As Director of the Center for Applied Social Research (CASR), Dr.
Barbara Medley provides opportunities for students and faculty to apply
UTC's intellectual capital to enhance public and social services in our
community.  In recent weeks, Dr. Medley has secured two contracts that
will engage undergraduate and graduate students in applied social
research.

A contract of $1,236 from the City of Chattanooga will fund research to
help the City gauge customer satisfaction of the city's new 311 Call
System.  To determine its effectiveness, the CASR will perform the data
input and analysis to monitor constituent satisfaction with
implementation of the 311 system.

A second contract of $3,975 will support the CASR in conducting surveys
for Chattanooga Endeavors, a community-based organization that helps
recently released prisoners transition into society.  Dr. Medley's
students will telephone 2000 local businesses to evaluate their
attitudes towards hiring ex-offenders and the conditions under which
they would make such hires. This information will help Chattanooga
Endeavors identify the types of businesses most likely to provide
employment for ex-offenders and which occupational areas are most open
to ex-offenders.

Congratulations, Dr. Medley! Your efforts will empower the City of
Chattanooga and Chattanooga Endeavors to better serve their
constituencies and will provide excellent applied learning opportunities
for UTC students.