Dr. Adnan Rasool, associate professor of political science
MARTIN, Tenn. – A team led by Dr. Adnan Rasool, associate professor of political science at the University of Tennessee at Martin, is conducting a community needs assessment survey for the city of Martin. The survey will be available for public participation through Sunday, May 11.
This is a first-of-its-kind comprehensive needs assessment survey conducted anywhere in West Tennessee. The data being collected will essentially lay out the blueprint for Martin’s growth for the next 10 years.
“We are trying to understand what a community like Martin wants, and what kind of growth it envisions for itself,” Rasool said through an email interview.
A team consisting of Rasool and five of his students – in association with the Tom E. Hendrix Chair of Excellence, Dr. Anthony Delmond – are conducting key personnel interviews in Martin and running an anonymous community survey online.
The survey can be found at tinyurl.com/ya8drbcp or at Facebook.com under “UTM Political Science.”
The students taking part in this assessment study are William Dixon, a senior political science major from Centerville; Parker Ferrell, a senior accounting major from Dresden; Preston Lightfoot, a freshman agriculture business major from Muscle Shoals, Alabama; Trenton Michon, a senior political science major from Chapmansboro; and Emma Perry, a sophomore political science major from Williston.
“The community needs assessment survey is not just an exercise in figuring out what the long-term needs of our community are, but it is also an excellent experiential learning-based skill development opportunity for our students,” Rasool said.
“As we interview community members and influential community leaders, our students are learning how to conduct interviews and analyze the data being collected through various sources. This helps them be better prepared for the job market while also helping on a substantial project.”
This community needs assessment survey follows a series of equitable growth focus groups in February 2024 completed by Rasool and five political science students as part of a project funded by Ford Motor Company studying the potential impact of BlueOval City, a joint venture between Ford and SK On as the home of the Tennessee Electric Vehicle Center.
Michon is the only student involved in the BlueOval City project to also work on the current Martin assessment study.
“We are using this community needs assessment survey to help build local governance capacity in West Tennessee,” he said. “Coming off a major community development project for Ford Foundation, the UT System Grand Challenge Grant allowed me to expand the kind of rural development work that we did and help improve our footprint across West Tennessee.”
This project is supported through the 2024-25 Grand Challenge Grant that Rasool earned last August worth $100,000. He was one of three UT Martin faculty to earn the UT System Grand Challenge Grant.