As the Director of the Northeast Florida Center for Community Initiatives (CCI),
we thankyou for your interest in our research organization.
This website offers an overview of what CCI is all about.

In 1994, three faculty members from the University of North Florida Department of
Sociology, Anthropology and Criminal Justice joined forces to establish the
Northeast Florida Center for Community Initiatives. The founding faculty
included: Dr. Henry Camp, a Community Sociologist with extensive work in rural
community development in Kansas; Dr. Charles E. Owens, a Criminologist with
expertise in Social Psychology and the intersection of race and crime; and
myself, a Sociologist specializing in Urban Sociology and Evaluation Research.
I have served as Director of CCI since its official opening in 1996.

Since those early days, nearly $3 million has been obtained in applied contract
research, involving a dozen faculty, with over 50 students (undergraduate
and graduate) employed on research projects, and over 400 student volunteers
participating. Typically, research team members work directly with persons
directly affected by the research to ensure community participation. Faculty
associated with the Center also integrate research projects in classroom-based
and community service learning activities that help to create a transformational
learning process. The Center has also played a central role in the development of
the UNF Masters Program in Applied Sociology.

I look forward to another decade in which CCI can continue its mission,
positively impacting the community.

Please explore our website to obtain more information about CCI. If you have
any questions, please email me at jwill@unf.edu.

Sincerely,

Dr. Jeffry A. Will
Director, Northeast Center for Community Initiatives