Ginsberg Annual Report 2024 – Text Only
COVER:
Three hexagonal images appear on a dark blue background. The images include a group of students smiling at a student showcase event, Bill and Inger Ginsberg signing a construction beam at a ceremony, and 12 faculty members posing together for a group photo.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
1 Director’s Letter
2 Student Engagement
5 Community Partnerships
7 Academic Engagement
9 Center Celebrations
10 Ginsberg Center Staff & Advisory Boards
PAGE 1
Director’s Letter
Dear Friends & Partners,
Reflecting back on 2023-2024 academic year, I am filled with pride and gratitude for the many ways our team advanced social change for the public good through our work with students, faculty, staff and community partners.
On and off campus, we saw that our students are passionate about a wide range of issues that impact local communities and we remain committed to supporting their development of the skills they need to address the issues they care about. I am hopeful for our collective future knowing that such passionate individuals are better prepared to be the leaders we need through their work with the Center.
Our programs and workshops saw a noticeable increase in engagement, evidence that our campus community is more eager than ever to participate in community-engaged work. Our Community Leadership Fellows program nearly doubled in size allowing us to place even more students to work with more local community partners to advance their work over the year. Our academic Communities of Practice also saw a robust response, giving faculty & staff more opportunities to connect with colleagues from across campus within a supportive structure.
Our team continues to grow and change: we welcomed four new team members across all areas of the center who have already deepened our impact with campus and community partners. We are quickly approaching the opening of our new building, and construction reached an important milestone when the final beam was installed in April. As we look ahead, the upcoming election season will give us many opportunities to emphasize the importance of civic and community engagement with students and the campus more broadly. We remain committed to providing the space, opportunities, and resources for our campus and our community to work toward equity and social justice, and we invite you to stay connected with us throughout the coming year and beyond.
In Partnership,
Neeraja Aravamudan, PhD
PAGE 2
Student Engagement by the Numbers
This year, we had 4,198 touchpoints with 1,881 unique students via a multitude of initiatives, including our Center programs, advising sessions, grants for student organizations, and various course-based and co- curricular workshops aimed at preparing students for community engagement.
The students we serve hold many identities and span many academic, socioeconomic, racial and ethnic backgrounds. This diversity enriches our programs and reflects our dedication to embracing and celebrating the varied backgrounds within our campus community. Awareness of our students' demographics helps us effectively tailor our programs to meet their diverse needs.
Graph: Students Engaged
Workshops: 1,586 (79%)
Programs: 241 (12%)
Advising: 186 (9%)
Graph: Student Class Breakdown
Undergraduates: 1,586 (61.9%)
Graduate Students: 758 (38.1%)
Graph: First Generation Status
Non-1st Generation: 1,594 (84.7%)
1st-Generation: 287 (15.3%)
Demographic Data for Ginsberg Center Students
The enrolled student population at the University of Michigan-Ann Arbor consists of 46.7% White, 15.2% Asian, 7.65% Hispanic or Latino, 4.32% Two or More Races, 4.3% Black or African American, 0.16% American Indian or Alaska Native, and 0.0547% Native Hawaiian or Other Pacific Islanders.* This includes both full-time and part-time students, as well as graduate and undergraduate students. As illustrated below, the demographic distribution of students who engaged with Ginsberg during the 2023-2024 academic year closely mirrors the overall campus demographics. However, it is noteworthy that the students engaged with Ginsberg show slightly higher levels of representation across nearly all minority groups compared to the campus as a whole.
Graph: White 44.5%, Asian 19.2%, Hispanic 11.7%, Not Indicated 11%, Black 7.9%, Two or More Races 5.6%
PAGE 3
Student Programs Highlights
We had 241 unique students participate in our Center-sponsored programs this year. Some students engage in multiple programs, particularly those on our Student Advisory Board, which is why the total below equals 251 students. This overlap highlights the strong engagement within our student community and the connections they experience across programs.
Our six unique in-house programs provide students with essential skill development and leadership opportunities, priming them to be active citizens in their communities when they leave the University of Michigan. Our programs allow students to work with local partners across the six different Pathways to Civic Engagement and Community Change. These pathways intersect and overlap, demonstrating the interdependent nature of working toward the common good.
Graph: America Reads 144, Community Technical Assistance Collaborative 30, Storytelling for Social Change 22, Graduate Consultant Program 21, Student Advisory Board 19, Community Leadership Fellows 15
Graduate Consultants Recognized for Their Contributions
We are proud to share that our Graduate Consultants received a Michigan Difference Student Leadership (MDSL) Award in the Social Change category. The MDSL Awards are designed to honor students who are making an impact on campus and beyond.
Our Graduate Consultants are doctoral students from across campus who deepen their knowledge of community-engaged scholarship through facilitating workshops to prepare U-M students for community engagement experiences. This training is an invaluable service for our academic and community partners who work with students in community-engaged courses, projects, and research.
We are honored that our Graduate Consultants were recognized for their valuable contributions to the campus!
Image: Two Graduate Consultants and Ginsberg staff member Jessica Kane pose with their award at a small, round table.
PAGE 4
Student Support Highlights
Grants Support Impactful Projects and Student Learning
Among our services for students engaged in community work, our grants play a pivotal role in supporting impactful projects. In total, Ginsberg awarded more than $15,000 to student organizations through our Community Engaged Grants and Alternative Break Grants programs, funded by the Edward Ginsberg Center for Community Service and Learning Fund, with additional support from the Delta Delta Delta Fund. We were pleased to have Bill and Inger Ginsberg (pictured below on the bottom right) join students at our Grants Showcase this year. The work these students supported spanned all six pathways for community engagement and our advising sessions supported their learning around creating and establishing long-term partnerships through hands-on work.
Image: A large group of students pose with Bill and Inger Ginsberg at the Student Grant Showcase.
Graph: Grant Pathways
Direct Service 33.3%
Community-Engaged Research 19.4%
Philanthropy 19.4%
Organizing 16.7%
Entrepreneurship 5.6%
Policy 5.6%
$225,000 in Financial Assistance for Students
Out of 241 students engaged in Center programs, 123 received financial support including fellowships, stipends, hourly wages, or scholarships.
Specifically, we awarded $22,000 in scholarships to 5 students, and $52,500 in fellowships for 11 students. Wages for 107 students amounted to $152,500, excluding our America Reads tutors, who are fully funded by federal work-study dollars.
PAGE 5
Community Partnerships by the Numbers
The Ginsberg Center collaborates with non-profits, grassroots community groups, schools, and government agencies seeking engagement with the University of Michigan. The Ginsberg Center stewards a network of 348 community partners, of which 57% (229) are actively collaborating with us. Our network is dynamic, growing and changing in response to community partners and their priorities; we added 19 partners this year. Through these relationships Ginsberg helps make U-M more accessible to our community and allows us to direct campus partners and resources in ways that have the biggest commmunity impact.
University-Community Matches
This year, the Ginsberg Center successfully facilitated 111 matches between community and University partners. Using our knowledge of community-identified priorities we helped forge strong, mutually beneficial connections that leveraged both University and community expertise. These matches were strategically aligned with specific skill areas and preferred forms of engagement from our community partners. The distribution of our matches across five main domain areas is as follows:
Graph: Assessment and Evaluation 36%, Internship 26%, Implementation and Product Creation 15%, Strategy and Planning 13%, Philanthropy/Development 9%
Requests from our community partners were predominantly in the following community priority areas:
16% Middle Childhood and Adolescence: Supporting and advocating for children ages 6 to 18
9% Community Organizing & Advocacy: Working to gain public support or community awareness and involvement in a particular case, issues, or policy
9% Poverty & Economic Opportunity: supporting people struggling with poverty and eliminating poverty through creating, supporting, and sustaining individual and widespread economic options and growth
The chart below illustrates the remaining gap between the total number of requests received for a particular interest area (red) and the number of community-university matches generated for that area (blue).
PAGE 6
Community Partnership Highlights
Address Emerging Issues: Housing Insecurity
Southeast Michigan communities have experienced an increase in the number of people impacted by housing insecurity and homelessness, mirroring national trends. In response to local community partner requests around this issue, the Center has directed some of our matchmaking and funding priorities to support efforts to address housing insecurity and the unhoused population in Southeast Michigan. Below, we highlight two organizations supported by the Center.
Supporting Community-Centered Research that Advances Solutions
In July 2023, Homelessness Solidarity Network (HSN) partnered with the Ginsberg Center’s Community Technical Assistance Collaborative (CTAC) on an interview project that aims to generate guided conversations around solutions to housing insecurity.
CTAC students first conducted a literature review on homelessness and available services in Washtenaw County. They then created a resource map (pictured) that has been accessed more than 7,300 times since December 2023.
HSN and CTAC developed an interview protocol to explore the lived experiences of housing insecurity and provided trainings for community members to conduct empathetic and effective interviews. Community members who were trained then conducted interviews, which CTAC will analyze to provide a final report to HSN.
Image: A screenshot of the online resource map created by CTAC students.
Creating Media Content that Center Community Voices
For our inaugural local Alternative Spring Break (ASB) and the 2024 Spring Semester, Storytelling For Social Change partnered with organizations involved in housing and/or the liveable communities space. These projects aim to support our community partners as they tell the stories of their work in compelling and thoughtful ways, centering the messages they feel are most powerful.
Our community partner, Daytime Warming Center (DWC), requested promotional materials that showcase both what is unique about their and how community members can support its operations. During U-M’s spring break, a team of four undergraduate students and one Graduate Consultant created a video (linked above) that thoughtfully portrays the people running and using the DWC while respecting privacy and agency, as well as an updated DWC logo for marketing materials and social media usage. We are grateful for our students’ willingness to meet the needs of our partner and to Daytime Warming Center for allowing our students to work closely with them.
Image: A laptop showing the exterior of the Daytime Warming Center. A play button is overlaid.
PAGE 7
Academic Partnerships by the Numbers
The Ginsberg Center collaborates with faculty and staff across all 19 schools and colleges to enhance community-engaged teaching, research, scholarship, and programs for our academic partners. These partners encompass faculty of all ranks and titles, deans, department chairs, university administrators, as well as academic and co-curricular program staff, post-doc scholars, and other professionals whose endeavors at U-M involve community engagement.
In the current year, we have assisted 326 unique academic partners through consultations, workshops for faculty and staff, grant allocations, and facilitating connections with community partners. The chart reflects the multifaceted engagement of our academic partners, many of whom are involved in more than one capacity with the Ginsberg Center.
Graphic: 619 touchpoints
Graph: Consultation Attendees: 259
Workshop Attendees: 213
Workshop Requestors: 50
Connected to Community Partners: 49
Cohort Program Attendees: 26
Grantees: 19
Of our 326 academic partners, the majority (28.5%) come from the College of Literature, Science, and the Arts (LSA), the largest of U-M's 19 schools and colleges with more than 85 majors and over 100 minors. Our reach extends across the Ann Arbor campus, with 67.5% of our touchpoints affiliated with 16 other schools/colleges, 7 Central Administrative Units, 2 University systems, and to the Dearbo93rn and Flint campuses (4%), as well.
Academic Partners by Participating Unit:
College of Literature, Science & the Arts (93)
Central Administrative Units (31)
School of Environment & Sustainability (22)
College of Engineering (21)
Medical School (20)
School of Information (19)
School of Public Health (18)
Music, Theater & Dance (15)
Stamps School of Art & Design (14)
Flint & Dearborn Campuses (13)
Rackham Graduate School (9)
Ross School of Business (8)
School of Social Work (8)
Ford School of Public Policy (7)
School of Nursing (7)
Law School (6)
Marsal School of Education (5)
University Hospitals & Health Center (4)
Taubman College of Architecture & Urban Planning (3)
University Library (2)
College of Dentistry (1)
PAGE 8
Academic Partnership Highlights
Dr. Amy Yorke: A Year of Engagement with the Ginsberg Center
Amy Yorke, a professor of physical therapy at the University of Michigan-Flint, has been a leader in community-engaged teaching at Flint since 2017. She is the Director of Health Equity , Action, Research and Teaching (HEART), UM-Flint’s pro-bono health clinic, which provides applied learning experiences for students in Physical Therapy, Occupational Therapy, Nursing, and other fields in the College of Health Sciences. Students collaborate at HEART under faculty supervision to provide physical therapy, health education, exercise classes and other services to un- and under-insured members of the local community.
As a 2023 U-M Public Engagement Faculty Fellow, Yorke attended a Ginsberg Center workshop on power relationships in university-community engagement. That experience led her to seek out the Center’s consultation services to discuss course design, assignment design, and overall community-engagement strategy for HEART. Energized by these discussions, she decided to further engage with Ginsberg by attending the Community Engaged Course Design Intensive program in Summer 2024.
“I loved that I had time to think about what I’m doing and why I’m doing it,” Yorke said. “I got a much broader understanding of community engagement and was able to network with other faculty and staff who are doing community-engaged work.”
During the Intensive, Yorke connected with Elizabeth Bondi-Kelly, an assistant professor of electrical engineering and computer science on the Ann Arbor campus. They are now scoping a collaboration that will explore the intersections of artificial intelligence and health care. Yorke said she is eager to see what the possibilities are in community-engaged work when different disciplines intersect.
In the Fall 2024, Yorke will join Ginsberg’s Faculty Advisory Board, an opportunity she is looking forward to.
“I’m excited to serve as a representative of the Flint campus,” she said. “I think it’s important that, as faculty, we always cross- pollinate so that we can make the biggest impact. Ginsberg has really served as a thought partner and a resource for me to make that impact.”
Image: Headshot of Amy Yorke, a light skinned woman with a brown bob and black glasses.
Communities of Practice Offer Strategies & Support
One of the Ginsberg Center’s most effective ways to engage with faculty and staff is through our semester-long Communities of Practice cohorts. This year, we hosted a Fall and Winter cohort, each with 13 participants representing 11 units across campus. These cohorts allow faculty and staff to build community, share resources, and develop their research and teaching practice while also moving from individual to collective action in community-engaged work.
Our Fall cohort focused on issues of Power & Partnership in Community Engagement and strategies for shifting inequitable power dynamics in university-community partnerships. Our Winter cohort focused on Preparing Students for Community Engagement and created a repository of resources, tools and readings that were used to build students’ skills in various community engagement competencies.
“I found new collaborators and picked up strategies for entering into and sustaining partnerships, such as creating agreements and finding creative funding for this work. These are ideas I can take with me so that I can support others’ work.” - Fall 2023 partcipant
Image: Photo of 12 faculty members who participated in the Community of Practice.
PAGE 9
Center Celebrations
New Building Reaches Construction Milestone
Image: Photo of the Ginsberg Center team smiling with the construction beam at the ceremony.
On April 5, the Ginsberg Center celebrated an exciting event as the highest beam of its brand new building was set in place. To recognize this construction milestone, a ceremony was held for the Ginsberg family, Ginsberg Center staff and University dignitaries to sign the beam, which will be a permanent part of the new building. We were honored to have Bill and Inger Ginsberg present at the ceremony, and we extend our deepest gratitude to them for their support.
The new Edward and Rosalie Ginsberg Building on U-M’s Central Campus and will be one of the University’s first net-zero ready buildings on campus. We are excited that this new space will allow for a more robust menu of programming and events, giving many more members of our community opportunities to gather and collaborate. The building is set to open in 2025.
Image: Photo of the gray construction beam installed in the building. A small fir tree sits atop the beam and an American flag waves in the background.
Celebrating our Ginsberg Graduates
The entire Ginsberg team would like to congratulate our graduating students. We are incredibly grateful for their contributions to our Center and are eager to see what they will do next.
To show our gratitude and celebrate with our graduates, our team collaborated with the Alumni Association’s Forever Go Blue Bash on April 24.
As a gesture of our appreciation, we gave our students Ginsberg blankets and service cords to wear at their graduation ceremonies.
Congratulations, and Go Blue!
Image: Three photos featuring various graduating seniors holding their blue Ginsberg blankets and red service cords.
PAGE 10
Ginsberg Center Staff
As of June 30, 2024
Amanda Healy, Assistant Director for University-Community Partnerships
Brianna Christy, Data & Evaluation Specialist
Dave Waterhouse, Associate Director of the Ginsberg Center Elizabeth Netcher, Democratic Engagement Manager Evelyn Metric, Communications Specialist
Gabbi Wassilak, Student Outreach & Engagement Manager Gaylin Moore, Academic Partnerships & Services Coordinator Hawa Haji-Hassan, Community Partnerships Manager
Jesse Carr, Assistant Director for Student Learning & Leadership
Jessica Kane, Academic Partnerships Manager
Juliya Wicklund, America Reads Manager
Kate Livingston, Associate Director for Teaching, Research & Academic Partnerships
Kayla Grant, University Partnerships Manager
Maria Mora, Administrative Assistant
Nicole Springer, Editor, Michigan Journal of Community Service Learning
Neeraja Aravamudan, Director
Riley Wilson, Student Engagement Coordinator
Theresa Krueggeler, University-Community Collaboratives Manager
Image: Composite photo featuring the headshots of the Ginsberg Center staff.
Farewell and thanks to these staff members that left the Ginsberg team this year:
Brendan Gallagher, Student Outreach & Engagement Manager
Kimberly Ly, Student Learning Coordinator
PAGE 11
Advisory Boards
Faculty Advisory Board
Maria Arquero De Alarcon, Taubman College of Architecture and Urban Planning
Ketra Armstrong, School of Kinesiology
Jesse Austin-Breneman, College of Engineering
Bridgette Carr, Law School
Antonio Cuyler, School of Music, Theater & Dance
Gerald Davis, Ross School of Business
Ebbin Dotson, School of Public Health
Elisabeth Gerber, Ford School for Public Policy
Karen Farris, College of Pharmacy
Kelly Maxwell, College of Literature, Sciences, and the Arts
Ivette Perfecto, School for Environment and Sustainability
Lisa Kane Low, School of Nursing
Katie Richards-Schuster, School of Social Work
Teresa Satterfield, College of Literature, Sciences, and the Arts
Sue Ann Savas, School of Social Work
Nick Tobier, Stamps Art School & Design
Camille Wilson, School of Education
Community Advisory Board
Bryce Allmacher, Ann Arbor Housing Commission
Dayna Benoit, Washtenaw County Health Department
Christine Crockett, Old Fourth Ward Association and Ann Arbor Historical Foundation
Don Deatrick, Hire MI Vets
Teresa Duhl, Freedom House Detroit
Linda Edwards-Brown, Community Leader
Jason Frenzel, Huron River Watershed Council & Washtenaw Area Volunteer Coordinators
Taryn Gal, Michigan Organization on Adolescent Sexual Health (MOASH)
Carole Gibson, Another Ann Arbor, Inc.
Carrie Hammerman, NEW
Caitlin Koska, 826 Michigan
Anna Lemler, Liberate! Don’t Incarcerate, Coalition for Re-envisioning Our Safety (CROS), Freedom Teams
Gary Munce, Chelsea Senior Center
Aryeh Perlman, Brilliant Detroit
Nancy Shore, Ann Arbor Public Schools
Jacob Singer, Jewish Family Services of Washtenaw County
Annette Sobocinski, Child Care Network
Regan Stahl, SOS Community Services
Leah Tessman, Habitat for Humanity
Student Advisory Board
Melissa Arreola
Jessica Culverhouse
Shichi Dhar
Natalia Dussan
Allison Eastburn
Seth Flynn
Sarah Gallagher
Elana Goldenkoff
Greta Hoffman
Jordyn Ives
Daphne Kaplan
Shifa Malik
Avelyn Menn
Sophia Morehouse
Oluwaseun Ogunleye
Niyati Puranik
Devon Riter
Kia Schwert
Palak Srivastava
Sofia Tosi
Andy Wicklund
In addition to our advisory boards, the Ginsberg Center would like to thank the Ginsberg family and our other generous donors for their financial support.
Finally, we continue to be grateful to all of our campus and community partners for sharing in this work.
BACK COVER:
A dark blue backgrounds. Text reads Ginsberg Center Annual Report 2023-2024 in orange and white text.