01/30/2014

Fellow MTASers,

The Smart Communities Initiative (SCI) is a project of the UTK Office of the Provost Service Learning Activity whereby UTK faculty and students, both undergraduate and graduate level, may provide work directed to local governments (cities and counties) on projects of the local government. The students involved receive academic credit for their efforts.

MTAS and CTAS only recently learned of SCI. Some few of us may have already been knowledgeable of it. We were asked last week to provide the names and contact information for mayors, city managers and municipal planning directors within a 90-mile radius of Knoxville. On January 22 ^nd , the following message concerning SCI was e-mailed to those officials and I wanted all of us to be aware of it in case any of us might be contacted by our town and city customers wondering about SCI. Also, I’ve attached the project description and instructions that were attached to the e-mail as it was sent.

Dear City and County Leadership Officials,

On behalf of the Smart Communities Initiative at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville, I am writing to notify you of an opportunity to partner with us to become the first Smart Communities Initiative (SCI) municipal partner over the 2014-15 academic year. Application information for the 2014-15 SCI, along with information about the program, is attached to this email message and available on the web at
http://servicelearning.utk.edu/smart-communities-initiative-3/ . Applications for this year’s SCI program will be accepted through February 28, 2014.

With the 2014-15 academic year being the pilot year for SCI, we are excited to engage our faculty and students in this dynamic and impactful collaboration with the first ever SCI municipal partner. The SCI will partner faculty and students across campus with staff from the selected city, county, or other municipal group to engage in real-world problem solving aimed at increasing the level of economic viability, social integrity, and environmental sustainability of the area. Projects could focus on issues such as street-scale transportation improvement; infrastructure; brownfield redevelopment; public service or program assessment; energy incentives; civic engagement; analysis of food, education, or healthcare policy; improvements in parks and public spaces; public relations campaigns; or economic opportunity projections.

SCI will match projects proposed by the selected partner with academic courses. Faculty teaching SCI courses and their students will work through a variety of inquiry-based approaches to examine problems, engage citizens and local stakeholders, pitch new ideas and possible approaches, and propose a comprehensive set of recommendations. Through the leveraging of interdisciplinary research and scholarship, community dialogue, human capacity, and innovation, municipal and university partners will collaborate toward the pursuit of smarter, more vibrant communities.

I encourage you to forward this message to any of your staff who may be interested in forming a team to submit an application for this program. If you have any questions, please feel free to contact Kelly Ellenburg, Campus Coordinator for Service-Learning, at 865-974-9577 or
kellenb@utk.edu . We appreciate your interest in the Smart Communities Initiative program, and look forward to hearing from you.

Thank you,

Kelly Ellenburg
Campus Coordinator for Service-Learning
Office of the Provost
217 Greve Hall
The University of Tennessee
Knoxville, TN 37996
865-974-9577

kellenb@utk.edu

servicelearning@utk.edu

http://servicelearning.utk.edu

Obviously, CTAS and MTAS have an interest in this initiative because of who the targets are for proposed projects. Steve Thompson has been the IPS contact for this with the Office of the Provost. Take a few minutes soon to read the attachment so that you’ll have some idea of what it is in the event you do get questions from our customers, particularly those in proximity to Knoxville and those with whom you may work.

Thanks in advance for your attention to this.

Jim Thomas, Executive Director
Municipal Technical Advisory Service (MTAS)
The University of Tennessee Institute for Public Service
Office (615) 532-4950 Cell (615) 972-9219

jim.thomas@tennessee.edu

www.mtas.tennessee.edu