Assessing Barriers to Housing in Boise
Faculty Mentor Information
Dr. Vanessa Fry (Mentor), Boise State University; and Dr. Krista Paulson (Mentor), Boise State University
Abstract
The Housing Opportunities for All VIP service-learning course partnered with the City of Boise Housing and Community Development Division across two semesters, Fall of 2023 and Spring of 2024. This course was tasked with revising two surveys that the City of Boise distributes annually focused on local housing issues. During the Fall 2023 semester, students revised and redesigned the survey instruments and during the Spring 2024 semester, students tested those instruments and distributed them throughout the community.
Throughout this partnership, our students learned about survey design, distribution strategies, community engagement, and analyzing survey data. This partnership helped students gain a deeper understanding of housing issues impacting Boise as well as the value of a well-constructed survey in addressing those issues. If we had this project to complete again, we would engage sooner and more often with community partners and create more thorough plans for community engagement. This project has allowed our students to gain real-time understanding of how much of our community experiences housing struggles and what those struggles most often are.
Assessing Barriers to Housing in Boise
The Housing Opportunities for All VIP service-learning course partnered with the City of Boise Housing and Community Development Division across two semesters, Fall of 2023 and Spring of 2024. This course was tasked with revising two surveys that the City of Boise distributes annually focused on local housing issues. During the Fall 2023 semester, students revised and redesigned the survey instruments and during the Spring 2024 semester, students tested those instruments and distributed them throughout the community.
Throughout this partnership, our students learned about survey design, distribution strategies, community engagement, and analyzing survey data. This partnership helped students gain a deeper understanding of housing issues impacting Boise as well as the value of a well-constructed survey in addressing those issues. If we had this project to complete again, we would engage sooner and more often with community partners and create more thorough plans for community engagement. This project has allowed our students to gain real-time understanding of how much of our community experiences housing struggles and what those struggles most often are.