Below is a small sample of ACE projects or components that are known to be available. For other opportunities, please contact the ACE Office or review organizations by an issue area that corresponds to your course. *Note: priorities and opportunities can change quickly, particularly in the non-profit world. While this list is kept as up-to-date as possible, not all projects listed below may still be relevant or available at a later date.*
- Cannon River Watershed Partnership: 2019 is the “Year of Water,” and any and all activities related to that are welcome to participate!
- Census 2020: There are many opportunities for courses to get involved in Census 2020 work through local agencies such as the League of Women Voters and the Complete Counts committee in the state. For more information about the Census and how it works, visit MN Campus Compact’s Census 2020 Information page.
- Community Action Center: Northfield Works (impact assessment through analyzing and collecting data), Community Health Project (food insecurity, diet-related disease and long-term health outcomes connected to healthy food access), Systems research (research individual and system barriers for people who are working to get out of poverty in the Northfield area across multiple realms: political, social, economic, etc.), Trauma-informed care (partner on staff and community training efforts), Marketing Style Guide, Educational Artwork that tells the story of housing and food insecurity, Oral History Collection, Ongoing volunteer opportunities (food shelf and Clothes Closet)
- Dick’s Sanitation Incorporated is investigating the feasibility of increasing residential recycling pick-up service from every other week to weekly within the City of Northfield. Research needs include:
- Carbon Emissions Calculation for doubling the miles driven with recycling trucks running on natural gas and other environmental factors. How do the opportunity costs of recycling more offset the extra environmental impacts?
- Economics Study of Service including labor, insurance health benefits, truck purchases, fuel costs, road wear and tear and replacement, cart/bin costs, etc.
- Behavioral Study to effectively manage contamination rates within multiple income levels, race and ethnicity, gender, household type, etc. and adjust educational materials to reduce contamination.
- International Policy Study to understand what a shift with China Sword would look like for a U.S. company’s recycling processes.
- Faribault Diversity Coalition: They have lots of ideas, including capacity building projects, programs for youth, and other potential programs for the community. Some proposed capacity building projects could be done entirely on-campus, too!
- Laura Baker Services Association: Public policy research/learning (Medicaid, support for developmental disability services, related statistics and translation of data), Housing (Understanding complex housing issues and translating, researching ideas and helping to develop solutions), Arts (creating arts curricula, assisting with expanding art options for people with disabilities, adapting existing media for people with disabilities), Healthy Living (Interpreting data related to healthy eating initiative and suggesting next steps. Creating healthy living curricula for people with disabilities) Video Production, Marketing and Social Media analysis, Creating community integration curricula for use with various groups
- Northfield Community Services: Assessment of PreK English Language learners, Home Visit Awareness Campaign
- Northfield Historical Society: Exhibit research, Local history curricula for grades 3-7, Market analysis and research
- Northfield Reads: The topic for 2020 will be “climate change.” They are interested in facilitating a variety of activities around this theme. The book will be chosen within the next few months.
- Ruth’s House: Grant writing, Child Care, Community Integration Programs for long-term supportive housing residents (hands-on, creative, “normal” activities are a perfect fit!), Graphic Design