Ginsberg Center 2020 Annual Report

Word "Ginsberg' stacked vertically on left margin in blue letters on white background. Yellow rectangle with number 2019 in white inside, words annual report above yellow bar and horizontal row of multicolored squares below yellow bar

Ginsberg Center 2020 Annual Report — Text Only

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COVER:
 

Graphics: The word Ginsberg appears vertically at the left hand margin. In the lower right corner of the cover it reads Annual Report 2020 above color blocks in green, blue, orange, purple, and red.
 

PAGE 1
 

From the Director
 

Dear Friends and Partners,
 

Just a few months ago, none of us could have imagined the reality in which we all find ourselves: in the midst of a COVID-19 pandemic, worldwide protests against anti-Black racism and state-sponsored violence, and increased concern about democracy globally. In one way or another, all of us have had to respond to and reflect on the particular challenges and uncertainty of these crises.
 

The Ginsberg Center’s ability to pivot quickly and seamlessly to this new, ever-changing reality has hinged on the work that has been our foundation for decades: a commitment to equitable social change built on deep, ongoing, and broad-reaching partnerships. We have continued our matchmaking work to respond to the important and urgent needs that have emerged because of the COVID-19 crisis. The trust we have earned from our students, academic partners, and community partners has allowed us to leverage our expertise and help provide a roadmap for civic and community engagement at the University of Michigan.
 

Amidst our physical distancing, we have all deepened our understanding of the necessity of social solidarity. Civic engagement—that is, all the ways we contribute to our shared community and life—is more important than ever. Indeed, creating and sustaining healthy, robust communities relies on all of us engaging in multiple ways in order to create the conditions, access, and opportunities for everyone to be able to thrive. To that end, over the past year, we have continued to advance pathways to civic engagement that catalyze habits of democracy as part of the student experience at U-M.
 

While much is uncertain, we know this: the Ginsberg Center’s commitment to, work with, and support of our partners is stronger than ever and we will continue to build on that foundation. Our work belongs to and relies on all of us, a collective effort that demands all hands on deck now more than ever. We hope you will continue to join us as we create social change for the public good.
 

We appreciate our partners and donors who have helped us continue to build our capacity to reach students wherever they are and engage them in meaningful service and engagement opportunities. We will continue to support our academic partners, whose expertise and research are needed now more than ever. And we will continue to support and guide our community partners to ensure that their work, and ours, towards just and equitable social change continues and expands.
 

In partnership,

Mary Jo Callan
 

PAGE 2

Our Mission
 

The Ginsberg Center’s mission is to cultivate and steward equitable partnerships between communities and the University of Michigan in order to advance social change for the public good.  Based upon this mission, our vision is for inclusive democracy; thriving, diverse communities; and equity and social justice.
 

We accomplish this through a three-pronged approach:

  1. Empowering students to engage in positive change through social justice education, leadership development, and meaningful civic and community engagement experiences.
  2. Supporting faculty and academic program staff efforts to connect socially just civic and community engagement experiences to coursework, research, and programs.
  3. Connecting community organizations with students, faculty, and staff who are invested in positive social change.

 

Screen shot from a Ginsberg staff meeting on Zoom.

Caption: Ginsberg Center staff, working remotely during the COVID-19 crisis.
 

PAGE 3

Our Principles
 

What we do matters. How we do it matters, too. 
 

Connecting civic learning across contexts.

We support students’ integrative learning, with an emphasis on reflection.
 

Starting with community.

We match community-identified priorities with U-M resources.

Centering on equity

Our students, faculty, and staff, and community partners all share their interests, goals, and expectations.
 

Fostering long-term partnerships

We establish long-term relationships with our partners beyond the scope of a particular project or engagement.
 

Acknowledging power

Our community partners are active agents with deep knowledge about their communities and practices.
 

Moving from individual to collective action

We bring together parties with shared interests to amplify positive community impact.
 

PAGE 4
 

Ginsberg 2020 by the numbers
 

102 new matches made between community partners, academic units & student organizations

Graphic: icon of two figures shaking hands.
 

70 new community partners, bringing our total to 320

Graphic: icon of two hands shaking
 

296 academic partners from 19 schools & colleges supported through consultations, grants, course design & research

Graphic: icon of three hands coming together
 

80 student organizations supported through grants & advising

Graphic: icone of two discussion balloons, one with a question mark in it, the other with a check mark in it.

 

Donut chart 1:

Graphic of a colored donut wheel

Text in center: Total students served: 4,259
 

Legend below:

Workshops: 2,670

Student Org Support: 800

Ginsberg Programs: 471

Alternative Breaks Support: 258

Paid Student Employees & Interns: 60

Donut chart 2:

Graphic of a colored donut wheel

Text in center: Students in ongoing Ginsberg programs
 

Legend below:

Literacy initiatives: 213

Michigan Active Citizens-Alternative Spring Breaks

Community Technical Assistance Collaborative: 34

Student Advisory Board: 20

Graduate Academic Liaisons: 13

Fellows: 9
 

PAGE 5
 

Advancing the Public Good Can Take Many Forms
 

The Ginsberg Center uses our Community Priority framework to illustrate the multiple forms that U-M-community partnerships can take to advance the public good. Our approach always starts with community-identified priorities. We believe communities and community organizations know what they need to thrive and we work with them to identify those pressing issues or needs, a critical first step in effecting change. We seek to match those priorities to U-M talent, research, and expertise across campus with students and academic partners. We then serve as an ongoing connection resource for our community partners, helping to steward the relationships and projects that emerge.
 

The following pages feature examples that demonstrate how we connect partners and priorities in each of these areas.
 

Graphic:

Ginsberg’s Community Priority graphic, a circle in the center with lines going outwards to connect to each individual element as follows:
 

Student Partnership
 

Student Organization Project

One-time short-term service project
 

Student Organization Partnership

Long-term or ongoing partnership w a student organization
 

Student Internship

Ongoing project as part of a curricular or co-curricular engagement
 

Research
 

Faculty Research

Scholarship aligned with existing community interests.
 

Student Research

Undergraduate or graduate student projects, thesis, or dissertations
 

Expertise
 

Consultation

Faculty or advanced graduate students share specialized knowledge
 

Public Products

Faculty translate specialized knowledge for a lay audience

 

Course
 

Part of a Course

Short-term community engaged project
 

Gameful Option

Community-engaged project as one (gameful) option among many
 

Focus of a Course

Semester-long (or more) community-engaged project

 

Collaboration
 

Multidisciplinary

Teaching or research projects across departments or schools

 

Intradisciplinary

Teaching or research projects within a single department or school
 

Cross-University

Including curricular (faculty or students) and co-curricular (student orgs or programs)
 

Lower left corner of graphic: Ginsberg Center logo

 

PAGE 6


STUDENT PARTNERSHIP
 

Ongoing Relationships Lead to Student Organizations Partnering in Many Ways
 

Ongoing relationships with the Ginsberg Center mean exploring the many, changing ways the Center can support community partners across multiple projects via access to U-M students, student organizations, and faculty. One example is the strong partnership Ginsberg has with the Community Family Life Center (CFLC) a neighborhood-based, non-profit organization that serves as a hub for the Sugarbrook Neighborhood and the greater Ypsilanti area.
 

On the recommendation of a contact at Michigan Medicine’s Community Health Services, CFLC’s founder and Executive Director Pastor Willie Powell reached out to the Ginsberg Center, opening up the door to multiple projects. “We had no idea about the range of things we could do with Ginsberg until they came out and met with us,” he says. “At first I just went looking for an intern. We got so much more than that.”
 

In addition to providing CFLC with an intern last year, continued consultation with the Ginsberg Center jump-started a journey of identifying the organization’s priorities and the wide range of ways in which Ginsberg could support CFLC’s constituents.
 

Among the projects connecting U-M and the CFLC was the creation of a library by U-M student organization Books for a Benefit. Ginsberg brought the two parties together and the student organization developed and built out a library space in the Center, then filled it with donated books. “We have a literacy lab attached to the library, so people really love the two together. It’s even more powerful,” Powell says. “We’re also in the same building as Washtenaw Literacy and they’re using the library too.”
 

On the student side, Ginsberg worked with Books for a Benefit, providing the organization with advising services and support throughout the project to help maximize the impact of their community engaged work–on the community and on the students themselves.
 

For organizations that serve a wide range of constituents, like the CFLC, an ongoing partnership with Ginsberg means access to a robust range of consultation and resources that shift and grow along with partners’ needs. That shared vision allows partners like CFLC to vastly expand their capacity. For students–and the University as a whole–it means collaborating for greater impact.
 

Another project that furthered both CFLC’s and U-M’s impact in the community was a theater project developed by a U-M freshman, theater major Samantha Estrella. She wanted to adapt an anti-bullying children’s book into a theater performance by elementary school students, with a focus on sharing the book’s message while also promoting literacy. Rikki Morrow-Spitzer, Diversity, Equity and Inclusion coordinator at the School of Dance, Theater and Music, pointed Estrella to the Ginsberg Center.
 

In turn, Ginsberg matched Estrella with the CFLC and she worked with students in their after-school programs to develop a performance for Pittsfield Elementary school featuring the adaptation of an anti-bullying children’s book.
 

“I really felt supported by Ginsberg,” Estrella says. “They were really flexible in terms of consulting, coordinating, and helping us communicate with everyone involved. It made it so much easier to reach more people.”

 

Pastor Powell agrees. “Ginsberg is a great resource. It connects us to University of Michigan students and professors and helps us figure out what we need and how to do it,” he says.  Going forward, Powell plans to continue consulting and working with the Ginsberg Center. “The people at Ginsberg really care about the community. They want to help us do things better. Everyone should tap into that kind of support.”
 

In center of article:

Blue box with text: “We had no idea about the range of things we could do with Ginsberg until they came out and met with us At first, I just went looking for an intern. We got so much more than that.” 

Pastor Willie Powel

Executive Director

Community Family Life Center
 

PAGE 7
 

RESEARCH
 

Shu-Fang Shih: A Vision for Long-Term Partnerships Maximizes Course & Research Impact
 

A newcomer to U-M in 2018, Shu-Fang Shih, a Researcher and Assistant Professor in U-M’s Department of Health Management and Policy in the School of Public Health, brought with her a deeply rooted dedication to working with community partners. “I worked closely with NGOs and community centers in Taiwan for more than six years,” she says. “But when I came to the U.S. to start my research career, I had no idea how to reach out to these communities.” At the suggestion of a colleague, Shih reached out to Ginsberg for help identifying community partners for her courses and research. That meeting served as a catalyst that launched a community-engaged course, a grant project, and two new research partnerships.  
 

A major facet of Ginsberg’s work is a commitment to creating and strengthening ongoing, equitable partnerships between the U-M academic community and community and civic organizations. Working with academic partners like Shih enables the Ginsberg Center to fully foster and maintain these important partnerships. Shih is investing in a long-term relationship with Ginsberg to advance her scholarship and maximize the impact of her work.
 

Shih teaches a capstone course in program evaluation in the School of Public Health and leveraged her relationship with the Ginsberg Center to develop real-world projects with community partners. Among those has been an initiative with Healthy Dearborn, Beaumont Health, and the Henry Ford Village aimed at getting area residents outside and walking.
 

Shih’s students helped the team develop a logic model, identify metrics, and collect the baseline data, but the project wasn’t finished by semester’s end. That’s when Shih applied for—and received—a faculty grant from the Ginsberg Center to complete the project.
 

In addition to providing funding, Ginsberg also consulted throughout the process, meeting with Shih and all three community partners to ensure that all involved emerged with an even stronger commitment to their common goals. Ginsberg also helped design the course and prepare Shih’s students for impactful community engagement.
 

Another community partnership Ginsberg helped Shih develop is with the Washtenaw Area Council for Children (WACC). Shih explored ways her students could help WACC with program evaluation. Earlier this year Shih and WACC applied to the Michigan Health Endowment Fund for funding to support their co-created Infant Safe Sleep project, which will help Michigan design a community-based intervention program focusing on high-risk families.
 

“The Ginsberg Center’s network has provided me with lots of opportunities to reach out and explore options for my courses and establish relationships with community partners” Shih says. Shih has been meeting and brainstorming with the Peace Neighborhood Center in Ann Arbor in the hopes of identifying a way in which they can work together via her program evaluation course. “Partnership is important because it’s not one direction—all participants have goals—and collaborating across common interest is a win-win. My students enjoy the hands-on approach to engaging with the community partners. I think working with my students has been meaningful to community partners, too.”
 

The projects also advance Shih’s scholarship in a meaningful way. “I don’t just want to publish academic papers,” she explains. “I really want my research to have an impact on society and that’s why community engagement is so important.”
 

She continues: “I see partnering with the Ginsberg Center as an ongoing process that will help me connect with new community partners and continue to work with existing partners. I also want to share my experience with Ginsberg to help others understand what a benefit this is. I really feel like we’re on the same team.”
 

In center of article:

Orange box with photograph of Shu-Fang Shi and caption: Shu-Fang Shih, Researcher & Assistant Professor, Department of Health Management & Policy

 

PAGE 8


EXPERTISE
 

Long-term partnership allows project to pivot quickly to meet community needs during COVID-19
 

A long-term Ginsberg partnership with Habitat for Humanity Huron Valley (HHHV) has led to multiple matches over the years, including two sections of the Intro to Macro Social Work in U-M’s School of Social Work, focused on studying community engagement in Ypsilanti Township’s Sugarbrook Neighborhood.
 

That continued partnership has laid the groundwork for expanding community capacity-building, so when HHHV needed help designing and building a tool lending library in Ypsilanti’s West Willow Neighborhood, they once again turned to Ginsberg Center. As a result, Ginsberg matched HHHV and West Willow with U-M’s student chapter of INFORMS (Institute for Operations Research and Management Sciences) to help with the project—a co-creation that would wind up giving the community an unexpected resource during the COVID-19 pandemic.
 

In 2017, HHHV received a grant from Lowe’s to buy tools for the lending library. The project aimed to foster community spirit around neighborhood pride and upkeep at West Willow.

The tool lending library quickly outgrew the temporary shed West Willow was using. HHHV secured a grant from the National Neighborhood Promise Association for a new building but they needed help to design and build the library in the best way to serve the community. West Willow and HHHV, both long-term Ginsberg partners, reached out to see how Ginsberg could help with this next phase of the project.
 

Ginsberg matched Habitat and West Willow with U-M’s student chapter of INFORMS, a national professional organization with graduate student-led campus chapters that provide pro-bono consultation leveraging the expertise of engineering students.

 

“It’s great for us to use skills that we’re learning to give back to the community,” says Anna White, a U-M PhD candidate in the College of Engineering and the project lead. “As college students, you can really get in your bubble and do lots of things around campus, but working with Ginsberg has connected us to community partners, helped us identify specific needs, and match the skill sets we can actually offer to meet those needs.”
 

Sarah Teare, Community Development Director for HHHV, says INFORMS brought a valuable and unique perspective to the project, helping them think through the best way to design and use the space for ease of navigation, efficiency, and accessibility. “They provided perspectives we hadn’t even considered,” she says.
 

Not long after the lending library opened, the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic meant sharing communal tools was potentially unsafe, essentially putting the service on hold. But the strength of the existing partnership between Habitat for Humanity Huron Valley and West Willow meant the space was quickly re-purposed to serve the community in a different way: helping the neighborhood with critical supplies in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic.

 

“Right now, this zip code is heavily impacted by COVID-19,” Teare says. “They need to distribute cleaning and household supplies and food to community members. The tool library has turned into a major holding space for all those supplies. This building allowed West Willow to be more responsive to the community in a time of need.”
 

It’s only possible, Teare notes, because of the strength of the existing partnerships that allowed for a deep and complex collaboration between Habitat, West Willow, and U-M’s INFORMS. “These partnerships are invaluable,” she says. “Going forward, I know we’ll continue working together with West Willow, INFORMS, and other U-M departments that Ginsberg has connected us with.”
 

In center of article:

Purple box with photograph of a group of smiling people with caption: Folks from INFORMS, Habitat for Humanity, and the West Willow Neighborhood inside their newly built tool library.

 

PAGE 9

COURSE
 

Community-Engaged Coursework Benefits Communities, Students, and Scholarship
 

As a Graduate Student Instructor in U-M’s English department, Laura Romaine has been working in partnership with the Ginsberg Center to design her first-year course, English 126: Community-Engaged Writing. Focusing on community-engaged work is central to Romaine’s approach and, with Ginsberg’s help, Romaine has designed a course centered around collaboration for greater impact on students, community partners, and Romaine herself.
 

“Pedagogy supports the idea that when there is purpose and motivation for one’s academic work, it tends to be higher quality,” Romaine says. “Ginsberg has helped me prepare and guide my students to apply their work within the context of the community they’re working with.”

Consultation with Ginsberg Center staff demonstrated to Romaine that, for students, learning together as a class can be more powerful than having her students find their own individual community-engaged project.
 

To that end, Ginsberg matched Romaine with Hire MI Vet, a community initiative that helps veterans gain meaningful employment. The organization had approached the Ginsberg Center for help conducting research for an article they were working on with the Ann Arbor Observer. Students researched area veterans’ public transportation access, needs, and obstacles—work that Hire MI Vet lacked the capacity to conduct.  

 

Ginsberg Center’s support meant reduced coordination time for Romaine, allowing her to devote a lot of attention to a single community partner which in turn amplifies the university’s impact on that partner and the community.
 

As prep work for the course, Ginsberg provided workshops for students on entering, engaging, and exiting communities thoughtfully and equitably. Romaine also points to the Massive Open Online Course (MOOC) that Ginsberg Center helped to develop as an important resource for her students. The course, Collaborating for Change, is a comprehensive introduction to public engagement work.
 

Romaine says that throughout this process—and moving forward—her partnership with Ginsberg has provided a framework for structuring her course and preparing students to best support community with their scholarship.
 

Ginsberg’s partnership with Romaine has grown to help the English Department Writing Program re-focus all of its English 126: Community-Engaged Writing courses moving forward. In the upcoming academic year, Ginsberg staff will work with English 126 GSIs to match them with community partner organizations whose work and priorities align with their course goals.
 

For Romaine, tapping into Ginsberg’s vast range of resources has demonstrated that collective impact is greater impact—for herself, her students and their community partners. “I now rely heavily on Ginsberg’s mission, approach, and principles of community engagement,” she says. “And I’d encourage my academic peers to reach out and see what partnering with Ginsberg can help them achieve.

 

In center of article:

Red box with photograph of Laura Romaine with caption: Laura Romaine, Graduate Student Instructor, Language & Literature

 

PAGE 10

COLLABORATION
 

Multiple U-M Departments Partner with Senior Residence to Overcome Healthcare Barriers
 

One of the greatest assets Ginsberg can help provide for our academic and community partners is the chance to build ongoing partnerships that grow into deeper collaboration for impact.
 

As an example, Ginsberg’s years-long partnership with senior residential community Cranbrook Tower in Ann Arbor has evolved from a single project aimed at improving residents’ health to a program that encompasses health screening, nutrition, and dental care.
 

The partnership began in 2018, when Cranbrook Tower contacted the Ginsberg Center for help providing basic medical screening for their residents, many of whom don’t speak English, lack transportation, have little health insurance, and have low-trust in medical care providers.
 

Ginsberg Center connected the residence with Caitlyn Ferguson, Program Manager, Community Engagement at U-M’s College of Pharmacy. Along with Pharmacy’s Paul Walker, Ferguson developed a program that brought U-M pharmacy students into Cranbrook Tower to perform regular blood pressure and blood glucose screenings for residents as well as translation services.
 

That project helped residents overcome some of their barriers to seeking health care and helped build trust via regular, ongoing relationships with U-M Pharmacy students. In turn, those students had the opportunity to practice their clinical skills.
 

Lindsey Turnbull, Service Coordinator at Cranbrook Tower, says the project was such a success that Ferguson had the vision to try and expand the services. “She saw that we had other needs,” Turnbull says. “We wanted to expand into dentistry and nutrition.”
 

To make that happen, Ferguson joined forces with the School of Public Health’s Olivia Anderson, Clinical Assistant Professor and the School of Dentistry’s Diane Chang and Stephanie Munz. The team applied for and secured a Ginsberg Community Engagement Grant for Interprofessional Education (IPE) to bring the project to fruition.
 

“It’s been really beneficial for our residents to have this consistency of care, this investment in intergenerational relationships knowing that the students were coming, serving medical needs, and offering translation services,” Turnbull says. “It has really built a bridge for our residents to access the services they need.”
 

The consistency of the collaboration, she continues, allows partners to expand their thinking and work, and deepen the relationships between Cranbrook Tower residents and U-M, as well as the scholarship of the academic partners involved, and the experience of participating students.
 

Such partnerships are possible because of Ginsberg’s extensive network of connections and commitment to ongoing community partnerships. “That collaboration is really important,” Turnbull adds. “When we find a need now, we know that Ginsberg can point us in the right direction.”  
 

In center of article:

Green box with text: “It’s been really beneficial for our residents to have this consistency of care, this investment in intergenerational relationships. It has really built a bridge for our residents to access the services they need.”

Lindsey Turnbull, Service Coordinator, Cranbrook Tower


PAGE 11


RESPONDING TO THE CURRENT MOMENT
 

Collaborating for Impact: Helping Maize & Blue Cupboard Shoppers & Volunteers Stay Safe
 

During the COVID-19 crisis, the Ginsberg Center and its partners on campus and off have continued to work to establish and maintain important partnerships to address both ongoing and acute needs. An initiative that provides masks to the Maize & Blue Cupboard highlights that even seemingly small connections can have a significant effect when partners collaborate for impact by leveraging existing partners and thinking proactively.
 

The University of Michigan Maize & Blue Cupboard, administered by Michigan Dining, offers resources, educational opportunities, and support to U-M students experiencing food insecurity. It’s an essential service at any time but making sure it stays in operation during the COVID-19 crisis has been especially important. However, the Cupboard had encountered a problem: not enough face masks for volunteers and shoppers to ensure personal safety.
 

At the same time, Nick Tobier, a professor in the STAMPS School of Art & Design and Ginsberg’s Senior Counsel to the Provost on Civic Engagement, was trying to figure out the best way to help the community during the crisis.
 

“At times like this, you think: what can I contribute? What are the skills I can share?” Tobier says. The answer came to him: recruiting STAMPS students to work remotely to make masks for those in need.
 

Tobier reached out to the Ginsberg Center for guidance on where the masks might best be used and learned about the Maize & Blue Cupboard’s need. Joining forces with Michigan Dining, Tobier created a system for interested STAMPS students to work remotely (including one student who sends sewn masks from the Bay Area), making masks with their own material and sewing machines, and delivering them to the Cupboard.
 

Tobier picks up the masks himself from local students weekly and drops them off at Michigan Dining, which then distributes them to the Cupboard.


“I think this is an example of how incremental efforts can lead to something,” Tobier says. “The folks at Michigan Dining are incredible. They’re so willing and collaborative.” What started with a need from one partner and proactive engagement from another resulted in a process that has had a sizable impact, made possible only by leveraging existing relationships and thinking creatively.


The impact of the collaborative effort is felt by participating students too. “I feel happy that I can engage with the community,” says Erin McKenna, an MFA STAMPS student. “Making these masks is a two-way street: I can help by donating time and masks, and the act of making is helping me get through this strange time.”

 

“We’re all trying to get through the COVID crisis and any relationship we can create right now to help us on that front is crucial,” says Josh Burd, Michigan Dining’s Building Facilities Manager. “What Nick’s group is doing is great for the Cupboard, which a lot of people are relying on and it’s still open every day.”
 

If there is a silver lining to be mined from this crisis, it’s being reminded that individual actions can have a meaningful impact. “My hope is that as we come out of this, people will remember how our connections, both new and existing, can be used for the wellbeing of others,” he says.
 

In center of article:

Blue box with photograph of a student holding up a cloth mask with caption:  Erin McKenna, MFA STAMPS student, has been part of a mask-making project to help keep the Maize & Blue Cupboard running safely.
 

 

PAGE 12
 

2020: RESPONDING TO THE CURRENT MOMENT


In an Unprecedented Time, Keeping Students Invested in Democratic Engagement is Key


How the Big Ten Voting Challenge continues to catalyze student voter education and turnout in an election year
 

During the COVID-19 crisis,  as ever, a central element of Ginsberg’s mission is empowering U-M students to engage in positive change through meaningful civic and community engagement experiences. We know that preparing students for a lifetime of civic engagement is essential to effecting lasting, positive social change. Our democratic engagement efforts lie at the heart of our work with students, including our role leading the Big Ten Voting Challenge (BTVC),  a national, conference-wide, nonpartisan competition aimed at increasing the rates of student voter registration and turnout.
 

For the past three years, the BTVC has served as a catalyst for nonpartisan student voter education and turnout here at the University of Michigan and across the country. In that time, our team has built a strong foundation that has allowed us to be nimble amidst the COVID-19 pandemic and the uncertainty through which we plan for the fall 2020 election.
 

The BTVC’s impact is concrete and significant. We’re building on the 2018 student voting rate of 41%, triple the 2014 voting rate of 14%, which demonstrated the efficacy of a campus and Conference-wide initiative aimed at empowering students via the ballot box.

In the 2020 March primary, campus polling locations saw an increase in activity compared to 2016. U-M received national recognition and was honored with a Gold Seal from the ALL IN Campus Democracy Challenge and named one of only five Leader Campuses by the Andrew Goodman Foundation.
 

2020 brings a presidential election in a time unlike any we have known and COVID -19 will have a significant impact on democratic engagement this fall. To that end, public health is a primary focus for all of our work leading up to the presidential election in November. The BTVC team is working with contacts across the Big Ten Conference to develop effective strategies for online voter registration and messaging around absentee voting to minimize the number of students present at campus polling locations on Election Day.
 

Our  team  continues  to  provide  leadership throughout the state of Michigan via partnerships with Michigan’s Secretary of State, the Campus Vote Project, and our Big  Ten Conference peers. With the 2020 presidential election drawing near, we are working with colleagues throughout our state and across the Conference to ensure that we are encouraging students to develop the skills and habits needed for a vital democracy. Go Vote, Go Blue!
 

In center of article:

The Big Ten Voting Challenge Logo: a blue vertical rectangle with a row of maize stars, B1G Voting Challenge below, and the University of Michigan block M in maize below that.

 

PAGE 13

GINSBERG IS
 

Community engagement

Equitable partnerships

Student leadership

Capacity building

Learning in community

Democratic engagement

Collaborating for impact
 

SOCIAL CHANGE

 

PAGE 14

GINSBERG IS...supporting our partners in the following ways


COMMUNITY

Listen to community needs and priorities

Connect with University partners

Steward ongoing partnerships across U-M
 

STUDENTS

Connect work to priorities of community organizations

Engage through meaningful service or civic engagement

Support engagement through grants, advising, and transportation

Educate to prepare for engagement and positive impact
 

FACULTY

Connect courses & research to community-identified priorities

Design courses, programs, or research to integrate community

Prepare students to thoughtfully enter, engage, and exit communities

Research impact of engagement on student learning

 

PAGE 15
 

Ginsberg Center Staff
 

Alison Climes, Student Engagement Coordinator

Amanda Healy, University-Community Partnerships Manager

Brendan Gallagher, Student Outreach & Engagement Manager

Brianna Christy, Community Programs Coordinator

Cecilia Morales, Engaged Scholarship Manager

Danyelle J. Reynolds, Assistant Director for Student Learning & Leadership

Dave Waterhouse, Associate Director

Diana Seales, Community Engagement Manager

Erin Byrnes, Lead, Democratic Engagement

Julia Smillie, Marketing & Communications Manager

Lauren Perkins, AmeriCorps VISTA member

Maria Mora, Administrative Assistant

Mary Jo Callan, Director

Neeraja Aravamudan, Associate Director for Teaching & Research

Raven Jones, America Reads & Literacy Programs Manager

Sara Saylor, Assistant. Director for Community Engagement
 

University of Michigan Board of Regents
 

Jordan B. Acker

Michael J. Behm

Mark J. Bernstein

Paul W. Brown

Shauna Ryder Diggs

Denise Ilitch

Ron Weiser

Katherine E. White
 

University of Michigan Nondiscrimination Policy Statement
 

The University of Michigan, as an equal opportunity/affirmative action employer, complies with all applicable federal and state laws regarding nondiscrimination and affirmative action. The University of Michigan is committed to a policy of equal opportunity for all persons and does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, national origin, age, marital status, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, gender expression, disability, religion, height, weight, or veteran status in employment, educational programs and activities, and admissions. Inquiries or complaints may be addressed to the Senior Director for Institutional Equity, and Title IX/Section 504/ADA Coordinator, Office for Institutional Equity, 2072 Administrative Services Building, Ann Arbor, Michigan 48109-1432, 734-763-0235, TTY 734-647-1388, [email protected]. For other University of Michigan information call 734-764-1817.

 

PAGE 16

Graphic: Key & door with text Unlocking the University of Michigan in Service to the Public Good


Faculty Advisory Board
 

Aline Cotel, Civil & Environmental Engineering

Bridgette Carr, Law School

Christina Weiland, School of Education

Ebbin Dotson, School of Public Health

Elisabeth Gerber, Ford School of Public Policy

Gerald Davis, Ross School of Business

Jesse Austin-Brenneman, Department of Mechanical Engineering

Katie Richards-Schuster, School of Social Work

Karen Farris, College of Pharmacy

Ketra Armstrong, School of Kinesiology

Lisa Kane Low, School of Nursing

Luke Shaefer, School of Social Work & Ford School of Public Policy

Maria Arquero De Alarcon, Architecture & Urban Design

*Nick Tobier, Stamps Art School & Design; Edward Ginsberg Center

    Senior Counsel to the Provost on Civic Engagement

Sue Ann Savas, School of Social Work

Teresa Satterfield, LSA Romance Languages & Literatures
 

Student Advisory Board
 

Adrianna Ackerman

Ananya Sridharan

Anezka Kovarik

Benjamin Schuster

Chloe Hale

Cindy Huang

Colleen Tacubao

Courtney Mellios

Dana Berkowitz

Daniel Mishins Derek Ge

Emily Zhuetlin

Eric Kayden

Evangeline Yeh

Hanna Groenke

Helen Woolcock

Kaia Tien

Kaitlyn Colyer

Kathleen Hurley

Lucille Rosenthal

Nayla Zylberberg

Nina Pantoja

Peter Chen

Tawiah Yalley

Vanessa Dinh
 

Community Advisory Board

Abbey Davis, Ann Arbor YMCA

Alan Oman, Washtenaw Intermediate School District

Andrea Traskos, Catholic Social Services of Washtenaw

Bill O’Reilly, Chelsea Senior Center

Christine Crockett, Old Fourth Ward Association, Ann Arbor

    Historical Foundation

Dayna Benoit, Washtenaw County Health Department

Derrick Jackson, Washtenaw Sheriff’s Office

Jacob Singer, Jewish Family Services of Washtenaw County

Jason Frenzel, Huron River Watershed Council, Washtenaw Area

    Volunteer Coordinators

Jessica Ashmore, Washtenaw County Trial Court - Juvenile Division

Jessie McShane, Child Care Network

Jim McGuire, Area Agency on Aging 1-B

Lauren Brandt, Habitat for Humanity of Huron Valley

Linda Edwards-Brown, Community Leader

Margy Long, Washtenaw Success By 6 Great Start Collaborative

Marta Larson, Northfield’s Human Services

Nancy Shore, Ann Arbor Public Schools

Pam Smith, United Way of Washtenaw County

Rhonda Fields, Girls on the Run of Southeastern Michigan

Rhonda Weathers, SOS Community Services

Taryn Gal, Michigan Organization on Adolescent Sexual Health (MOASH)

Teresa Duhl, Freedom House Detroit
 

In addition to our advisory boards, Ginsberg Center would like to thank our major financial contributors: the Ginsberg family, the PNC Foundation, the Michigan Community Service Commission, the Mayesh-Sandberg family, and Shuyi Li.

 

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Ginsberg Center horizontal logo:

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Student Life

Edward Ginsberg Center

1024 Hill Street • Ann Arbor, Michigan 48104 • Phone: (734) 763-3548 • ginsberg.umich.edu