Welcome to the Public Service Institute

Overview of the Public Service Institute at YSU

Youngstown State University, as an important actor in the social, economic and political life of the northeast Ohio/western Pennsylvania area, seeks ways to better serve the community of which it is a part.

The Public Service Institute at Youngstown State University was created by the YSU Board of Trustees in 1985 to coordinate, promote and stimulate public service programs and activities offered by the University to the community. The University's investment in the Institute, in staff, resources and facilities, has yielded a range of services that otherwise would be unavailable in this area.

At present, the Institute consists of two Centers: The Center for Human Services Development and the Center for Urban and Regional Studies. The Institute works with community organizations, as well as with University departments, to facilitate the extension of University resources into the community where they might be needed.

Center for Human Services Development

The YSU Board of Trustees established the Center for Human Services Development in 1985. The Center was established to act as a community resource for health and human service organizations, and community leaders. The CHSD works with a community-wide spectrum of people to identify community problems and needs, develop solutions, and evaluate outcomes in the health and human services field.

The mission of the YSU Center for Human Services Development is to work with health, social and human service agencies in providing needs assessment, evaluation, grant writing, strategic planning, and community leadership.

The Center also offers a variety of services, including: establishing and maintaining networks or linkages among service providers and consumers; offering technical assistance for social service program planning evaluation; working with organizations to identify and obtain grants; providing training for agency managers, boards and staff members; sharing information and acting as a clearinghouse; and helping organizations develop marketing strategies and programs.

Center for Urban and Regional Studies

The Center for Urban and Regional Studies was established in 1967 as the Center for Urban Studies to act as a research and public service arm of Youngstown State University.

The mission of the YSU Center for Urban and Regional Studies is to integrate professional staff, faculty, students, and other University resources to focus on issues and problems of urban and regional development through an ongoing program of basic and applied research and technical assistance, and providing training for local government, social service organizations and businesses.

The YSU CURS has established six programmatic areas for which goals and objectives have been established. These are: reduction of poverty, local technical assistance, economic development, urban and environmental planning, urban data services, and crime reduction. To support the six program areas, certain staff expertise and services are maintained. These include a data services manager, census data coordinator, a geographic information systems analyst, a cartographer, and a systems administrator. In addition, there are numerous other social science and design disciplines represented on the staff of the YSU CURS. These individuals, research associates, represent the support staff and project managers that conduct research projects initiated from the YSU CURS.

The following are representative services available to the community through the YSU CURS: systematic assessments of the impact of public programs and designs for improved service; data processing and anaylsis; access to census data, technical reports, and other publications related to urban public management; spatial data analysis and production of GIS documents such as maps and digital displays; assistance to decision-makers in selecting the best alternative program or policy, based on formal assessments of needs, projected environmental and economic impacts, and benefits-cost or cost-effectiveness analysis; training processes, workshops, seminars, and symposia to bring information on urban problems to the attention of public administrators, citizens and faculty; urban planning, including urban design, economic base analysis, demographic analysis, transportation analysis, general and specific land use studies, zoning, and economic revitalization strategy development; and participation in community improvement efforts through information sharing.



Public Service Institute	Staff Directory	G.I.S. Mapping and Data Center	PSI Publications
	Staff Directory