Grants, Transdisciplinary Collaborations, Community Partners, and Interior Design Students

Christiana Lafazani (Virginia Commonwealth University School of the Arts)

This paper will be addressing the process of academic grants that engage multiple disciplines within the same institution as they collaborate to address needs of a community partner. In 2016, the community adult care center that served as our partner, shared a specific need with our Rehabilitation Research and Training Center, the Department of Gerontology, and the Department of Interior Design. Older adults with Autism Spectrum Disorder appeared to require supports and services that varied from similarly aged adults with disabilities and age-related conditions. Academic literature, overwhelmingly engaging younger populations, provided little guidance on the topic. As a team, we felt an opportunity existed for braiding our knowledge to develop a service environment better equipped to meet the need of adults with autism. Our emerging trans-disciplinary team, observed the center’s service environment, physical space (i.e., floor-plans and existing conditions), and enlisted the creative energy of interior design students and, in concert with clearly defined parameters, we further defined the scope of needs and a genesis for proposed solutions. A number of Interior Design students - both graduate and undergraduate - were asked to participate in the process of research and solution proposal for spaces and objects that could address the needs of the center and better the experiences of the clients. The students engaged with staff and clients in the center and had opportunities to ask questions and interact with all of the members of the grant team. Two grants were awarded for this collaboration and many opportunities were available to engage students in the process of research and discovery. While the academic process was successful the engagement with the community partner was difficult due to a number of unexpected circumstances such as change of administrative structure three times over the period of two years. This process would be of interest to those working with grant opportunities in academia as we bridge learning outcomes to community partners. The opportunities provided can enrich and expand the viewpoint of our student body and engage them in life long research and service commitments. While community engagement and grant opportunities happens with frequency, addressing design issues foraging adults with Autism Spectrum Disorder does not have long history and will be addressed further as we dig deeper into data we can gather and analyze. I have worked with this group over the past three years, and have been able to assess our methods on all aspects of this collaboration that includes three academic units, a community partner, our grantors, and our students and faculty.