Date of Award
2019
Document Type
Project
Degree Name
Doctor of Education (EdD)
Committee Chair
Jeffrey Hamilton
Abstract
The future was both the theme and purpose of this Consultancy Project (CP). Future City is an educational program supported by a national engineering organization. This program, with emphasis on engineering principles and activities, provides materials, processes, and structures that support a robust, project-based learning approach. Annually, students in sixth through eighth grade participate regionally, by creating cities of the future based on their solution to a challenge topic that changes yearly. The cycle culminates in a regional competition; regional winners compete in the national event in February. A group of engineers created a North Carolina chapter of the national Future City program in 2001–Future City North Carolina Region (FCNC). In 2013, FCNC became a partner of the North Carolina State University College of Engineering and is now an outreach program of The Engineering Place. The FCNC Steering Committee is made up largely of volunteers; volunteers run almost all aspects of the program. Members of FCNC are committed to the educational value of the program and want to ensure its future. How does FCNC grow in order to provide more students and teachers the opportunity to participate? How does the organization remain a relevant entity so as to promote this impactful learning enhancement? This CP provided a plan to answer those questions and included the following aspects: building a “band of participation” of counties across the state so as to spread awareness and program interaction, focusing on the purpose of the organization by creating mission/vision/values/belief (M/V/V/B) statements with aligned roles and responsibilities, and creating a comprehensive outward-facing communications plan leveraging social media platforms. Results that occurred from November, 2017 through May, 2019 were participation in the Regional Competition Cycle 18/19 increased 108% over the previous year intotal number of counties participating; M/V/V/B statements were created and, as a result, a new organizational structure was created; last, a comprehensive communications plan and social media policy were created and implemented. A sustainment statement including analysis, data sets, and recommendations was submitted to the steering committee. It provided action steps and suggestions to continue building a presence and ensuring program legacy across the state of North Carolina.
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
Citation Information
Thompson, Lisa M., "North Carolina Future City Program: Increasing a Statewide Program Mission, Presence, and Participation to Ensure Institutional Legacy" (2019). Education Dissertations and Projects. 278.
https://digitalcommons.gardner-webb.edu/education_etd/278