Engaged Learning

The students developed a water infrastructure asset map that identifies stakeholders, agencies, and updates at every level of government that impact the area. Final deliverables also included information about funding opportunities for infrastructure repair from philanthropy and federal...

Students worked with the U.S. Department of Energy's Arctic Energy Office to create an “Arctic Research Resource Compendium,” which identified and cataloged university-based Arctic research institutes in the U.S. and Canada. The research resources included a list of Arctic and polar institutes, the focus of each of these institutes, and specific research projects of interest, particularly in the energy, environment and climate...

The research fellow performed a landscape analysis of curricula aimed at training government officials in the tools at their disposal to affect municipal, state, and federal policy...

Two fellows were charged with researching current school policies throughout Michigan and the U.S. to identify best practices of reducing tobacco usage among student populations. The fellows were encouraged to identify policies that use a lesser or non-punitive approach in punishing offenders within a student body. Fellows used their findings to craft policy recommendations for current policies that could be adapted and provided research for the development of non-smoking/vaping social...

The research fellow worked with the Michigan League of Conservation Voters to research “Soil Reclamation Best Practices” as part of a pro-environment legislative proposal to reform the regulation of aggregate (gravel) mining in the state of Michigan. The fellow’s research identified successful industry and government practices from around the world and analyzed the efficacy of those practices within the State of Michigan's regulatory...

The research fellow worked with Detroit’s Civil Rights’ Inclusion and Opportunity (CRIO) Department to develop an advocacy primer for municipal officials. The primer laid out a framework for action and identified strategies for working at multiple levels of government to improve equity and inclusion in the city of...

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...

The fellows provided technical assistance to design the survey methodology for the State of the Court Administrative Office Friend of the Court Bureau’s Guideline revision project. Separate surveys were created for two distinct audiences of the Guideline users:  parents who have an existing custody, parenting time, and child support case; and legal/court professionals who work with parents to determine a parenting time schedule. The parents survey, in particular, explored the impact of a change in parenting time on payment of a child support...

This project involved an examination of diversity, equity, and inclusion policing issues in the city of Livonia, Michigan.  The student team examined the correlation between race and interactions with police in Livonia using criminal justice data, census information, and other available...

COVID-19 has highlighted issues across Michigan’s food assistance programs. In order to better understand and rectify these inequalities, the Michigan Food Security Council’s Food Security Policy Workgroup and the Ford School conducted an environmental scan of food assistance and food security policies, and also completed a literature review that describes the effectiveness and requirements of various food...

The project involved research and writing policy recommendations related to Michigan’s Task Force on Jail and Pretrial Incarceration to build the power of individuals and families to challenge the root causes of poverty, advance justice, and promote human development through neighborhood-driven community organizing and civic...

The City of Adrian, MI, Active Transportation Pilot Project with the Michigan Department of Transportation and the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services regarding non-motorized trails and Complete Streets project.  The internship provided an asset mapping demonstrating where assets are in relationship to the current and planned trail/Complete Streets features locations.  The work may also involve additional surveying of the targeted population over time and designing an evaluation plan to assess the project’s...

Student research assistant is helping with the design of a comprehensive, integrated service delivery system for workforce development by integrating workforce and essential skills...

The team of students provided a report for the New Economy Initiative to share with state and local policymakers and key stakeholder that includes a catalog of the resources and services available today to micro-businesses in Detroit and the metro area, and identified local and state policies/ ordinances/rules in peer regions that advance and/or hinder the growth of...

The project involved identifying, describing, mapping, and making recommendations about the myriad rules, regulations, and restrictions relating to the usage of coal bottom ash, an industrial byproduct, as well as how to transport the material in an environmentally safe...

The students worked with Voters Not Politicians (VNP) to create a video to raise awareness of Communities of Interest (COIs) to engage historically underrepresented and marginalized communities in the redistricting process.  The video is being used in VNP’s public engagement...

The research fellow investigated the likely impacts of adopting a nonpartisan primary with ranked choice voting in Michigan at the request of the Michigan Consensus Policy Project (MCCP). The MCPP is a bipartisan working group of former state officials that seeks to identify nonpartisan solutions to the state's most pressing...

Five students partnered with Peace and Justice in Detroit to support the organization’s grassroots efforts to improve police and community relations in the City of Detroit.  The students reviewed the Detroit Police Department’s policies and provided recommendations that included  the use of more intensive de-escalation and trauma training for both police officers and...