Doing Research in Your Own Backyard: Student Researchers Working on University Needs

This essay is intended as a reflection on the process of getting students invested in this way; of using students to meet campus needs, and the possibilities that come from inviting students to be active partners in defining a campus vision. Hickey shares the story of a class that worked on a project that involved an audit of campus knowledge of and attitudes toward civic engagement. This audit, unusual in that it was undertaken by stakeholders rather than a disinterested third party, revealed the students' level of civic engagement through their study of civic engagement.