AAI Community Issues

The Community Issues aspect of the All Aspects of the Industry guidelines is designed to introduce students entering industry based careers to the impact a business has on a community. The Community Issues aspect does not promote training for a specific career; instead it gives a framework for students to learn how an industry operates. This specifically includes the concept that the business will create an impact on the community and the community on the business. Also included is the understanding as to who are the customers or clients of that business

Potential Topics

Community Issues can be explained as the impact a community has on a business and the business on the community. This includes what involvement a business has within the community as well as what activities and issues are important to the community. Some potential topics for this aspect include:

• Ways a business helps the surrounding community
• Ways a community helps the business
• Why the community perception of a business is important
• Impact of volunteer and educational involvement
• Impact of purchasing goods or services from outside of the community

Implementing

Communication and decision making skills are ideal for including the Community Issues aspect in the curriculum. These projects can be individualized or used as group projects. Students should be exposed to a variety of scenarios; consider using a case study or a specific scenario and having students create a final product to demonstrate understanding. Examples for activities include:

• Compare the benefits and negatives to changing a businesses technology to be more environmentally friendly.
• Compare the benefits and negatives to providing more ergonomic technologies for employees.
• Create a presentation explaining how the Americans with Disabilities Act effects a specified industry.
• Collect evidence of the ways a business can be involved in the community.
• Create a community service project (or do as a case study) to determine the cause of an environmental problem and how to address it.
• Tour an EPA Superfund site to find out what happened and how the problem is being solved.

Internships

Classroom activities can be enhanced by internship or job shadow opportunities. A field trip could also provide students with the opportunity to tour a business and speak with professionals about how that business is involved in the community. Students should prepare questions in advance or a list of specific interactions to observe. Some questions might include how the business makes accommodations for people with disabilities, in what community projects does the business participate, how the community influences business decisions, and any specific issues which involve the business and the community.

Community Issues Aspect

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