CDI Advanced Year 2022 | Application |
The Community Development Institute (CDI) began at the University of Central Arkansas in 1987, with the goal of equipping community leaders and economic development professionals with the tools and strategies they needed to create vibrant, successful communities. Thirty years later, CDI is still the go-to resource for training.
For five days each year, professionals from Arkansas and surrounding states come to CDI for applied training in community and economic development. During the week of CDI, the Advanced Year class focuses on the application of community and economic development principles in a real world setting. A small group of CDI graduates work together to assist an Arkansas community with a "first impressions tour" of their community.
CDI graduates utilize the First Impressions Tour (FIT) assessment tool to provide the selected Advanced Year community with an unbiased perspective of its strengths and weaknesses. A FIT assessment includes information gathered through various avenues: demographic and market data, discussion with community leaders and citizens, online assessment/research, and a driving tour of the community. This information is compiled into a report that analyzes a community’s online, physical, social, and economic infrastructure and provides a list of possible “Next Steps.”
The Advanced Year participants also take their findings and share them the week of CDI at a public community meeting. The information gathered by our participants can be used to provide general direction for future community development efforts by identifying broad categories of community assets and/or areas for growth. After CDI has concluded, communities typically receive follow up assistance from our team to continue to capitalize on the process.
The Advanced Year participants also take their findings and share them the week of CDI at a public community meeting. The information gathered by our participants can be used to provide general direction for future community development efforts by identifying broad categories of community assets and/or areas for growth. After CDI has concluded, communities typically receive follow up assistance from our team to continue to capitalize on the process.
This year CDI will be held August 1 - 5, 2022 (this will be the week the Advanced Year will visit your community and work on their FIT and community presentation).
As a part of the Advanced Year process, the selected community will be responsible for the following: developing a tour of your community (this will occur on Tuesday, August 2 and we will provide the transportation, but ask that you have one or two representatives on the bus to share information about your community while we drive around), recruiting citizens and leaders to participate in a focus group session (this will happen on Tuesday, August 2 in the afternoon and we ask that you recruit at least 25 citizens to participate), inviting citizens to the public presentation to review the Advanced Year's findings (this will happen the afternoon of Thursday, August 4), identifying a location(s) for the focus group session and public presentation in your community, and providing lunch to our Advanced Year Class on Tuesday, August 2 and Thursday, August 4 (lunch for a maximum of 12 people).
This is a competitive application process so please fill out this application to the best of your ability. The deadline for applications is February 25, 2022.