Social Work – Â鶹ĘÓƵ Wed, 21 Jan 2026 23:15:13 +0000 en-US hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=6.9.4 /wp-content/uploads/2019/04/cropped-favicon_logo-32x32.jpg Social Work – Â鶹ĘÓƵ 32 32 Culturally Diverse Enviornmental Engagement /projects/culturally-diverse-enviornmental-engagement-2/ /projects/culturally-diverse-enviornmental-engagement-2/#respond Wed, 01 Nov 2023 03:37:44 +0000 https://portal.epicn.org/case-stories/culturally-diverse-enviornmental-engagement/ Read More... from Culturally Diverse Enviornmental Engagement

]]> The Mississippi Watershed Management Organization (MWMO) seeks to more effectively engage culturally diverse residents in promoting water quality through programs that resonate with and are beneficial to residents in their daily lives. Students in Large Client Systems will create a logic model to guide MWMO’s outreach with culturally diverse populations that both benefits the community and advances MWMO’s mission of promoting water quality. MWMO will identify the community (or communities, depending on number of students) to create a targeted logic model for cultural engagement‌‌.

]]> Create design and programming options for a proposed Performing Fine Arts and Education Center and develop strategies for joint financing of the center.

]]> After-school programs are designed to help students grow academically and socially. Programs often include homework assistance, healthy snacks, sports, art, music, and field trips. Program goals are to provide reliable and safe after-school supervision, increase academic enrichment, and manage behavioral problems, particularly for low-income students and minority groups. Logan City understands the
importance of such programs and their role in the community. In order to further improve the quality of services provided the Logan City After-School Program (ASP) requested, through CBI, that USU develop and administer a questionnaire to assess ASP worker’s cultural competency. Results from this assessment were used to identify areas in which ASP workers can be better trained and prepared to respond to diverse student needs. This project was divided into threenphases and integrated into three courses over three semesters, so that each phase could build on previous progress. Phase 1 concluded in the Summer of 2015. Dr. Jessica Lucero’s MSW 6595 students designed the cultural competency questionnaire and prepared the IRB protocol. Dr. Jennifer Roark’s MSW 6800 students took on Phase 2 of this project in the Fall. Three students carried out a statistical analysis of results and compiled a stakeholder’s report (page 27) with recommendations to provide a cultural competency training to all ASP workers. Dr. Sonia Manuel Dupont’s Cultural and Linguistic Diversity in Communicative Disorders class is now (Spring 2016) taking on the third phase of this project. Her students are developing training materials to be used by ASP for cultural competency training purposes.

]]> Students from the college of Social Work conducted a project that was focused on several programs within the Sioux City area that were seeking to improve their services for and communications with members of the population that are from traditionally disadvantaged and oppressed groups.

Iowa Initiative for Sustainable Communities Contact Info

University Faculty Contact
Julia Kleinschmit
Social Work

Local Government / Community Contact

]]> Senior and Youth Services Projects /projects/senior-and-youth-services-projects/ /projects/senior-and-youth-services-projects/#respond Thu, 26 Oct 2023 23:25:40 +0000 https://portal.epicn.org/case-stories/senior-and-youth-services-projects/ Read More... from Senior and Youth Services Projects

]]> Identify barriers to seniors volunteering with organizations, and develop a program to train and engage both new and return senior volunteers.

]]> Graduate students in Organization and Community Practice worked in groups to put their social work training into practice. Students identified a social justice community issue to investigate and conducted a needs and strengths assessment using data on the community, key informant interviews of different stakeholders, and other sources as necessary.

]]> Sustainable Communities Partnership

Website |

The Sustainable Communities Partnership (SCP) collaborates with cities and government agencies to integrate community-identified sustainability projects into St. Thomas courses across disciplines engaging students in real-world, applied research and innovative problem-solving. Our partnerships seek to catalyze systems-level change towards human and ecological well-being in the Twin Cities area while preparing students for the complexities of problem-solving in contemporary society.

Since SCP’s launch in Spring 2016, over 2,000 students from more than 100 courses across 26 disciplines have participated in over 150 local and regional sustainability projects.

Our focus is on multi-year partnerships with communities seeking to make systemic changes toward interconnected economic, social, and ecological sustainability. We partner with cities, watershed districts, regional government agencies, non-profits focused on city sustainability, and on-campus initiatives.

Inspired by the transformative impacts of efforts that bridge art and sustainability, SCP launched .  SCP Arts develops partnerships and projects through which students across majors collaborate with local artists, writers, and communities to translate their project findings into artwork, bringing to life community-identified sustainability goals for people of all ages.  We have collaborated with partners on public art installations, such as the , on community exhibits, including , , and .  We also collaborate with writers and researchers to engage in community-centered explorations of .

Fun Facts about SCP

“SCP has been essential in showing how our education ties in with the UST mission. This project has allowed us to analyze real-world data, collaborate with classmates, and present solutions to problems that affect real communities. We are applying skills we have cultivated in the classroom to projects that advance the common good,” stated an Economics student whose project team determined that Delano, MN (pop. 5,464) could generate net savings of $854,000 over ten years with energy efficiency upgrades.

Year Program Established | Fall 2015
Year Program Launched | Spring 2016
Country | US
Federal Region of Program | 5
Public or Private Institution | Private
Number of students at institution | 10,245

Highlight Articles/Videos

Partners

2016 | City of Delano • Population: 5,464
2016 – 2017 | City of Elk River • Population: 23,746
2016 – 2020 | Mississippi Watershed Management Organization
2016 – 2017 | Freshwater Society
2016 – 2017 | Tiny Footprint Coffee
2017 – 2019 | City of Big Lake • Population: 10,060
2017 – 2019 | PLACE’s Via Development in St. Louis Park, MN
2017 – 2024 | Metropolitan Council
2017 – 2024 | Metro Transit
2019 – 2020 | Pillsbury United Waite House Urban Farm, Minneapolis, MN
2019 – 2021 | City of Cottage Grove • Population: 35,632
2020 – 2023 | Caponi Art Park, Eagan, MN
2020 – 2023 | NūLoop Partners and Mpls Downtown Council, Minneapolis, MN
2020 – 2023 | City of Woodbury • Population: 70,840
2021 – 2022 | Saint Paul Almanac
2022 – 2025 | Center for Mission, Archdiocese of St. Paul & Minneapolis Creation Care Team
2022 – 2025 | Great Plains Institute, in partnership with GreenStep Cities

Contact Info

Maria Dahmus
Director, Sustainable Communities Partnership
(651) 962-6391
medahmus@stthomas.edu

Banner image graciously provided by: University of St. Thomas Photo 

]]> University of Minnesota /stories/uminnesota/ Thu, 28 Mar 2019 03:17:46 +0000 http://www.epicn.org/?post_type=case_stories&p=547 Read More... from University of Minnesota

]]> Resilient Communities Project

Website |

Communities are constantly evolving in response to their unique local challenges and opportunities. The Resilient Communities Project (RCP) is an , cross-disciplinary program at the designed to build community resilience—the capacity to adapt and thrive in the face of changing social, economic, technological, and environmental conditions.

Our mission is to connect local government agencies in Minnesota with U of M students and faculty to work collaboratively on projects that both advance community resilience, equity, and sustainability and enhance student learning, knowledge, and skills.

Each year, one or more local government agencies in Minnesota (typically cities or counties) to participate in a year-long partnership with the University and collaborate on 1 to 20 locally defined projects. Projects can address a wide range of local issues, opportunities, and needs. RCP encourages projects that address racial inequities and disparities in Minnesota.

RCP strategically connects each locally defined project with graduate and professional students and faculty at the University of Minnesota who can provide research or technical assistance to drive change—by gathering and analyzing local data, convening community discussions, bringing innovative ideas and solutions to the table, and facilitating new collaborations and connections.

Students participate in RCP by enrolling in an RCP-affiliated course, serving as an RCP Scholar, or connecting an individual thesis, capstone, field experience, or directed study with an RCP project. Local government staff and community stakeholders work closely with faculty and students to provide local knowledge and deeper insight into the issues, ensuring projects are not only innovative, but relevant to the community context.

At the conclusion of the academic term, outcomes from each University course or student team that worked on a project are documented in a , or other deliverables that meet the community’s needs. Project results are shared with the partner community and disseminated through the where they can be accessed by other communities in Minnesota or anywhere.

RCP is a program of the Center for Urban and Regional Affairs (CURA) at the University of Minnesota. The program began as an initiative of the University’s Graduate Sustainability Education Network, and received initial support from a two-year Discovery Grant from the Institute on the Environment.

Fun Facts about RCP

Since its creation in 2012, RCP has matched projects with more than 58 academic departments or disciplines at the University of Minnesota Twin Cities and Duluth campuses, including architecture, planning, law, engineering, business, design, public policy, environmental sciences, and the humanities.

Year Program Established | 2012
Country | United States
Federal Region of Program | 5
Public or Private Institution | Public
Number of students at institution | 50,000+

Testimonials about the Program

“The Resilient Communities Project is a model for promoting greater collaboration and engagement across disciplines by connecting the wide-ranging expertise of the U of M faculty and graduate students with cities, business, and organizations in Minnesota. This innovative approach not only provides sustainability solutions for our partner communities, but also enhances our curriculum with interdisciplinary methods that are helping our students to develop the knowledge, skills, and agility that they will need as tomorrow’s innovators, lifelong learners, and global citizens.”
—Karen Hanson, VP and Provost for Academic Affairs, University of Minnesota

“A lot of times staff are so busy with their day-to-day work and the projects they need to manage to keep an organization running, or the program that they’re in charge of going forward, that they don’t always have the wherewithal or time to take that step back, and take a deep breath, and really dive into the research that might be needed to make a change. . . Bringing students on board to think about it from that perspective—and bring that extra capacity to think critically about a project—is what RCP brings that staff wouldn’t be able to do otherwise.”
—Nate Kabat, Planner, Carver County

Highlight Articles/Videos


by Karla Hignite

by Meleah Maynard
: build resilient communities by Monique Dubos
by Kelly Smith

 

City Partners

2012 | Minnetonka
2013 | North St. Paul
2014 | Rosemount
2015 | Carver County
2016 | Brooklyn Park
2017 | Ramsey
2018 | Scott County
2018 | Ramsey County
2019 | Scott County • St. Anthony Village • Ramsey • Minneapolis Public Housing Authority • League of Minnesota Cities
2020 | Little Canada • Victoria • Carver County Water Management Organization • Metropolitan Council • Capitol River District Council • Minnesota State Fire Chiefs Association • Saint Paul • Minnetonka • Carver County • Woodbury
2021 | Hennepin County Elections Division • Towerside Innovation District • U of MN American Indian Tribal Nations Relations Office • SouthWest Transit • Edina • Wyoming • Little Canada • Maplewood • Washington County
2022 | MnDOT Office of Transit and Active Transportation  • Washington County  • Ramsey County Public Health • City of Edina • City of Bloomington • League of Minnesota Cities • Metropolitan Council • Washington County
2023 | Scott County • Ramsey County • City of La Crescent • City of Edina • City of Duluth
2024 | City of Blaine • City of Chaska • Hennepin County • Metropolitan Airports Commission • City of New Brighton • City of Shoreview
2025 | City of Afton • Ramsey/Washington Counties Recycling & Energy • Metropolitan Council • Ramsey County

Contact Info

Mike Greco
Program Director
(612) 625-7501
mgreco@umn.edu

Stina Kielsmeier-Cook
Program Coordinator
(612) 625-6550
kiel0054@umn.edu

Website:
LinkedIn:
Facebook:
Vimeo:

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