This project focused on the preparation for the introduction of legalized marijuana into the city of Ann Arbor. It was in partnership with the City of Ann Arbor and Mayor Christopher Taylor. Student was responsible for identifying peer communities in states that have recently legalized marijuana and for conducting research on their experiences. The student was also responsible for utilizing interviews, web searches and surveys and policy research to develop requested...

The students’ research helped in the development of a policy agenda that the Detroit Regional Chamber can use to champion providing educational opportunity for low-income...

The student team assisted the community partners to make the case for development of affordable housing.  They also helped determine which parcels might be most feasible and/or best suited for this sort of development, allowing the partners to prioritize which parcels are recommended to City Council for affordable housing or mixed-income...

This project focused on researching the framework for approaching and defining food systems in Michigan with the intent of informing future policy recommendations. These recommendations will aid in the creation or revision of educational and technical training programs to fill identified workforce/talent gaps. Student provided assistance with conducting informant interviews and developing a case study example around Michiganders who perform various food systems jobs. The student also helped with secondary data collection and analysis, as well as employer outreach, cataloguing and vacancy...

NC3 is a national organization that advocates for changes in policy and practice to open opportunities to small-scale investors. NC3 is motivated by the idea that democratizing investing benefits businesses, investors, and communities. To help create a knowledge base of best practices, successes and failures, students conducted in-depth case studies of local investments from across the U.S., developed an evaluation methodology and used it to analyze the cases, and wrote a report that will be used as background information at the National ComCap Conference in Detroit in Spring...

The students explored a variety of approaches that WISD could adopt and developed a set of policy recommendations for the agency in regards to distributing state special education funds to schools in its...

The Port of Monroe, Michigan, is a municipally owned port, strategically located on the St. Lawrence-Great Lakes Seaway. In recent years, the port has taken an aggressive strategy towards the development of its facilities in order to compete as a major player in maritime shipping. The U.S. Customs and Border Protection (USCBP) has taken a very stringent approach to how the port handles international cargo, causing the port to miss several key opportunities. Students examined the USCBP’s policies relative to other Great Lakes regions and estimated the economic losses, both direct and indirect,...

Six Ford School students conducted relevant policy research, engaged with the community, and provided recommendations to aid on legislative initiatives that addressed workforce development and water security for Detroit...

The students worked with YFSU to assess policies impacting custodial and noncustodial families in the child support system and develop a toolkit to be used with potential funders and...