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
- 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@indiana.edu.
2024 projects
Course Information
SPCN-V551 section #5238
Instructor: Laura Littlepage
History
The Hoosier Ticket Project, Inc. (@hoosierproject) was founded by Josh Bruick (@bruick85) and Jason Gerdom (@jgerdom) in June 2021 to formalize and expand the ticket matching that Bruick had been coordinating on Twitter via the Martha the Mop Lady account (@themoplady.The mission of the Hoosier Ticket Project, Inc. is to help individuals and families experience Indiana University athletic events in person for the first time.
The organization has three primary programs:
Ticket Matching
Ticket holders for football, men’s basketball, women’s basketball, and baseball transfer tickets to the ticket project which are then matched with requests for tickets submitted through the Hoosier Ticket Project website.
Weekend at the Rock (football)
An annual event centered around a football non-conference home game. The project partners with youth organizations in central and southern Indiana to provide tickets to underprivileged families. This event is funded by a grant from a family foundation.
Ball in the Hall (women’s basketball)
An annual event centered around a women’s basketball home game. The project partners with youth organizations in central and southern Indiana to provide tickets to underprivileged families. This event is funded by a grant from a family foundation.
How can the class help?
- Despite what the leadership team considers to be a successful first 18 months, they feel the organization lacks development strategies, particularly stewardship of donors which would lead to recurring donations.
- Board of directors development and operations are also areas where the organization could use assistance. The current structure is difficult to manage, as the line between what is work of the board and what is work of the leadership team is easily blurred:
- The board of directors needs policies and procedures for the board, including for board recruitment and diversity
- As part of the above, they also need help developing a reporting structure that makes sense, including developing job descriptions and separating roles from the board (strategic) to operations.
Course Information
SPCN-V551 section #4622
Instructor: Trent Engbers
Project Details
O’Neill Online 2024: A project of Indiana University O’Neill School of Public and Environment Affairs and Washington County Indiana in conjunction with the Center for Rural Engagement at Indian University.
O’Neill Online Week is pleased to offer a rewarding client-based consulting opportunity focused on the development of a volunteer firefighting in Washington County. Volunteer Fire Departments are managed at the township level, so the project is coordinated by the Washington County Community Foundation and a steering committee of concerned stakeholders.
Problem: Given the decentralized nature of township-based fire department, residents of Washington county experience inconsistent and unequal fire services. The goal of this project is to provide the resources, coordination and strategies necessary to improve rural fire response strategies. In particular, students in the O’Neill Online Residency Week class will undertake the following projects based on enrollment.
- Grant Writing Toolkit: Township fire personnel identify funding as a consistent challenge. The object of this project is to equip township fire departments to be more effective in identifying, securing and managing grants.
- Benchmarking Study: In order to strengthen the volunteer fire departments in Washington County, there is a need to better understand best practices in volunteer fire departments across Indiana and nationwide. The client is especially interested in best practices related to supporting and financing fire departments. As part of this initiative, the benchmarking group will seek to inform alternative ways of managing and financing volunteer fire departments.
- Survey Design: Many volunteer fire departments facing a declining number of volunteer fire departments and concerns related to attracting and retaining volunteer fire fighters. The Survey Design group will develop a survey and strategy for implementation which can be used to 1) develop strategies for current firefighter retention and 2) inform a strategy to attract new firefighters.
- Human Resource Analysis: Each township has their own human resource practices. This project will gather these policies, identify areas of overlap, identify best practices, and make recommendations for improvement. Through reviewing these policies, the Human Resource Analysis group will develop strategies to improve human resources.
- Coordination Plan: Given the decentralized nature of fire department management in Washington County, there is considerable inconsistencies between townships and operational inefficiencies. The Coordination Plan group will work to identify areas of greater collaboration that could aid in improving performance, consistency and use of scarce resources.
Examples of past O’Neill Online week projects
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.