CUISR launches first projects, resource room

Jim Randall

Almost $76,000 has been awarded by the Community-University Institute for Social Research (CUISR, "the Community Institute") for 15 projects to improve community health and quality of life in Saskatoon and communities in Saskatchewan.

The announcement was made Nov. 7 by the U of S and community organizations at a news conference held during CUISR’s open house at its new offices in the John Mitchell Bldg. on the University campus.

"We’re very pleased to provide a home on our campus for this exciting new community-university research initiative," U of S Pres. Peter MacKinnon said.

"Today’s awards mark an impressive start in building the capacity of both academic researchers and community-based organizations to find collaborative solutions to challenging community problems," he said.

The Community Institute is a partnership between community and university experts that provides critical analysis of issues to enable policy makers to make more timely decisions. It plans to fund projects through competitions for graduate student internships and scholarships, community sabbaticals and teaching release stipends.

The projects are aimed at shedding new light on pressing social issues such as child poverty, child sexual abuse by pimps and other perpetrators, and child absenteeism at schools (1,000 children aged five to 16 do not attend school in Saskatoon).

Other projects announced Nov. 7 will study:

• Home care needs in rural, remote and Aboriginal populations.
• Determinants of health for parents of young children living on low incomes.
• The impact of a diabetes education program on the health of participants.
• The effectiveness of home-based early childhood intervention programs.
• The financial costs of homophobia in society.
• The ways immigrant Muslim women on the Prairies construct their identities.
• The role of home-based businesses in rural community economic development.
• The economic and social impacts of the Saskatoon Farmer’s Market.

The Community Institute undertakes research, education and training, and knowledge sharing in quality of life indicators, health determinants, and community economic development. Roughly 15 U of S faculty from a variety of disciplines are involved in the institute. There are also opportunities for about 45 graduate students through scholarships and paid internships with community organizations.

CUISR Co-director Jim Randall, a U of S geography professor, said, "Not only are we honoring the students, faculty and community organizations who have won these awards, but we are also opening a resource room on campus that will eventually be a focal point for community-based research." he said. "It is our hope that this room will house one of the best collections of reports and data files on social issues in Saskatchewan, accessible to the public, community organizations, faculty and students."

Co-director and city councillor Kate Waygood said, "CUISR hopes to advance the processes of change by uncovering new knowledge and understanding about what makes us a healthy, stable community and what will keep us that way."

CUISR has a budget of $1.3 million over three years to enhance health and community development across Saskatchewan.

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