Forty-three graduate students are pursuing in-depth public service projects across Arkansas, the country, and the world as the final requirement of the Clinton School’s Master of Public Service (MPS) degree program. The students are partnering with public service organizations on projects related to education, food access, economic development, and social inequality, among other areas.
The projects are part of the school’s Capstone program, which is the final of three public service projects and requires individual students to work with community leaders to help build healthy, engaged, and vibrant communities and demonstrate their ability to work effectively in public service.
Through this experience, students have the opportunity to apply the knowledge and skills they have acquired through their coursework at the Clinton School. Students select their own Capstone projects and devote at least 250 hours of time to them.
“Field service is a major component of our program and the Capstone is the culminating project of the students’ experiences here at the Clinton School,” said Skip Rutherford, dean of the school. “Each project reflects on the individual skills and interests of our students. Capstone projects often lead students into jobs following graduation.”
The Capstone is the third public service project students complete during the two-year MPS program. A faculty advisor oversees each project and the students are required to create a final deliverable and present their results to the Clinton School community upon completion of their project.
A complete list of projects will be released in early 2015.
Some student projects and project locations include:
Anna Applebaum (Washington D.C.)
Organization: Vital Voices Global Partnership (http://www.vitalvoices.org/)
Applebaum is working with Vital Voices Global Partnership to conduct a review on the effectiveness of peer-to-peer exchange programs for women leaders around the world. Vital Voices’s mission is to identify, invest in, and bring visibility to women leaders by unleashing their leadership potential. Applebaum will analyze the use of peer-to-peer exchange as a tool for learning, network building, and informal mentoring. She is a McLarty Global Fellow at Vital Voices.
Brad Cameron (Uganda)
Organization: Limited Resource Teacher Training (www.lrtt.org)
Cameron is creating a video-led teacher-training program to improve teachers’ classroom-based skills in Southwest Uganda. His work will be based on the assessment he completed during his international summer project of the video-led teacher-training program. He will work with Ugandan and British videographers to improve the quality and accessibility of these videos and his work will involve editing existing footage, developing tools to continuously assess whether videos improve teachers’ skills, and creating a plan for providing ongoing support to teachers.
Benjamin Croner (Conway, Ark.)
Organization: Arkansas Governor’s School (https://hendrix.edu/ags/)
Croner is working to update the School’s alumni database and survey former students about their educational and professional achievements since participating in the six-week, summer enrichment program. The survey results will be included in a stakeholder report to help show the impact that Arkansas Governor’s School has on the lives of its students and how this has benefited the state.
Matthew Devlin (India)
Organization: SAMPDA Network
Devlin is completing his capstone with the SAMPDA Network, a membership of 24 NGOs across India working in community development. Devlin is creating an assessment tool to measure the capacity resources and needs for each member organization. He is also identifying specific ways that multiple organizations and the network as a whole can coordinate efforts that increase impact and sustain program delivery. Devlin will pilot this tool for four of the 24 SAMPDA organizations and is creating training guides for member organizations to continue to assess themselves in the future.
Christian Eddings (Little Rock, Ark)
Organization: Arkansas Symphony Orchestra (https://www.arkansassymphony.org/)
Eddings is conducting research on effective marketing techniques for raising awareness about the organization in order to shift the demographic range that attends concerts and supports the organization. He will also be working with the Education and Outreach Program to use film and video production for the promotion of the program and to raise awareness about the importance of music education.
Haylee Rae Fletcher (Glendale, Ariz.)
Organization: International Rescue Committee (http://www.rescue.org/)
Fletcher is developing a geographic information systems (GIS) map of medical and behavioral healthcare facilities in relation to housing for newly arrived refugees. By examining barriers to providing services, Fletcher will generate recommendations and strategic action steps to increase access to high-quality medical and behavioral health care. The report will be used by the International Rescue Committee to ensure that refugees are able to navigate a complex healthcare system and have access to necessary medical and behavioral healthcare.
Dani Folks (Little Rock, Ark.)
Organization: Kiva Zip (www.zip.kiva.org)
Folks is expanding the Kiva Zip pilot program throughout the state of Arkansas while improving its effectiveness and efficiency. Kiva Zip is an online microfinance organization that uses the concept of social underwriting to endorse zero percent interest loans for entrepreneurs who cannot access capital through traditional methods. Findings from Folks’ work will be used to develop long-term strategies and partnerships in the region.
Katy Grennier (Bangkok, Thailand and Phnom Penh, Cambodia)
Organization: Sarus (http://sarusprogram.org/) and Designing for Social Innovation and Leadership (http://www.dsilglobal.com/)
Grennier is co-leading and designing the curriculum for the Designing for Social Innovation and Leadership Program, which is currently completing its pilot year. The Leadership Program brings over 30 change makers from 17 countries to learn more about emerging 21st-century tools intended to create innovative solutions for communities. The resulting course will focus on inclusive principles in defining root problems and in designing sustainable and scalable change.
Brenda Hernandez (Cabarete, Dominican Republic)
Organization: The DREAM Project (www.dominicandream.org/)
Hernandez is conducting an impact evaluation of the youth workforce development program, A Ganar. She will be assessing how the program has affected the lives of graduates personally, professionally, and economically. Through a series of surveys and interviews with program stakeholders, DREAM hopes the impact evaluation will help them understand the factors that have influenced graduates. Hernandez’s findings will be used to improve the program curriculum and secure additional funds for the A Ganar program.
Tiffany Jacob (Little Rock, Ark.)
Organization: Junior Achievement of Arkansas (www.juniorachievement.org/web/ja-arkansas)
Jacob is conducting best practices research to inform the program design of a pilot youth entrepreneurship program to be launched in the Summer of 2015. The pilot program is a collaborative effort between Junior Achievement of Arkansas and the City of Little Rock Department of Community Programs. Jacob’s report will provide foundational research and an evaluation plan with the ultimate goal of supporting a sustainable, year-round youth entrepreneurship program.
Traci Johnson (Little Rock, Ark.)
Organization: Center for Women in Transition (http://www.cwitlr.org/)
Johnson is studying both the impact of current programs and methods for improving relationships between the Center for Women in Transition and the justice system in Little Rock. The project will also work to collect information concerning the impact programming has on participants and the best tactics for merging this information with building relationships.
Andy Lovley (Bocas del Toro, Panama)
Organization: Give & Surf, Inc.
Lovley is partnering with Give & Surf to design a monitoring and evaluation framework that will assess program impact and efficacy. The framework will be developed from recommendations of organizational staff, community leaders, and program participants and will ultimately be used to generate financial and in-kind support by outlining community needs along with documented program results. This project will assist Give & Surf in their effort to provide an underserved indigenous population with grassroots-driven, sustainable access to educational facilities and programs.
Brandon Mathews (Little Rock, Ark.)
Organization: Arkansas Foodbank (http://www.arkansasfoodbank.org/)
Mathews is developing a manual for establishing and operating food pantries on college and university campuses in Arkansas. Mathews will also evaluate Pulaski Tech’s campus food pantry and will oversee the emergence of two other campus food pantries through joint efforts of the Arkansas Foodbank and cooperating campuses.
Allison Meyer (Phnom Penh, Cambodia)
Organization: Sarus (http://sarusprogram.org/)
Meyer is conducting a tri-nodal stakeholder analysis for Sarus participants, partner organizations, and partner communities in order to best help Sarus achieve its theory of change. Sarus works to create a network of future leaders who can foster open, inclusive, and resilient communities in Southeast Asia. Her analysis will also inform the future of Saru’s programming as the organization expands in the next few years.
Hunter Mullins (Little Rock, Ark.)
Organization: Campus Election Engagement Project (http://www.campuselect.org/)
Mullins is conducting a national baseline evaluation of the Campus Election Engagement Project (CEEP) in promoting student voter registration and engagement at the university level. His work will serve to inform CEEP on how to better prepare their training and resources to potentially create greater student voter involvement nationwide.
Tatiana Riddle (Little Rock, Ark.)
Organization: U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Division of International Conservation (www.fws.gov/international)
Riddle is gathering lessons learned from those involved in environmental conservation caucuses in Colombia, Indonesia, Kenya, Mexico, the United Kingdom, and the United States. She will develop recommendations for establishing similar initiatives in African nations or other biodiversity-rich countries. Riddle’s work will contribute to engaging decision-makers in dialogue about environmental and wildlife conservation issues, promoting laws that effectively manage natural resources, and enhancing mechanisms for information to be shared amongst decision-makers.
Angela Toomer (Little Rock, Ark.)
Organization: Heifer International (http://www.heifer.org/)
Toomer is conducting an evaluation of Heifer USA’s Workplace CSA (Community Supported Agriculture) project to determine how participation affects employee health and well-being. The Workplace CSA offers Heifer employees the opportunity to purchase a weekly box of fresh produce grown by smallholder Arkansas farmers. The Workplace CSA is designed to provide rural farmers with access to consistent and profitable markets while strengthening the local economy by keeping Arkansas food dollars within the state. The study conducted by Toomer will help Heifer USA develop a model program that can be replicated and offered to other workplaces in Central Arkansas.
Laetitia Tokplo (Little Rock, Ark.)
Organization: Pulaski Technical College (http://www.pulaskitech.edu/network_student_success/)
Tokplo is creating a monitoring and evaluation plan for the Network for Student Success program. The program provides supportive relationships for African American males, enabling them to overcome the barriers to college graduation. The program offers tutoring, leadership programs and events, mentorship and other related activities
Tshering Yudon (Washington D.C.)
Organization: Vital Voices Global Partnership (http://www.vitalvoices.org/)
Yudon is working with Vital Voices Global Partnership to conduct a review on the benefits of international networking for women business owners around the world. Vital Voices’s mission is to identify, invest in, and bring visibility to women leaders by unleashing their leadership potential. Yudon will map out and analyze the value of business networking and its potential to improve program design and implementation. She is a McLarty Global Fellow at Vital Voices.
Rebecca Zimmermann (Little Rock, Ark.)
Organization: Audubon Arkansas (http://ar.audubon.org/)
Zimmermann is conducting an assessment of current and potential Audubon members and partners throughout Arkansas to determine how the organization can work with them in future efforts to protect birds. Zimmermann’s findings will be used to create an outreach plan focused on Audubon Society’s 2014 Birds and Climate Change Report that outlines the 314 bird species in North America threatened by climate change.
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