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The pandemic has brought both disruption and change to our graduate community at the University of Michigan. As we look towards the future, what needs to be rebuilt? What new needs have arisen? How can we address and innovate what the pandemic has thrown into disorder? What can we do to better support and include one another?
Challenge for Student Teams
Using a fictional $100,000 of seed money, your challenge is to create an action plan to effectively address issues of community building for graduate students on the University of Michigan campus in the wake of the pandemic. Teams are free to address the specific issues listed below OR a topic/issue of their choosing. The questions below are meant to encourage thought and brainstorming, participants are not expected to answer all of them, but to use them as a point of departure.
For much of the pandemic, especially early on when much of university life was forced online, students had fewer and more restricted opportunities to gather and get to know one another. What can the University of Michigan do today to nurture a strong sense of community among residents? What do graduate and professional students need in order to feel (re)connected to one another and the University of Michigan? How can the University learn from and support graduate students in processing these experiences?
The pandemic highlighted and exacerbated many public health challenges, particularly around both disease transmission and mental health. Simultaneous to the pandemic, conversations about racism and police violence, as well as gun violence, took center stage in the United States. How do these events shape graduate experiences? What does it mean to make our campus a safer and healthier one for all students? How can our community respond to these issues in an intentional, inclusive, and effective way?
The Pandemic changed how we go to school, creating digital spaces and teaching techniques that didn’t exist before. What does this mean for graduate education? How can curricula and universities respond to these changes? How can we use these new tools to our advantage?
Guidelines for Submission
Team Formation and Timelines:
Teams must consist of three to five currently enrolled graduate or professional students from at least two different programs of study. In order to be guaranteed a spot in the competition, teams must register by the priority deadline of November 18, 2022 at 11:59 pm. Teams can register until January 4, 2023 at 11:59 pm, but are not guaranteed a spot in the competition if they sign up after the priority deadline.
Teams are responsible for creating both a marketing toolkit and a Google Slides Presentation. Materials must be submitted by January 21, 2023. Teams will give their presentations on February 4, 2023 at the actual case competition.
Marketing Toolkits should include:
One form of print material (e.g., flyer, postcard)
One social media advertisement (e.g., Twitter post, hashtag campaign)
1-2 page summary explaining marketing strategy and intended impact
Google Slides Presentations should include:
Implementation Plan: What is the proposed marketing and distribution strategy for your materials?
Case Statement: What studies, theories, and statistics guided the decisions that led to your implementation plan?
Metrics: How will you measure and assess the success of your plan? Answers should be both qualitative and quantitative in nature.
Prizes:
Each member of the winning team will receive $1000 each in prize money. Members of the two runner-up teams will receive $250 each. We strongly recommend winners of the case competition consult with a Financial Aid Counselor to identify the potential impact winning may have on their financial aid award. Further, the value of an award may or may not be taxed, depending on an awardees tax liability status and/or determination by IRS regulations.
Questions or concerns? Email Laura Herbert, lmhmich@umich.edu.
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