Jennifer Burnett is a May graduate of the Gatton College of Business and Economics at UK with a double major in Economics and Finance. She will be attending the Patterson School of Diplomacy and International Commerce as well as the Gatton MBA Program in the fall. Both her research position at UK’s Center for Business and Economic Research and her management role at a local health food cooperative, The Good Foods Market and Cafe, have contributed to her interest in economics and public policy. She plans to pursue a career in the nonprofit or government sector, with an emphasis on sustainable, responsible economic development.
Vladyslav Sushko is a Foreign Language and International Economics Senior. Currently he works as an undergraduate research assistant at the University of Kentucky Center for Business and Economic Research. During the summer he will be working for the Lexington Mayor’s Office of Economic Development. His future plans are to get a masters degree in economics and work in the economic development field.
Ben Woodman is a Foreign Language (Arabic) & International Economics Junior. He will spend the 2004-05 year studying at the American University in Cairo, Egypt. He plans to pursue a career focusing on US-Middle East relations.
The project described in this paper began with a request from administrators of the YMCA’s Black Achievers Program for help in assessing the effectiveness of their program. In the true spirit of service learning, three economics majors stepped forward to offer their assistance in providing an assessment that would call upon skills they have acquired while at UK and force them to learn new skills. The authors met extensively with program administrators to determine assessment needs and then designed a survey instrument for program participants. After gathering and processing data, they compared their data to information obtained from the Fayette County School System and skillfully conducted a thorough statistical analysis.
Services such as those offered by the Black Achievers Program are vital in Fayette County, where the racial achievement gap in the school system is quite pronounced. Studies that evaluate programs such as Black Achievers are crucial to furthering efforts that chip away at this gap. The empirical findings of this study and the recommendations made by the authors will provide guidance to enhance the current program, and they will be used as supporting evidence in grant proposals for program funding.
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