smith, senior
research associate; David Drozd, Heather Bloom, and R.K. Piper, research
associates; and Melanie Kiper, community service associate.
CPAR serves as the lead agency
in the Nebraska State Data Center, a cooperative federal and state program that
disseminates government statistic resources and promotes their full
utilization.
In Nebraska, the program
consists of a network of 23 state and local agencies. As the lead, CPAR gathers
and dispenses information on employment trends, migration, population change
and other factors regarding individual communities, counties and the state.
CPAR's activities have included working with:
• Nebraska's Legislative
Research Division to disseminate information from the 2000 Census;
• county and city clerks to
enable them to complete redistricting for their areas;
• the Omaha World-Herald,
Lincoln Journal-Star and other newspapers to dispense demographic data from the
census;
• entities throughout the nation
seeking statistics on Omaha or the state.
"We also conduct workshops and
conferences and make presentations throughout the state to help explain these
demographic changes and their implications," Deichert says. "Our audiences
vary, but most of the time we work with state and local government agencies and
non-profits, along with businesses and consulting companies."
CPAR sponsors an annual Data
Users Conference, noted by Census Bureau officials as one of the
longest-running and best-attended such conferences in the nation. The 17th
annual event was held in August at Girls and Boys Town and attracted more than
90 people from across Nebraska, Deichert says.
Another CPAR focus is survey
research.
"We provide technical assistance
and advice on conducting surveys to a number of local non-profit and government
agencies, as well as to CPACS and UNO faculty and students," he says. "We help
design and implement surveys and questionnaires, and sometimes they hire us to
do the work. We're working with the Greater Omaha Chamber of Commerce to
develop an employment survey that will focus on gauging underemployment by
creating a profile of the current workforce."
Roughly every five years, CPAR's
Omaha Conditions Survey monitors a variety of opinions obtained from
approximately 1,000 city residents. The survey collects information on the
residents' preferences and priorities on topics ranging from the best and worst
aspects of the Omaha area to their satisfaction with services, facilities and
programs. Results can be obtained online at http://www.unomaha.edu/cpar/omahaconditions.php.
Collaborative efforts
CPAR works with the urban
studies interdisciplinary degree program offered by the School of Public
Administration, in collaboration with the City of Omaha and the Neighborhood
Center for Greater Omaha, to train volunteers to rate the conditions of
neighborhood housing. The information gathered by the Omaha Neighborhood Scan
project helps neighborhoods and the city focus on identifiable issues.
Applied research projects
conducted or assisted by CPAR staff include an analysis of the Nebraska
Community Development Block Grant Program and a business and demographic
analysis of the Benson-Ames Alliance area. CPAR also:
• prepared population projections for the Nebraska Public Power
District service area;
• measured the economic impact
of Nebraska Legal Services;
• developed a statistical
profile of Omaha-area women for the Omaha Women's Fund; and,
• completed a study of the
economic impact of Nebraska's airports.
The center publishes several
documents, including the 2005 Nebraska Population Report, which compiles state,
county and city population estimates; components of population change such as
births, deaths and migration; and a collection of historical figures and
trends. A new report will be compiled in January. The current report and the
2004 report are available at http://cpar.unomaha.edu/.
Most recently, CPAR has taken an
active role assisting the new UNO Center for Organizational Research and
Evaluation (CORE).
CORE is a multi-disciplinary
initiative administered by CPACS that links the university's extensive
resources in organizational and program performance analysis and applied
research. CORE draws faculty, staff and graduate students to provide
evaluations, technical assistance, strategic planning and focused research
studies.
One of the first projects for
CORE is the evaluation of a series of energy forums conducted by the Nebraska
Energy Alliance Network. The evaluation is financed through the Energy-Savings
Potential (ESP) program, a campus-wide initiative funded by the Omaha Public
Power District that explores how the demand for energy by individuals and small
businesses may be substantially reduced by applying science and technologies
for energy conservation.
"We have probably a half-dozen
CORE projects underway in various stages," Deichert says.
As to the future, CPAR is
preparing for its role in the 2010 census. "We're trying to help Nebraska have
the best and most complete census possible," Deichert says.
It's important work. "Every
person makes a difference in the amount of federal funds that come into the
state," he says. "Population shifts impact the boundaries of state legislative
districts and Nebraska's congressional districts."
More than simply charting tally
marks and bar graphs, CPAR helps a wide range of people and entities collect,
understand and use data to make a positive impact on the state and the nation.
"Our work underscores UNO's
mission as a comprehensive, metropolitan university," Deichert says, "where the
goal is to create strong community relationships that improve the lives of
people throughout Nebraska."
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Do you know Nebraska?
Did you know that:
• Nebraska's population has
grown every year since 1987.
• The rate of population growth
in the state since 2000 averages 0.5 percent, about half the overall U.S.
growth rate.
• Forty percent of the state's
cities and towns had fewer than 250 residents in 2005.
• Between 2000 and 2005, 23
of the state's 93 counties reported population increases—largely in the eastern
one-third of the state or along Interstate 80.
Source: 2005 Nebraska Population
Report
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