Public utility report leads to class project

Early this year, Erie Water Works, the organization that manages the Erie region’s public water system, emailed a seven-page Water Quality Report to its customers. The document listed improvements that had been made to the water distribution system, detailed results from water quality testing, and provided other educational information.

Dr. Arpan Yagnik, associate professor of advertising, received the report and was fascinated by the content.

“To me, it makes visible an often-unacknowledged aspect of shared governance,” he said. “Water and water quality is of vital importance to our lives.”

That’s why Yagnik, who studies and teaches creativity and communication, wanted to see if students in his COMM 421W: Advertising Creative Strategies courses could come up with creative ways to share the information in the report.

“They were asked to read the report and transform data into creative messages or simple ‘infobytes’ that people can easily understand,” Yagnik said.

The students worked independently, each creating advertisements using data gleaned from the report. Some chose to focus on key facts: “Over 30 contaminants tested. 100 percent negative.” Others opted to present messages to convey trust in the authority. Every ad relied on strong imagery and concise messaging.

“Each of the students went through at least five iterations of their ads, some as many as fifteen, to perfect them,” Yagnik said. “Creativity and creativity training gives you a competitive edge, and our students understand that.”

In April, Yagnik invited the senior leadership of Erie Water Works to Behrend, where students presented them with more than forty creative concepts. “The creative advertising and marketing ideas presented by the students inspired all of us,” said Craig Palmer, senior manager of Engineering Services at EWW. “It was apparent that the students did their research and did it well. The messaging was high-quality and extremely imaginative.”

Yagnik hopes to continue working with Erie Water Works on future projects involving Behrend students. Collaboration with external partners in business and industry is an important facet of the college’s Open Lab strategy in which students and faculty engage in projects with partners, giving students real-world experience while developing product, service, and process solutions for partners.

“Students were asked to read the water quality report and transform data into creative messages or simple ‘infobytes’ that people can easily understand. Each of the students went through at least five iterations of their ads, some as many as fifteen, to perfect them.”

—Dr. Arpan Yagnik, associate professor of advertising

“Town-Gown” Partnership Aims to Improve Urban Education

There is a teacher shortage in U.S. schools, especially in urban schools. It’s a multi-faceted problem that Penn State Behrend is working to mitigate locally through The Mirror Project, an initiative that would address the shortage from several angles, including reducing financial barriers to college for would-be teachers, preparing education majors to teach in urban schools, and increasing minority teachers so that the population of teachers more closely mirrors the population of students.

“Teachers who look like their students serve as role models and mentors, help students learn more and dream higher, and reduce dropout rates,” said Dr. Eric

Corty, director emeritus of the School of Humanities and Social Sciences and professor emeritus of psychology, who spearheaded The Mirror Project.

In Erie’s Public Schools, where 34 percent of the students are black, only 3 percent of the teachers are black. There is only a 10 percent chance that any child will have a non-white teacher during his or her elementary years in Erie’s public school system.

In addition to growing the number of minority teachers, The Mirror Project aims to increase the number of urban students who are prepared to attend college by making changes to the Elementary and Early Childhood Education (EECE) program offered at Behrend.

Among the changes is a proposed Urban Education certificate that would provide EECE and Secondary Education in Mathematics majors with the opportunity to deepen their knowledge of the cultural, historical, political, and sociological foundations of urban education and focus on best practices to support learners in an urban environment.

“Course options will explore topics such as utilizing trauma-informed teaching practices, serving culturally and linguistically diverse learners, and addressing sociological factors that influence urban education in the classroom,” said Dr. Michelle

Cook, assistant professor of special education. “Though the certificate is still in development, we hope to offer it to our students at Behrend soon.”

Over time, as these students assume teaching positions in urban schools, the long-term outcomes of their students can be expected to improve,” Cook said.

“This change will not take place quickly,” Corty said, “but, like compound interest, it will be real, meaningful, and lasting. Erie and Penn State Behrend can stand together as an example of how a town-gown partnership can make a real difference in the futures of both.”

The Mirror Project seeks to cover the full cost of tuition at Behrend for an Erie

Public School student who will be an EECE major. Corty has offered to match contributions up to $250,000 to The Mirror Project endowment. If you wish to contribute, contact Kevin Moore, director of development and alumni relations, at 814-898-6149 or kem7@psu.edu. For more information on the project, contact Dr.

Michelle Cook at 814-898-6243 or mbc5376@psu.edu.