Service Learning Projects

Service Learning is an important part of the coursework in BGSU’s MPA program.  Here are some recent examples of service-learning projects undertaken by students in the MPA program:

• Students in the Local Economic Development class completed four projects:  developing the Bowling Green Buy Local Campaign; designing the Wood County Airport Revenue Study; developing a coordinated transportation plan for Wood, Sandusky, Ottawa and Seneca counties; and devising a workforce needs assessment for the City of Bowling Green.
• Students in the Small Local Government class worked in small groups on projects for community clients.  One group, for example, developed a composting plan for the City of Toledo to reduce landfill waste.
• Students in the Environmental Management class completed a national study of fundraising projects for a land trust organization. The students revised their final report into an academic article; it is being published in the peer reviewed academic journal New Visions for Public Affairs.
• Students in the Capstone course undertook a Wood County transportation needs assessment for the Toledo Metropolitan Area Council of Governments.
• Students in the Research Methods course designed, administered and analyzed a levy feasibility study for Toledo Metroparks; the levy later passed.
• Students in the Environmental Management class recently devised proposals to reduce shanty fires in rural provinces in South Africa.
• Students in the Public Personnel Management class developed a telework policy for administrative and classified staff at BGSU.
• Students in the Environmental Management class developed a youth engagement program for the U.S. National Park Service.
• Students in the Ethics class coordinated a PBS forum entitled “By the People: Dialogues in Democracy” which brought together citizen deliberators, experts and policymakers in both a workshop and an electronically-linked discussion with participants at Kent State University.  The project culminated in a national town hall meeting televised on PBS.
• Students in the Program Evaluation class designed, administered, and analyzed a survey of Bowling Green residents on recycling which led to the adoption of the city’s blue bin curbside recycling program.
• Students in the Research Methods course designed, administered and analyzed a levy feasibility study for the Wood County District Public Library; the levy later passed.