Liberal Studies Commons^™

University-Community Engagement Projects: Design To Empower Community, Anthony Michael Hanline

Senior Projects

This paper examines University-Community engagement projects from the perspective of an adult student. Explicating the difficulties of community engagement as it applies to team based experiential learning, community partnerships, and university instructors, this paper analyzes personal experience of designing and implementing a community engagement project. To aid in overcoming the obstacles universities face engaging community this paper provides program specific suggestions and visual models explaining the importance of a flexible project design to the mobility, needs, and limitations of the community partner.

Preparing Fmhc Students For Life After Graduation, Emily Ruth Driscoll, Emma Kolar, Hannah Rojas, Carly Sutkewicz, Sam Ventocilla, Nathan Wagner

Undergraduate Research

The pages you have before you are a complete chronicle of our journey through the design thinking process. We were asked a pressing question: “how can Honors students better prepare for life after graduation?” This question launched a four-month journey, for which we were given the map of the design thinking process. This map was unique in that it told us what terrain we would be navigating, but not how to get to the next destination. Not directly, anyway. Every section of terrain had many paths, and plenty of open space to forge our own.

From the rolling moors of …

Emphasizing The Honors College Experience, Kara Rickenberg, Kylee Scholten, Matt Smit, Claire Thomassen, Monica Van Til, Rio Weikum

Undergraduate Research

Thank you for taking the time to engage with our Innovation Portfolio chronicling our design challenge of improving the post-graduation preparation of Frederik Meijer Honors College students. This past semester we have conducted intensive research and utilized the design thinking process to arrive at a definitive solution. This portfolio presents the process that our team learned and implemented, and visualizes our innovations and prototype concepts. We know our solution will improve the readiness of Honors students for life after graduation, as well as continue to enhance the awesome FHMC experience! Thank you again for your interest in our design challenge.

Innovating To Help The Students Of Fmhc Transition Into The Real World, Bee Fink, Leo Brisita, Kate Hubbard, Alex Broek, Kelsey Bredeweg, Reilly Olson

Undergraduate Research

We appreciate your interest in our team, and all of the work we put into creating a solution for the future leaders of the Frederik Meijer Honors College. Over the span of four months, we conducted hours of research, interviews, team collaboration, thinking critically, prototyping, and designing. Through this portfolio, an overview will be provided of how we developed our final innovation to assist students of the Frederik Meijer Honors College to comfortably transition to life after Grand Valley.

How Women Leaders Can Promote Sustainability Initiatives, Naida Weinert

Senior Projects

This paper discusses what would be the best organizational management model that could help to attain and promote corporate social responsibility. Research has been assessed on the themes of gender differences (men vs women), leadership styles (including men leaders vs. women leaders), sustainability, corporate social responsibility (including the managerial position), the importance of stakeholders (internal and external), and a combination of these subjects. Stereotypical attitudes are discussed on leadership differences between men and women within this paper. Another area of the research emphasized the importance of stakeholders linked with organizations as well as how internal and external stakeholders have significance …

Redesigning The Frederick Meijer Honors College Curriculum, Kathryn Malia Brooks, Bradley Williams, Andrew Dzierwa, Kelsey Rutkowski, Bethany Chambers

Undergraduate Research

Welcome reader,

We appreciate your interest in our design challenge of reimaging the Frederik Meijer Honors College curriculum. Over the course of several months, we have worked diligently through the design thinking process to arrive at a solution that meets the needs of FMHC stakeholders. We have conducted interviews with these stakeholders in order to gain empathy and conducted secondary research which allowed us to broaden the scope of our insights and search for potential solutions. Many hours were spent ideating our own solutions and prototyping them through a collaborator debrief process. This portfolio contains the details of our process …

Creating A Fresh Start For The Gv Honors Experience, Logan Wiber, Adam Anderson, Riese Bierlein, Jinah Bak, Tessa Martin, Katarina Zomer

Undergraduate Research

Dear Reader,

Thank you for your interest in our team, The ASAP, and our work with the Grand Valley State University Frederik Meijer Honors College. At the time of undertaking the task of reimagining the current Honors College curriculum, we explored the current sentiments of stakeholders, unfulfilled needs, and how other colleges have provided solutions to these needs. Our hope is that you, whoever you may be, become inspired and that ideas from our final prototype become a reality in the Honors College curriculum.

The team working on this project consisted of 6 members, all introduced on the page prior. …

Trailblazers: Innovation Portfolio, Keegan Barth, Samantha Frankhouse, Taylor Keppel, Andrew Marckini, Melaura Rice

Undergraduate Research

We are so grateful for your interest in our proposal of redesigning the Frederick Meijer Honors College Curriculum. This journey spanned four months and included countless hours of researching, interviewing, collaborating, ideating, and prototyping. Our portfolio will navigate through the process to provide an in-depth overview of our insights and show how we used Design Thinking to create our final prototype concept. We would like to express our sincere gratitude toward our professor Linda Chamberlain, fellow classmates, collaborators, and stakeholders who were involved in the process. All of these individuals guided us through the Design Thinking process and allowed us …

Design Portfolio: Innovation Team Uncharted, Angelina Bartolotta, Michael Everix, Chance Colter, Sophia Hall, Kimberly Berry, Kiernan Pitts, Whitney Veldheer

Undergraduate Research

Thank you for your interest in our team, Team Uncharted, and our work with the Grand Valley State University Frederik Meijer Honors College. At the time of undertaking the task of making the Honors College more “distinctive and distinguished,” we also bore in mind the greater task of creating a better experience and life for all stakeholders. Our ultimate hope is that these efforts radiate through the process and final innovation proposal.

The team working on this project consisted of 7 members: Angelina Bartolotta, Michael Everix, Chance Colter, Sophia Hall, Kimberly Berry, Kiernan Pitts, and Whitney Veldheer. Each member took …

Gvsu Honors College: A More Distinctive Experience, Alexis Ellis, Darius Youngblood, Lynn Doherty, Marissa Kahnt, Pierce Henderson,, Taylor Kooy

Undergraduate Research

In the later summer of 2017, our team was assembled from six individuals in the HNR 313 Design Thinking class at Grand Valley State University. In time, we would learn each other’s names, personalities, assign roles for the task ahead, and come to share life experiences. Alexis Ellis became our team writing lead, Darius Youngblood became the team leader, Lynn Doherty volunteered to be the scribe and recorder, Marisa Kahnt became a co-reporter and manager of human resources, Pierce Henderson became co-reporter and researcher, and Taylor Kooy became co-presenter and task manager.

With our team finalized, we were able to …

Team Psi: Making The Frederik Meijer Honors College Experience More Distinctive, Selena Brown, Kendra Smith, Sara Harman, Michael Guscar, Josh Schneider, Cassondra Anderson

Undergraduate Research

We are grateful for your interest in our proposed solution to increase the distinction of the Frederik Meijer Honors College. This journey spanned four months, and included countless hours of research, interviews, ideating, and prototyping. Our portfolio will walk you through this process, to help you understand our insights, and how we used Design Thinking to create our final innovation.

We would also like to express our gratitude for the teaching and guidance of professor Linda Chamberlain of the Frederik Meijer Honors College, and all the ways in which she helped us navigate the Design Thinking process. Without her, this …

Of Lizards And Language, Bernadette Gongora

Language Arts Journal of Michigan

No abstract provided.

A Tapestry Of Eyes In The Literacy/Literature Class, Gregory Shafer

Language Arts Journal of Michigan

It is essential that language arts classes make room for different voices, different cultures, and new settings for writing. This paper examines ideas and methods for expanding the discourse and refers to Morrison's Bluest Eye as a way to appreciate the dilemma our students face.

Building Bridges, Benjamin R. Cousino, Nathan P. Gillespie, Shelby Miller, Sue Pete, Elizabeth A. Shepherd, Philip M. Sheridan

Undergraduate Research

Throughout the winter 2017 semester our interdisciplinary team utilized the design thinking process to redefine the purpose of the Grand Valley Holland Meijer Campus. As a process for collaborative and creative problem solving on complex challenges, Design Thinking requires empathizing with community stakeholders, iterative integration of insights, ideation, prototyping and testing. Through this process we have identified creative possibilities designed to support and enhance both Grand Valley State University’s Holland campus as well as the community of Holland. Our final prototype optimizes engagement with the campus. While an incredibly large and challenging undertaking, this experience confirmed that the design thinking …

Meijer's Makers, Anthony L. Alberty, Haley Jennings, Patrick Mcelwee, Christopher Morrow, Natalia P. Skinner

Undergraduate Research

This Innovation Portfolio is the result of a semester long project that examined the role of a regional campus in its community: more specifically, examining how the GVSU Meijer Campus can best integrate into and support its community. The Meijer Campus was originally designed to engage adult learners of the Holland business community. Our team sought out how to reinvigorate the campus through innovating based on this original goal. During the winter of 2017, our team undertook a series of steps to better understand the needs of the Holland community, considering how to design the Meijer Campus to fit those …

Craft Certifications, Alexandra Dartt, Autumn Reyhl, Brandon Angerbrant, Hattie Leveque, Collin Cribley, Mitch Galloway

Undergraduate Research

Dear Reader, Welcome to our journey (of documents). We invite you to follow us through our design process: an iterative learning process of reflective and active learning focused on empathizing, defining, ideating, prototyping, and testing innovations. We have engaged in extensive research about the GVSU Holland campus and the Holland community in order to identify and respond to critical needs. We have come to understand that the campus needs to be a home for transformational and relevant education in order for it to best utilize its current assets and that it needs to do this work by extending an arm …

Holland Helpers, Kristin Budd, Stephanie K. Emelander, Lauren E. Hogikyan, Sharnell James, Nicholas Petrie, David Salerno

Undergraduate Research

Grand Valley State University’s Meijer Campus located in Holland, MI has been hoping to better support the Holland community. It aims to be a campus full of innovative ideas, inspired and supported by students, and representative of the Holland community. Over the course of the winter of 2017 we—an interdisciplinary team of undergraduate students at Grand Valley State University—have engaged in the Design Thinking process order to develop an innovation designed to turn this vision into a reality. In the follow portfolio, you will be able to flip through our journey to find what we believe is a viable, sustainable …

Laker Lifelong Learners, Maria Beelen, Nicholas Herbert, Melissa Knox, Tony Laduca, Nikhil Watsa

Undergraduate Research

No abstract provided.

The H.I.V.E, Ellerie Ambrose, Adam Hummel, Ashley Koltz, Christopher Lopez, Christian Miller

Undergraduate Research

Design Thinking is a methodology used by designers, deep thinkers, and problem solvers alike to brainstorm solutions for issues big and small. To truly embrace the methodology and achieve great results, users must dive into the problem they are solving with an open mind and desire for change. This compilation walks through our group’s semester long journey of solving one problem: What is the role of a satellite campus in a community? We were able to apply this question to the Grand Valley State University Meijer campus located in Holland, Michigan. This process yields a variety of results that are …

Multi-Generational Design Thinking School, Kyle Mcdowell, Payton Mills, Joseph Seder, Nichole Sloan, Hannah Fernando, Andrew Hereza

Undergraduate Research

Every great story is full of interesting characters, and one of those characters is always the hero. In each and every story, that hero wants something. Our hero is the GVSU Meijer Campus in Holland, Michigan, but as it is now, that hero is weak, lonely, and not flourishing. Our hero wants to be relevant for the Holland community, but it needs to overcome underutilization to get there. However, what makes a story great is not the resolution; rather, it is the transformation of the hero. Join us in our journey as we design thinkers work to transform the identity …

The S.S. Holland: “Setting Sail Towards Scholarly Success”, Gina Cellentani, Gabby Johnson, Darby Reynaert, Cameron Timmer, Cordell Zachary

Undergraduate Research

No abstract provided.

Sprout: A Little Footprint With A Big Impact, Emily Grochowalski, Jordan Mccroskey, Katrina Genzink, Levi Mains, Nathan Hull

Undergraduate Research

This Innovation Portfolio is designed to walk the reader through the essential steps our team took to address the issue of the under-utilization of the Meijer Holland Campus in the fall of 2016. As a satellite campus of Grand Valley State University, the Meijer Holland Campus seeks to engage its local community in a more sustained and in-depth way. This brief begins by introducing the reader to the historical and situational context of the Holland campus, followed by a map displaying the stakeholders involved. Through talking with a number of those stakeholders, we gained valuable insights that were grouped together …

Impact Analysis Of The Leahy-Smith America Invents Act, Richard A. Campbell

Senior Projects

The United States patent system is crucial in protecting our intellectual property and strengthening our position in the world economy. The U.S. Constitution specifically empowers Congress to issue patents in order to “promote the progress of science and useful arts.” This research paper explores how The Leahy-Smith America Invents Act (AIA) has impacted independent inventors and small businesses in the United States. In this study, I used secondary analysis of existing research and statistical data from the United States Patent Trademark Office (USPTO) to examine this issue as it pertains to economic competitiveness (creativity and innovation), job creation / reduction, …

Designing Shelter: Responding To Issues Of Homelessness In Grand Rapids Through Design Thinking, Mari Behovitz, Mariella Impellizzeri, Brandon Aho, Cody Gallagher

Undergraduate Research

No abstract provided.

Collaborative Platforms For Community Building: Responding To Issues Of Homelessness In Grand Rapids Through Design Thinking, Logan Knoper, Ryan Samosiuk, Marc Lehman, Haley Wanic, Michelle Lo Piccolo

Undergraduate Research

No abstract provided.

Innovating Against Assumptions: Responding To Issues Of Homelessness In Grand Rapids Through Design Thinking, Terrell Couch, Hannah Klein, Lucas Kohlmeyer, Sami Klann, Sage Hyatt

Undergraduate Research

No abstract provided.

Community Kindness Walls: Responding To Issues Of Homelessness In Grand Rapids Through Design Thinking, Katrina Kore, Hector Garcia, Tim Beardslee, Jeffrey Hess, Cameron Saghaiepour, Megan Steenwyk

Undergraduate Research

No abstract provided.

Dialogues That Dig Deeper: Surfacing The Multiple Faces Of Homelessness In Grand Rapids, Mi (Report One), Lauren Maher, Sarah Bennett, Cameron Costa, Ryan Fookes, Jason Matthews, Erica Clark, Aleaha Lorimer

Undergraduate Research

This Community dialogue was designed to discover what homeless individuals need, in terms of services and assistance, to prevent the perpetuating cycle of homelessness itself. After the discussion, our team hopes service organizations in Grand Rapids will take our findings into consideration in their efforts towards designing and implementing programs around homelessness.

Dialogues That Dig Deeper: Surfacing The Multiple Faces Of Homelessness In Grand Rapids, Mi (Report Two), Leah Marshall, Annie Taccolini, Joshua Fields, Faith Boyd, Caleb Brinson, Jessica Tharnish, Adi Sahitolli, Jeff Bradford

Undergraduate Research

This community dialogue was designed to identify current gaps in responses to homelessness in Grand Rapids as well as options for addressing those gaps. Given the feedback received, this report focuses on (1) mentorship programs similar to the aftercare program at Dégagé, (2) facilitated housing, and (3) ideas for fostering social connectedness.

Through primary and secondary research as well as an analysis of our dialogue, our team was able to identify key areas of need in the fight for consistent, stable housing. Below you will find an outline of those ideas, more theoretical research on the subject, and data on …

Dialogues That Dig Deeper: Surfacing The Multiple Faces Of Homelessness In Grand Rapids, Mi (Report Three), Chad Cleypool, Dallas Davis, Mara Kavieff, Chelsea Ortiz, Cassie Pataro, Ian Thompson, Morgan Vincent

Undergraduate Research

This community dialogue was designed to identify a wide-range of solutions, consider tradeoffs, prioritize options, and begin implementation efforts. We wanted to discover any possible areas of need for individuals experiencing homelessness that are not currently being addressed by the programs available. In order to accomplish this, we held a community dialogue at Dégagé and elicited responses from patrons, volunteers, and staff.

The results will be shared with Dégagé Ministries, Seeds of Promise, other local nonprofit leaders/experts, and this report will also be openly publishedso anyone interested can access the lessons learned.