Do you work or volunteer with a non-profit organization and have an idea for a project that would benefit your organization? Consider submitting a project proposal to work with the IU Student Agile Response Team (START). IU Corps will review your application to determine if your project is an ideal match for one of our START student volunteer teams.
We are working to leverage the vast skills, passion, and time of our students to more efficiently and effectively support our community in creating a better, stronger future. Keep reading to learn more about our process and the diverse skills of our student teams.
Are you a student interested in being a part of our START team? Apply Here
Community START Project Application Open
START will be accepting applications now through December 1 for Spring 2024. If you have any questions about START, the application process, or project proposals, please email Suzanne Allen.
We have more than 42,000 undergraduate, graduate, and Ph.D. students at Indiana University Bloomington, each with their own unique skillset and passions. Each of our students are at different places in their learning journey. Our students are constantly learning new skills and enhancing old ones. Throughout the entirety of the START workflow process, it is indescribably rewarding to see each student's individuality and creativity come to life. Our professional staff will come along with you throughout this experience.
Below is a small sampling of skills and potential project themes organized by school that you may consider utilizing for your specific needs. Our students' skills are not limited to this list. Even if you don't see the specific skills are you seeking, please submit a project request form.
• Practicing facilitation skills to lead discussions about contentious public issues • Supporting civic, non-profit, and government-related projects utilizing leadership skills • Participating in electoral engagement projects such as voter registration, non-partisan voter education, and voter turnout • Engaging advocacy skills to impact change • Planning and implementing workshops on restorative justice, leadership, and other related topics • Modeling and teaching civic skills as informed and engaged participants in democracy
The Eskenazi School of Art, Architecture + Design houses fourteen different areas in art, architecture, design, and merchandising. Some examples of their past work and ways they can serve include:
Graphic design (printed materials)
Signage, wayfinding design
Feasibility studies, architecture
Research/ideation, architecture
Team Lead: Alain Barker, Director, Music Entrepreneurship and Career Development
Jacobsis one of the most comprehensive and acclaimed institutions for the study of music. They play a key role in educating performers, scholars, and music educators who influence music performance and education around the globe. Their students may to serve your organization in the following ways or areas:
Music clinics for high school band and orchestra programs
Music clinics for choral ensembles and vocalists
Collaborative performances (from recitals to large ensembles) in community spaces
Audio recording clinics for emerging artists
Career preparation sessions for performing arts
Strategic planning for performing arts organizations and community committees
Fostering social change is important to Kelley School of Business faculty, staff, and students. As the hub of social impact for business-minded students, the Kelley Institute for Social Impact empowers socially conscious undergraduate students to make a difference in local and global communities.
For more than 30 years, business-minded students from a variety of majors have used their skills to contribute to social impact organizations. Projects range from a single afternoon of brainstorming to a full semester of team consulting, and they span business areas including but not limited to: · Marketing · Digital and Social Media · Branding · Business Analytics · Entrepreneurship · Digital Technology Management · Operations · Strategy · Consulting · Sustainable Business · Supply Chain · Management · Accounting · Finance
The students can do any of the following and more: build and update website, security and network upgrades, install different technologies to assist with any task one may have. The students are trained to sit down and help you complete any task within a specified budget.
Team Lead: Katie Beck, director of student affairs
Maurer School of Law was founded in 1842 and is the ninth oldest law school in the U.S. Students serve the community in the following areas:
Landlord / tenant disputes via the Tenant Assistance Project
Advising and filing protective orders for victims of domestic abuse via the Protective Order Project
Tax preparation assistance via the Volunteer Income Tax Assistance (VITA) project
Family law issues, including divorce, establishment of paternity, guardianship, adoption, parenting, and custody via the Community Legal Clinic
Intellectual property issues via the IP Clinic
Advocacy training for LGBT+ communities and allies; support for changing gender markers on official documents via the LGBT+ Project
Legal research and advocacy for incarcerated individuals via the Inmate Legal Assistance Project
Mediating disputes involving children in family law cases through the Mediation Program and Viola J. Taliaferro Family and Children Mediation Clinic
Team Lead: Tyna Hunnicut, Director, Early Field Experiences
The School of Education is known for preparing reflective, caring, and skilled educators who make a difference in the lives of their students in Indiana, throughout the United States, and around the world. Their students focus on the following projects and skills:
Educational consulting, curriculum development, instruction systems design, pedagogy
Counseling and Educational Psychology department that has a counseling center and researchers in various areas including Gratitude (and has been talking about using this as a tool during this pandemic)
IST and a Maker’s Space with a Maker’s Space head faculty leader
Higher Ed and Student Affairs specialists
Art Education – focus also on community art uses and using art in various settings to increase understanding and expression
Special Education – a couple of faculty and a graduate student have been working with schools on how to support SPED students in this quick transition and its importance despite the push to change the law to reduce this requirement
Our Maker’s Space made face shields with a Music Faculty member for local health folks
Our librarian is fantastic at working with faculty and students on educational research, grant writing, implementation and programming for undergraduate and graduate students
Team lead: Marsha Hughes-Gay, Assistant Dean and Clinical Assistant Professor
Team leads: Alex Purcell,Director of Public Health Practice & Ta-Kisha Jones,Assistant Director of Health and Wellness Initiatives
School of Public Health-Bloomington takes a comprehensive and holistic approach to disease prevention, wellness, and teaching with an emphasis on robust, reproducible, and transparent research. Some examples of their past work include:
Statistical modeling
Epidemiological methods and research design
Population health and public health policy/research/assessments
Intervention and program design/evaluation
Behavior change theories and communication
Planning & Management to Promote Health
Event planning
Recreation and leisure services
Occupational health and safety
Human performance and athletic training
Team lead, Carlene Quinn, Associate Clinical Professor of Field Instruction and Coordination
IU School of Social Work is dedicated to developing competent, caring professionals who are qualified to assume leadership roles in social work practice, and who strive to enrich the lives of the people they touch. Their students enrich lives in the following ways:
Community engagement
Active listening
Bridging diverse groups together
Needs assessments
Program development
Bio-psycho-social histories
Mini-mental health/depression/anxiety screenings
Care plans
Advocacy
Policy briefs
Broker/advocate for needs on behalf of those who aren’t able to
Socio-emotional support for children/teens/families who have experienced trauma
Outreach/Home visits/Hospice
Support group curriculum development and skill based delivery of services.
Coordinate small projects, etc.
Voter registration/ID processing/fraud prevention education for vulnerable folks
The Media School, which is housed in IU’s College of Arts and Sciences, provides a variety of community engagement opportunities. Field experience courses (X478) offer students a curricular option to apply their learning within communities around the world within the familiar structure of a for-credit course. Other courses integrate service-learning into the curriculum by pairing students with local agencies for in-class assignments.
The school also supports service-learning through Alternative Service Break trips, both internationally and domestically, through a growing partnership with the National Park Service. Media School students can participate in a variety of service-project programming driven by the school’s Experiential Education department.
To help you get your head around our process, below you will see an ariel view of the steps we envision to get your project completed, meeting your expectations along the way.
