How PUC Works

 

Projects for Under-served Communities (PUC) at The
University of Texas at Austin is a unique service-learning
collaboration between the International Office, the Cockrell
School of Engineering and the School of Social Work that helps
prepare Longhorns to become global leaders. Through PUC,
engineering and social work students team up to design and
implement sustainable-development projects in communities
across the globe.
Launched in 2010, PUC uses an innovative yearlong course
sequence to hone students’ leadership skills and cultural
competency—both vital when competing in an increasingly
global job market—while providing much-needed services
requested by communities in Nicaragua, Tanzania, India and
Costa Rica, among others.
PUC seeks to co-create sustainable infrastructure with
communities by only developing projects that satisfy a need
explicitly indicated by the community and our local partner
NGO.

In consultation with faculty and industry mentors, select
groups of engineering and social work students spend two
semesters brainstorming and designing projects. If the Service
Learning Advisory Board approves their ideas and the students
raise sufficient funds, they then go abroad to implement the
projects the following summer.
Each PUC team is responsible for all components of the project,
from idea formation to budgeting, fundraising, and
collaborating with partners in the local communities. Social
work students play integral roles on each team, overseeing
cultural awareness training and coordinating community
engagement activities while abroad.
Link to last year’s project sites:
1. Nicaragua: http://pucnicaragua.weebly.com
2. Costa Rica: http://centralamericapuc.weebly.com
3. Tanzania: http://puc2014tanzania.wordpress.com/about/