SIU System Office of Community Engagement outlines roadmap, targets clean-energy jobs and broadband projects

Connie Frost Spurlock, director of the SIU System Office of Community Engagement, told the Board of Trustees that the office has moved from interim staffing to a permanent team and outlined a 2025–26 road map focused on strategic integration, student-centered work and measurable community outcomes.

"Our mission in the office is to strengthen and expand mutually beneficial community university relationships across Southern Illinois," Spurlock said, summarizing the office's guiding framework and its use of community-centered models such as EPIC. She described recent hires, the addition of two program coordinators, and graduate students who support projects in environmental justice and digital equity.

Spurlock said the office purchased 10 Lightcast workforce data subscriptions with state-appropriation funds to support regional occupational analysis. She described a workforce report for East St. Louis that identified strong projected growth for clean-energy occupations — citing an example that solar PV installer jobs have an expected growth of roughly 38 percent over the next decade — and said the office aims to place at least 50 people in clean-energy and energy-efficiency jobs in the East St. Louis area by the end of the year through training and employer commitments.

On broadband and digital equity, Spurlock said the office remains engaged with the Illinois Broadband Lab and Digital Equity Act–related work and will pilot training events such as a July 16 workshop at the WEDGE Innovation Center in Alton to teach community members how to map cultural sites and to build local digital skills. She said the office has used strategic-doing methods (30-day cycles) to plan and evaluate activities and had distributed Lightcast access to system campuses.

Spurlock reported external grant activity: seven grant proposals submitted in the past year, roughly $27 million requested across multiple federal and state agencies, with at least four proposals still under review and some larger applications canceled because of federal changes. She cited one canceled BRIC (Building Resilient Infrastructure and Communities) application that she said would have funded flood-mitigation work in the American Bottoms area.

Trustees asked for emphasis on the office's original focus on underserved communities and on accountability for funds and outcomes. A trustee enumerated examples of community engagement outcomes, including securing engineers and infrastructure funding support for municipalities such as Cahokia Heights and noted ongoing work in Mounds and Venice. Spurlock and trustees discussed leveraging partnerships including Grow with Google and Coursera for digital-certificate programs, collaborations with the Midwest Climate Collaborative and ongoing work with the Institute for Rural Health.

Spurlock closed by offering to provide trustees with the road map and reports distributed at the meeting and by inviting questions about projects and grant activity.