Mississippi Urban Research Center

Below is a partial listing of past and current MURC projects. This listing is provided to give the reader a wide-ranging view of the types of projects conducted by MURC.

• Jackson Medical Mall: Young Futurists Evaluation Project – An afterschool program which seeks to address underperformance in Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts and Mathematics (STEAM) and racial and health equity in the Jackson Public Schools (JPS), Hinds County and the Lanier Feeder Pattern.
• Jackson Medical Mall: Advancing Health and Wealth Equity Project – A program designed to integrate economic mobility, racial and health equity in an innovative model driven by addressing the social determinants of health. Specific tracks include: workforce development, established women and minority owned business, farmers markets, and public health.
• JSU HBCU-UP: Target Infusion Project: Females Advancing Science & Technology (FAST) Evaluation Project –  A program designed to expand the pipeline of talented underrepresented minority female
  students who pursue graduate degrees and careers in STEM-related fields.
• Mississippi 25 Cities Database
• The Impact of the COVID-19 Pandemic on the Incarcerated Mentally Ill Upon Re-Entry to the Community (Coalition/Taskforce)
• Community Development Coordinating Council & Better Jackson (Coalition/Taskforce)
• LGBTQ Campus Climate Survey Project
• COVID-19 and the 2020 Census: Investigating the Impact of the Novel Coronavirus Pandemic on Census Promotion and Data Collection
• 2016 Survey of Citizens’ Perceptions of Jackson
• Jackson Medical Mall – Art and Culture Assets Community Needs Assessment
• MSDH COVID-19 Survey Project (MURC assisted the Mississippi State Department of Health (MSDH) in developing, administering, and tabulating results from over 5,000 respondents providing feedback on the current Coronavirus COVID-19 health crisis in Mississippi. (May/June, 2020)
• RAND Corporation/Jackson Public Schools – JSU MURC Research Initiative
• Using Innovation to Build A Better Jackson
• HIV/AIDS Prevention Project — Funded by the U. S. Department of Health and Human Services Health Resources and Services Administration through the Delta Health Alliance to provide HIV/AIDS prevention education to community based-organizations that provide HIV/AIDS prevention care and treatment services in the Mississippi Delta. The project served the following counties: Bolivar, Coahoma, Carroll, DeSoto, Holmes, Humphreys, Issaquena, Leflore, Panola, Quitman, Sharkey, Sunflower, Tallahatchie, Tate, Tunica, Washington, Warren and Yazoo, and offered training to community- based organizations to increase their capacity to operate more efficiently, improve their organizational infrastructure and train staff to implement effective HIV/AIDS prevention programs. Training was offered on HIV 101, Small Group Facilitation for Youth and the 11 following HIV/AIDS prevention behavioral interventions: Sisters Informing Sisters about Topics on AIDS (SISTA) and Video Opportunities for Innovative Condom Education and Safer Sex (VOICES).
• High Impact Program (HIP) — The HIP program was designed to improve the health status of African Americans in Hinds County, Mississippi who are disproportionately affected by HIV/AIDS, STDs, TB and substance abuse and where gaps in services and funding existed. Through the Mississippi Urban Research Center, HIP operated the Linked Network of Services (LNS), which made all services equally available. The LNS utilized a database of providers who identified the services they provided as well as their linkage collaboration needs. This database clustered together a network of providers to facilitate services and improve efforts to deal with consumers holistically. HIP operated a 24-hour toll-free hotline, which allowed consumers to access assistance in prevention, treatment and care. The hotline was managed by professional HIP staff who made referrals based upon consumers’ needs.
• Partnership to Reduce Fatalities in Minority Communities — The Mississippi Urban Research Center partnered with the Mississippi Department of Transportation and the Governor’s Office of Highway Safety to respond to the national crisis of seatbelt nonuse by African-Americans, which results in a higher rate of motor vehicle fatalities for them than for other groups. The Center focused on assessing the knowledge, attitudes and behaviors of African-Americans in Mississippi with regard to seat belt use and motor vehicle safety. Additionally, MURC conducted research, and created and promoted health education resources to motivate drivers and passengers to use seat belts and child safety seats more often and more correctly
• Jackson Public Schools Hinds Early Learning Pre-K Collaborative Program – A program that exposes children to a vocabulary-rich, nurturing environment where learning takes place through multiple opportunities and interests. The curriculum provides a framework for students to be taught according to stages of child development and to each child’s own individual needs.
• Madison Area Global Innovation Collaborative (M.A.G.I.C.) – A yearlong leadership program with an intensive summer camp for middle – high school youth living in Madison County, Mississippi. Through this innovative project, 30 low-income and underserved youth would improve their social emotional skills and increase their global understanding.

Previous Projects

• Farm to Early Care and Education (ECE) – A program that aims to increase access to healthy, locally-grown foods, gardening opportunities and food-based activities in preschools, child care centers, family child care homes, and Head Start/Early Head Start programs.