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On a quiet street in Cedarville, Ohio, engineering students are building trust between a small town and its university. Through their senior capstone projects, Cedarville University students and professors are creating a model for how universities and towns can grow together. 

Shared Goals, Shared Growth 

Cedarville, a village of about 4,500 residents in southwest Ohio, is known for its small-town charm and surrounding farmland. On its northern edge sits Cedarville University, a 7,000-student evangelical Christian institution recognized for its academic rigor from a biblical worldview and community engagement. While the relationship between the university and the village has evolved over time, a recent partnership initiative is fostering a new spirit of collaboration and shared purpose. 

“You have two different entities with two different objectives,” said Dr. Stephen Ayers, dean of the . Ayers, who has lived and taught in Cedarville since 2018, has witnessed both the challenges and opportunities that come when a university and a town share the same space — and the same future. 

The renewed relationship began with , a long-term strategic initiative to promote growth and revitalization within the village. According to Ayers, it was natural for the university to get involved. “The University succeeds when the village succeeds,” he said. 

Students Put Engineering Into Action 

Efforts have centered on improving existing infrastructure, supporting local businesses and seeking ways to enhance quality of life and strengthen community connections. As both a Revitalize Cedarville board member and a faculty member, Ayers saw an opportunity to involve his students in the process. “It didn’t make sense to have that kind of expertise sitting on campus and not be part of the conversation,” he said. 

In 2024, Ayers launched a senior design capstone focused on the village’s transportation infrastructure. Students were tasked with developing ideas to improve traffic flow and pedestrian safety — practical designs that could shape the community’s future. Through input from local residents, they created three major proposals: restructuring a downtown parking lot to improve access to local businesses, adding a traffic circle off State Route 72 to increase pedestrian safety and realigning two streets near a bike path to ease traffic and improve cyclist flow.  

Students gathered community feedback and provided their work free of charge. “This built a lot of goodwill towards the university,” said Ayers. “It showed that we aren’t just here for ourselves — we genuinely want to contribute.” 

From Campus to Statewide Recognition 

The success of those initial designs sparked momentum. The Revitalize Cedarville committee approved all three proposals, and new student teams are now developing additional designs, including transportation improvements for the southern and western edges of town and a comprehensive master plan. 

“It was a pleasure to work on the project because it allowed us to give back to the village that had taken us in for our college years,” said Ethan Tanner (’25), one of the students on the project. “It was a reminder that we get to play a part in how our communities are built.” 

The partnership quickly caught the attention of Heritage Ohio, a statewide nonprofit for historic preservation and community revitalization. Within a year, the organization invited the university and village to present their story at its annual conference in October 2025. 

“They were blown away by what we’d accomplished in just a year,” said Ayers. He presented alongside three of his former students — now professional engineers — Jacob Westover (’25) of Wooster, Ohio, Josiah Entner (’25) of Cedarville, Ohio, and Ethan Tanner (’25) of Charleston, South Carolina — together with Village Administrator James Kannedy and Mayor John Cody, Jr.  

“To have the mayor and village administrator standing beside us at the conference said a lot,” Ayers reflected. “It showed this isn’t just a university project — it’s a shared effort. Seeing all six of us up there together helped people understand that the relationship between the University and the village can be different.” 

A Model for Community Partnership 

Ayers hopes the Cedarville example will inspire other towns and universities to collaborate. “Our goal wasn’t to hand people a blueprint,” he said. “It starts with a conversation — a willingness to listen, to bring students into real work and to realize that universities can be powerful partners in revitalizing small towns. If Cedarville can do it, maybe your community can too.” 

For Ayers, the work is deeply personal. “Getting involved in Revitalize Cedarville allowed me to take what I teach and live it out in my own community,” he said. “For students, it was a chance to apply classroom theory in a real setting with real challenges. We’re training a new generation of engineers who think differently about what we build and who we build it for.” 

About Cedarville University 

Cedarville University, an evangelical Christian institution in southwest Ohio, offers undergraduate and graduate residential and online programs across arts, sciences and professional fields. With 7,265 students, it is among Ohio's largest private universities and is ranked among the nation’s top five evangelical universities in the Wall Street Journal’s 2026 Best Colleges in the U.S. Cedarville is also known for its vibrant Christian community, challenging academics and high graduation and retention rates. Learn more at cedarville.edu.