Dr. Jeremy Langett, a professor of communication and arts at the University of Lynchburg, presented a paper, “Corporate Social Responsibility Collaboration: Assessing a Public Firm and University Partnership,” at the Southern States Communication Convention, held April 2-5 in Norfolk, Virginia.
His presentation was part of a panel discussion, “Excellence in Scholarship: Top Papers in Applied Communication.” The paper details a project involving Lynchburg communication studies majors and staff at BWX Technologies Inc., a supplier of nuclear components, fuel, and services headquartered in Lynchburg, Virginia.
Over several months in the fall of 2023, Langett and five students — all paid interns — assisted BWXT in developing what Andrea Harris ’04, BWXT’s corporate social responsibility, or CSR, manager described as the company’s “first-ever sustainability assessment.”
“A sustainability assessment is a tool used to evaluate a company’s CSR efforts and provide clarity and direction to their social responsibility strategy,” Harris explained, and it aims to “identify the most impactful factors that affect an organization’s long-term CSR objectives”
The project’s objective, she continued, was to “collaborate with … University of Lynchburg students to craft a comprehensive CSR matrix after completing a successful CSR assessment. …
“The matrix would inform BWXT’s CSR objectives and contribute to its overarching strategy. Doing so facilitates the alignment of values, influences informed decision-making, and contributes to value creation within the broader context of the organization’s operations.”
Lynchburg’s collaboration with BWXT was sparked by a conversation between Dr. Alison Morrison-Shetlar, president of the University, and Nat Marshall ’83, a member of the University’s board of directors and a community engagement specialist at BWXT.
The idea was then brought to the attention of Dr. Jeffrey Herrick, dean of Lynchburg’s University Research Center, which is described on Lynchburg’s website as a “hub where faculty, students, and community partners connect, collaborate, and contribute to new knowledge and understanding in their respective disciplines.”
“President Alison had a conversation with Nat Marshall, and Nat was looking to establish a collaboration with Lynchburg and BWXT’s corporate PR office,” Herrick said. “[She] connected Nat and Andrea with me. We met several times over the summer of 2023 to discuss the collaboration with BWXT, wrote a contract, and began recruiting faculty and students.”
Langett, who has a long-held interest in CSR, was invited to participate. He recruited five students: communication studies majors Maria Wright ’24, Sam Graham ’24, and Sara Indelicato ’24; political science major Nyah Hackett ’24; and Lindsey Grady ’23, ’24 MA, a communication studies grad who was pursuing a Master of Arts in Nonprofit Leadership Studies at Lynchburg.
“The students met with Dr. Langett and me,” Herrick said. “We discussed the task, the compensation, and meeting expectations. We then met with the BWXT team and introduced the [Lynchburg] team, and began work on the process.”
The group met at the University Research Center on Fridays “to develop a mixed-methods approach to identifying CSR drivers for [BWXT],” Langett said. “[They] held Zoom meetings with the BWXT … for direction and guidance, and ultimately developed a professional presentation for BWXT’s executive leadership.”
For at least one student, the experience led to a job at Framatome, a nuclear energy company with its U.S. headquarters in Lynchburg.
“It … sparked my interest in nuclear technology and energy initiatives here in the United States and led me to apply with System One,” she said, referring to a staffing company that serves the nuclear technology and other industries. “[That] eventually got me a contract job at Framatome Inc.”
Wright is currently a marketing assistant at Framatome. While the position is temporary, she’s making the most of it. “I hope to learn as much as possible from the marketing team, as well as network with people working in the nuclear industry,” she said.
For reasons beyond the students’ control, BWXT’s CSR project was eventually discontinued, but not before students completed an impressive amount of work. The student team “conducted a comprehensive desk review of BWXT’s [CSR] efforts and the fundamentals of sustainability assessments,” Harris said.
“Their research included an in-depth analysis of BWXT’s website, independent research on the company and a review of industry peers’ CSR practices. With guidance from the BWXT CSR team, they then identified key sustainability issues for the assessment, selecting a well-supported set of priorities based on their findings.
“These proposed issues were presented to the BWXT team for review.”
Despite not being able to finish the project, Herrick described the group’s effort as “consequential work that delivered a product to a corporate partner.” It gave students the opportunity to “work beyond the classroom [on a project] that really required professional behavior, accountability, and personal responsibility.”
Herrick added that the résumé-building experience also enabled students to work with a faculty member on scholarly research.
Since it was created in the fall of 2021, the University Research Center has collaborated with numerous area companies, including Centra Health, Community Access Network, Free Clinic of Central Virginia, Johnson Health Center, and the City of Lynchburg Office of Economic Development & Tourism.
After the positive experience with BWXT, Herrick said he’s working to “build more course-based research experiences for students with faculty and community partners. We aim to support both faculty scholarship and student research experiences.”
