INFORMATION GUIDE
ABOUTCOMMUNITYACTIONPROJECTS
Scott ScholarsCommunityActionProjects(CAP)connect thehigh-achievingSTEM studentsfrom theScott ScholarsProgramwithorganizationsintheOmaha metropolitanarea todevelop innovativesolutionstocommunitychallenges CAPstrivestocreateproductsthat havevaluefor communitypartnersbywayof processesthat arevaluabletostudents.
TheScott Scholarsprogramisinterestedinpartneringwithorganizationswho:
- havean organizational culturethat iscommitted to exploring disruptive, innovative,and groundbreaking design solutions
- havea mission of creating a differencein theOmaha metropolitan area
- haveaccessto senior level managersand executivesfor student teams
- want theopportunityto mentor and workside-by-sidewith high-achieving team of Scott Scholars
- arewilling to exploreinnovativeand unprecedented and design solutions
- valuenewperspectivesand expertise
- areflexibleto remoteworking environment
- seektoadd valueto their organization
Selectedorganizationswill:
- Receivecreativethinking and a testablesolution that will makea differenceon a challengeor opportunitytheyarecurrently facing
- Haveaccessto high-achieving STEM-focused undergraduatestudents
- Receivea deliverableof an app,widget, documentation, research paper, or presentation
- Build awarenessabout theorganization and itsmission with student audiences
DESIGNTHINKING
Designthinking isa human-centered iterativeproblem-solvingapproach rooted inempathyand innovation.All Scott Scholarslearnthedesign thinking processtobetter understandtheneedsof othersand create solutionswiththehighest value.
Design Thinking Phases
Thereare5 phasesindesignthinking whicharenon-linear andutilized throughout the innovationprocess Studentsconduct multipleiterationsover thesephasestocreatethe most valuablesolutionsfor their partners
Working with Arbor Bank has been a uniqueexperience, particularly in theperspectiveof adapting our technical knowledge to problem setsthat don't apply at first glance. Thinking about how a bank connectswith its community and learning about how thesenior management sees theworld and our community is far beyond my usual zoneof working in cybersecurity.
LOGAN DUNLOP, SENIOR Arbor Bank
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WAYSTOGETINVOLVED
Therearemultiplewaysfor your organizationtobeinvolved withtheScott ScholarsProgrambasedon theamount of timethat
3.5 YEARCAPPARTNER
Year 1: Design thinking in the Classroom
Beginning their first year,Scott Scholarslearndesignthinking curriculumthrough a Leadership Development courseand aSoftwareDevelopment course The studentsaresplit intogroupsof 8-10 andareintroduced totheir community actionproject partnerstheir first year tohavea real-world problemtoput their recentlyacquired designthinking skillsintopractice.
Year 2-4: Design thinking in the Community
TheScott Scholarscontinuethroughtherest of their timeintheScott Scholars programwiththesamegroupandpartnerstobuild their professional relationshipsandgainfamiliaritywiththeir individual organizations Each academicyear,theScott Scholarsworkwiththeir partnerstodeterminea challenge,learnmoreabout thepeopleimpacted bythat challengeand developa list of potential solutions Thesesolutionsarethenevaluated and theteamelects onesolutiontoprototype,helpdeploywiththepartners,and evaluatetheimpact of theprototype
SUMMERINTERNSHIPPARTNER
During thesummer session,Scott ScholarsfromprogramsacrosstheUnited States(ColoradoStateUniversity,CreightonUniversity,HastingsCollege, Universityof Nebraska at Omaha,Universityof NotreDame)havethe opportunitytoparticipateintheScott ScholarsDesignStudioInternship.Groups of 5-8 studentswork20 hoursa weektodesignasolutiontoa problemstatement that their partner organizationproposes
INDEPENDENTINTERNSHIPS
TheScott ScholarsProgramprovidesinternshipsfor studentsduring the academicsemester wheretheyworktogether ona smaller semester-long project inpartnership withtheir organizationpartner Student internstypicallyspend 10-15 hoursa weekworkingontheproject
ORGANIZATIONPARTNEROBLIGATIONS
Therearecertainrequirementsthat our organizationpartnersareexpected tomeet inpartnership withtheScott ScholarsProgram.
1. Problem statement: Partnersareexpectedtomeet withtheir Scott Scholarsgroup at thebeginningof any project witha problemtopresent tothestudents Thisdiffersfromaproject ideainthat thesolutionshould beundefinedat thestart of thepartnership.Studentswill usedesignthinkingtobeabletofind thebest solutionfor theproblemthat ispresented Examplesof a goodproblemstatement:
a. "Our organizationistrying tobetter serveour customers,but just don't seemtoknowwhat they need Thispreventsusfromgiving thecustomer thebest level of support frommyteam"
b. "Webelievethat giving backtothecommunityisimportant,but wehavenoticedthat theyounger generationsdonot volunteer withusasmuchastheolder.Wewant toknowwhythisisandwhat wecandotopromotemoregiving fromeveryone"
2. Meeting times: Partnersshouldtobeflexibleenoughtofindtimeintheir schedulestomeet withtheScott Scholarsgroup everyother week Thisistimefor thestudentstogiveupdatesontheir projectsandreceive user feedbackfromtheorganizationpartnerstoimprovetheir solutions.
3 Good communication: Partnersareexpectedtorespond toemailsandmeetingrequestsinatimely manner tohelptheproject'sprogression.
