O’Neill Online Week is a voluntary, on-campus course that allows you to meet and build lasting relationships with your fellow online classmates and professors. All students formally admitted to the online MPA program are eligible to enroll.
Join O’Neill Online for an intensive on-campus experience
Description of the video:
We have an online week here at the O'Neill School where students who are taking classes online join other students, as well as the faculty, and work on a project for a real life client.
One of the main benefits of online week is that you can complete an entire project with a group and receive three credits just within a week.
We brought individuals from different areas together to Bloomington and for me it was important because it's not just a class, it's a way to give back to the community.
Part of the slogan for O'Neill is for the greater good, so I think you bring students to this program that are very invested in in leaving a mark in the community.
I chose to attend O'Neill Online Week because it counts as a capstone and along the way you get to experience some of the finer points of the campus and the local restaurants. So you feel like even though you've only been on the campus for just a week of your entire degree, you do feel like you're a Hoosier.
The week itself is very intense. We spent the first day really getting to know the client. We've spent the rest of the week with some really great guest lectures from O'Neill faculty and other experts. We're broken into work groups and so we have a specific part of the problem that we're trying to solve and work together on creating the final presentation for the clients, as well as the final report.
I worked with students from across the country and it was phenomenal. We did great work it was a chance to interact with multiple generations and create a really great work product. It was such an amazing experience and it reconnected me to why I wanted to go back to school and connected me to the university.
I wanted have one experience in person on this campus. I didn't want my only time to be on this campus to be when I came for graduation.
I think an online student should sign up for O'Neill Online Week because it's just such a unique opportunity to be able to get face to face with professors and also to network with other students. It's given me a real energy that I'll take back home with me.
O’Neill Online Week overview
- Work with a community client to address a real public problem
- Earn three credits (some coursework will be required before and after the in-residence week)
- Meet with your advisor to discuss your progress in the O’Neill Online MPA program
- All activities, meals, and hotel accommodations are covered by tuition and course fees
- Network with fellow students, faculty, staff, and O’Neill alumni
- Meet with staff from O’Neill’s Career Hub
- Experience life on one of the country’s most beautiful college campuses
Questions about registering?
If you have questions about registering for O'Neill Online Week, email jushanno@iu.edu.
2025 projects
Course Information
SPCN-V551 section #4391
Instructor: Trent Engbers
Project Details
The 2025 O’Neill Online Week project in conjunction with the Indiana University Center for Rural Engagement will focus on partnering with Mypath Trail System to strengthen the trail system in south central Indiana. The design of the project is to aid Owen and surrounding counties with developing and implementing a robust trail system with the goal of promoting healthy, environmental quality and economic development.
The project will focus on up to four projects, including creating:
- a community engagement plan to involve citizens in trail design and implementation
- a marketing plan to increase trail use
- an economic analysis of the impact of the trail system
- a strategy plan to aid in trial expansion
Course Information
SPCN-V551 section #4859
Instructor: Laura Littlepage
Project Details
Washington is a growing city with many new residents. They plan to fund and operate a county-wide Resource Center that will assist new residents in getting established in the community. The Center will initially be overseen by the Daviess County Economic Development Corporation. They would like a plan to explore the feasibility of transitioning the Center to an independent non-profit, including funding, staffing, and sustainability.
Students will:
- Identify similar centers that will serve as examples from which the Resource Center can see proof of concept, including how they generate revenue, and lessons learned.
- Develop a business plan in phases to transition the Center to an independent non-profit, including identifying the steps needed to becoming a 501c3 and the timeframe for each phase.
- Identify strategies for revenue generation including identifying specific funding source and grants to consider
- Develop a communications and media plan to increase awareness of the Center to funders, volunteers and potential clients
Examples of past O’Neill Online week projects
In 2024, students completed two projects:
Monroe County: Hoosier Ticket Project:
Students worked with the nonprofit organization Hoosier Ticket Project, Inc. Supporting the organization in its mission to help individuals and families experience Indiana University athletic events in person for the first time, the students provided strategies for expanding development, improving board governance and structure, and planing for short and long-term program evaluation.
Washington County: Developing Volunteer Fire Departments:
Students worked with the Washington County Community Foundation and IU's Center for Rural engagement to provide the resources, coordination and strategies necessary to improve rural fire response strategies across Washington County's township volunteer fire departments. Students developed resources for a grant writing toolkit, survey design, and a county-wide coordination plan.
Learn more about the impact of these projects here:
In 2023, students completed two projects:
Dubois County: Strengthening Early Childhood Education: Students participated in a client-based consulting opportunity focused on strengthening early childhood education in Dubois County. This project was in conjunction with the Southwest Dubois County School Corporation and the IU Center for Rural Engagement.
Monroe County: The Mobility Aids Lending Library: Students worked with The MALL (Mobility Aids Lending Library) in Bloomington, Ind., in Monroe County, on an initiative started by a local group of women with physical disabilities (aka “the Wheelie Women”) to serve the greater Bloomington community.
In 2022, students completed two projects:
Dubois County Project:The development of a Latinx Welcome Center in Dubois County, in partnership with the Southwest Dubois County School Corporation and the Vincennes University Jasper Campus in conjunction with the IU Center for Rural Engagement.
Lake Monroe Project: Assisting the Lake Monroe Water Fund — an active funder for watershed projects that conserve, protect, and sustain Lake Monroe as a shared community water resource — with stable and ongoing fund development, strategic planning, and septic waste pollution reduction programs.
O’Neill Online students, in conjunction with the Indiana University Center for Rural Engagement, worked with the Town of Bloomfield, Ind. on a project to begin implementation of their parks and recreation master plan.
O’Neill Online students, in conjunction with the Indiana University Center for Rural Engagement, partnered with Orange County, Indiana nonprofit HandUp OC to find ways to improve quality of life for the residents of Orange County.
Students, in conjunction with the Indiana University Center for Rural Engagement, partnered with service providers in Greene County, Indiana to produce resources necessary for counties to advance local initiatives designed to reduce opioid and other drug addiction. The project was conducted with Greene County with the hopes that results can be replicated in other nearby counties.
Students worked as consultants with Space Science Institute to develop plans for implementation of future programs through central and southern Indiana, as well as future plans for expansion of their physical space on the observatory site. This project touched on many topics of interest to O'Neill Online students, including management of public and nonprofit resources, project planning, financial planning, scientific policy, and others.
Students developed four categories of solutions for NSA Crane that would foster compatible land development while maintaining its status as a “good neighbor”: community engagement solutions, transportation solutions, land use solutions, and research and development solutions. For each category of solutions, the team identified benefits, stakeholders involved, possible threats to implementation, and ways to mitigate those threats.
Students developed recommendations for Timmy Global Health focused on establishing lifelong donor relationships, communicating proactively with new audiences, increasing their donor retention rate, and a comprehensive reivew of the organization's current communication plan to enhance the relationships with current donors.
Students conducted an analysis of the process used to award the Indianapolis Prize for animal conservation. The team quickly came to appreciate the dynamic and enterprising nature of the Indianapolis Zoo, its conservation program and its leadership. The Indianapolis Prize, while prestigious and highly coveted, poses challenges to zoo resources, identity and mission.
Students studied alternative funding mechanisms for the State of Indiana to complete the Interstate 69 project to connect Evansville, Indiana and Indianapolis, Indiana.