Civic engagement: UTC Innovation Lab students work to tackle real-world challenges

Innovations in Honors students presented projects to city officials on Wednesday, April 17, in the City Hall conference room. Photo by Angela Foster.

Last August, the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga Innovations in Honors program and the Chattanooga Department of Innovation Delivery and Performance agreed to collaborate on developing solutions to citywide challenges involving public housing and health during the 2023-2024 academic year.

The Innovations in Honors program, designed for transfer and current UTC students at the sophomore and junior levels, is a problem-based, community-embedded learning experience that challenges students to develop critical thinking, design thinking, applied creativity and collaborative leadership. Partnering with the city during the two-semester UTC Honors College Innovation Labs allowed the students to work closely with civic leaders to tackle authentic, real-world problems.

Dr. Chris Acuff, UC Foundation assistant professor of public administration in the Department of Political Science and Public Service, led the development of policy recommendations for affordable housing in Chattanooga.

“This has been a great experience,” Acuff said. “Typically, most of us only teach within our college, within our department, so teaching with an interdisciplinary group of students has been an awesome experience.

“It has been really interesting listening to the ideas students in the STEM fields or the business school bring to more of a policy-focused class. Then, there is the Honors College; its innovative culture and community-minded spirit have been a good fit. The city has been a really good partner. So it has been a great experience to be part of.”

In mid-April, Acuff’s students—divided into three groups—presented their final projects to a city contingent in the Mayor’s Conference Room at City Hall.

“They gave their pitches and then received final feedback from staff,” Acuff explained. “The hope—whether it’s next year or somewhere down the road—is that future Innovations in Honors students could pick up on those projects and continue to carry them forward.”

One group, Acuff said, focused on credit education and home-buying classes for middle and high school students. The other two groups “looked at more sustainable practices around housing and building and reusing some underutilized properties and using sustainable materials to build affordable housing.”

Acuff was one of three UTC faculty members leading Innovation Lab groups this academic year.

An effort to have Chattanooga recognized as a National Park City was led by Dr. Drew Bailey, UC Foundation professor and program coordinator for the Sport, Outdoor Recreation and Tourism Management program in the Department of Health and Human Performance.

Highlighting the health benefits of physical activity and linking Chattanooga residents to physical activity support in their neighborhoods was led by Dr. Karissa Peyer, UC Foundation associate professor in the Department of Health and Human Performance.

Students in Dr. Chris Acuff’s Innovation Lab made policy recommendations for affordable housing to Chattanooga city officials.

Innovation Labs affordable housing presentations

Sustainable Urban Development by Urban Mining: Lexus Cass, Sam Taylor, Niklas Dobler, Ana Alexandris

“Sustainable Urban Development by Urban Mining” promotes a more green approach to development by incentivizing builders and developers to employ more sustainable building practices—dubbed “urban mining.”

The students researched companies that have successfully implemented similar projects in other cities and are working on refining their concept to implement it in Chattanooga, including cost estimates. Their prototype focused on two properties near campus on MLK Boulevard that could be deconstructed systematically, allowing a developer to utilize the existing brick and other materials.

According to Acuff, the students worked on ways to provide incentives so developers could utilize more sustainable/salvaged materials. They also came up with a novel proposal that centered on using reclaimed building materials from previous structures. To make it possible to employ these recycled materials, the city’s building code may need to be changed.

Working With What We Have: Emma Anderson, Landon Schuster, Marvel Attipoe, Lillian Walters

The “Working With What We Have” students worked to identify what underutilized surface parking lots in Chattanooga could be converted into housing. The categorized properties with either large, underutilized parking lots, or commercial buildings that have closed and have a large footprint and whose land could be used to construct affordable multifamily housing on the property.

Acuff explained they also worked on developing two proposals related to their prototype. First, what incentives could the property owner and/or developer provide to sell and/or develop it into affordable housing. Second, they examined what changes could be made to Chattanooga’s zoning and building codes to make multifamily units more affordable, such as streamlining the review and permitting processes and reducing parking minimums for properties that take up so much real estate that lead to significant, underutilized surface parking lots.

The students, Acuff said, worked closely with Chattanooga Neighborhood Enterprise (CNE) to develop a prototype for multifamily housing on Rossville Boulevard similar to a CNE property currently on Bailey Avenue.

Credit Score 101: Shalone Nibjintije, Valerie Niyosenga, Solange Irakoze

The “Credit Score 101” group focused on developing a curriculum for middle school, high school and college students—particularly from underserved and first-generation communities—to teach them about building credit, buying or renting a home, and other matters related to personal finance that young people often don’t learn about until their adult years.

The students have worked on developing a prototype for what those classes would include—and even conducted a focus group using UTC students to assess the need for these workshops.