Luddy Community Engaged Learning is working to support Community Engaged Learning across our school. While our current database is not comprehensive, we have seen some development of CEL courses, such as Phil Jordan’s INFO I300 HCI Interaction course, over the past year that we did not have before. Others, such as Shunying Blevis’ I300 HCI Interaction course and I437/I567 Design Strategy course have previously worked with clients, but worked with us to find clients this time around. Austin Toombs has also been working with us to land clients for the HCI/design program. Serve IT has options to then take the next step with projects such as these that align with our current offerings, carrying out the designs or building upon them for the nonprofit clients. Our model allows a course to offer just their piece, then be picked up either by Serve IT or another course that offers the next set of tasks.

We don’t currently have a formal tracking system in place, outside of a database, however, soon, IU will begin the process of tracking experiential learning across all of IU. In order to qualify, faculty should be aware that they will need to report on authenticity of experience, tying learning outcomes to the service, methods for integrating critical reflection, mentorship and supervision plans, as well as plans to mitigate accessibility issues. If faculty would like help connecting to clients or preparing for the upcoming Experiential Learning course designation process, please reach out to Una Thacker at unwinter@iu.edu.

Serve IT

Serve IT’s mission is to apply technology for social good, and it has completed over 407 projects for 152 clients, resulting in an estimated $6.4 million in savings for our clients in just over 13 years. Serve IT provides the majority of the undergraduate Service-Learning and Community Engagement for the Luddy School. Over the course of fall ’23 and spring ’24, 130 students were able to complete 51 projects for 23 clients.

Serve IT’s clinic model provides a high level of skill development for industrious undergraduate students through real world projects that help real-world people right in our community. Students are able to start as a curious novice and apprentice under experienced Capstone students, graduate student coaches, and industry mentors, for numerous semesters, rising through the ranks to become leaders themselves. By the time they graduate, students gain experience in managing a team, managing a client, and managing a project, and carry away a bursting portfolio full of proof to march off to their dream jobs. Our 11% application acceptance rate for incoming students demonstrates the draw from the undergraduate students. Graduate students, who help coach teams and grade student work, look to Serve IT as one of their only opportunities to engage with clients and manage teams.

Serve IT’s mission is attractive to grant funders and offers a unique opportunity for faculty to pair with an organization to win grant funding, such as the $90,000 from Public Interest Technology grant to develop research into artificial intelligence tools and training to help nonprofit and governmental agencies explore AI options for solving their technology problems.

Serve IT’s model is studied by other organizations and programs looking for ways to use course credit to help support internship programs in schools.

Achievements 2023-24

Recruiting

Spending less time presenting, yet: 11% application acceptance rate. The social media, reputation, the building signs, the programming, and the student word of mouth are working.

Team and curriculum development

Developing new teams that students want and get them good jobs, and clients need. (Data Visualization, Security, and Accessibility, in particular).

Industry mentors

Serve IT started a partnership with Deloitte this fall to provide industry mentors for each Serve IT team, who connect at least twice during the semester to provide insight on their project stuck points, advice for managing clients, teams, and projects, and career guidance. As a result of this partnership, Deloitte also fit in a last-minute resume workshop with us the night before the Luddy Career Fair.

Industry speakers

Deloitte, Grant Thornton, Liberty, Target, and Cysco connected with Serve IT students this semester through talks on consulting, security, mentoring, managing clients and teams, and strategies for success at the career fair and in their first years at work.

$90,000 Public interest technology network grant

The Serve IT Clinic has been awarded a prestigious $90,000 grant from The Public Interest Technology University Network (PIT-UN), for “increasing access to PIT education and careers and advancing technology that serves all communities, especially those historically excluded from technology design.” Serve IT will be using the money to fund research on methods for using AI to expand our capacity for supporting the community, as well as providing students with opportunities to explore emerging AI technologies. Other grantees include Carnegie Mellon, Brown, Boston University, and Fordham.

$4,000 Teach IT Donation

Teach IT received a $4,000 donation from the IU Student Congress, as a result of an alum who wanted to give back to the organization, in order to purchase tech toys for use in the Teach IT clubs. 

Impact

Serve IT’s mission is to apply technology for social good, and it has completed over 407 projects for 152 clients, resulting in an estimated $6.4 million in savings for our clients in just over 13 years. Serve IT provides the majority of the undergraduate Service-Learning and Community Engagement for the Luddy School . Over the course of fall ’23 and spring ’24, 130 students were able to complete 51 projects for 23 clients.

Programming

Capstone, Community Engaged Learning, Career Development, Industry Mentors, Professional Networking

The IUI Career Services is proud to highlight our collaboration with the Indiana Office of Technology and ClearObject on their VisionAI project. This partnership saw the hiring of nine Applied Data Science MS students from our program to work directly with clients, providing invaluable hands-on experience. Career Services played a pivotal role by hosting an information session and promoting this opportunity to our ADS students. Additionally, we facilitated the use of Luddy’s space for their training sessions, ensuring our students had the resources and support they needed to succeed in this innovative project. For more information on the VisionAI project, please visit ClearObject VisionAI.

Human Centered Computing

A record number of students in Human-Centered Computing Department at Indianapolis engaged in experiential learning this year. Over 100 graduate students in the MS-HCI program completed year-long UX research & design projects with 15 external partners from around Central Indiana. Undergraduate students in the Media Arts & Science BS program regularly engage in service learning as part of their course work. For example, students in N420 (Multimedia Production Development) served 28 clients. HCC students also engaged in immersive learning opportunities, including the MAS semester in Los Angeles in collaboration with the Media School, and study abroad programs in Helsinki Finland and Paros Greece. Students in both the undergraduate and graduate programs conducted design projects in service of Black Heritage, in collaboration with Indiana Landmark’s Black Heritage Preservation Project.

Media Arts and Science

Experience 317

Indy-Application for Sports Fans

Indianapolis is a global leader in hosting sports and events. One challenge that event planners have repeatedly is getting fans and conference attendees the information that is contextually relevant to the city-guest’s exact location, and next desired location in our great city.

Experiential Learning
Born out of N420 Multimedia Production Development, a senior Media Arts and Science course in Luddy Indianapolis. Indiana Sports Corp requested a prototype software application from our students to create https://experience317.com/, a location based, city specific, event specific interactive map. The app was utilized in June 2024 at the U.S. Olympic swimming trials with nearly 100 Hoosier event sponsors, partners and unique to-the-event sites constantly updating in-app.

Next Steps
The student team, having recently graduated is now working with IU Innovates and Sports Tech HQ to formalize a startup in partnership to continue to advance this application into a live application used for any future events as well as adding digital experiences around Indianapolis

Service Learning

Service Learning within the Luddy Indianapolis First Year Seminar

All four INFO-I 100: First Year Experience classes participated in a service learning experience supporting the Indianapolis community. The first year seminar is a class that all incoming Luddy Indianapolis students take during their first semester on campus.

Programming

Every student (55 total) selected a community partner with whom to complete 5-10 service-learning hours. The community partners included the American Heart Association, Horizon House, Paw’s Pantry, Gigi’s Playhouse, Little Red Door, and Gleaner’s. These hours included set group events that the students could choose, or they could set up hours on their own time. Students participated in reflection activities throughout the semester culminating in a final presentation about their experiences within the community with service learning. Media Arts and Science students also created graphics regarding their experience that were shared with the community partners.

Impact

Students were able to interact within the Indianapolis area to help foster their sense of belonging to both campus and our larger community.

Addressing Food Insecurity in our Community

The Initiative for Electrified Autonomous Mobility collaborated with local food banks and food suppliers to address food insecurity in our community. This initiative aimed to provide students with hands-on experience in community engagement, supply chain management, and social responsibility.

Key Activities:

• Student Engagement: Over 50 students participated in this initiative, contributing more than 1,200 volunteer hours.
• Food Distribution: Students helped distribute over 20,000 pounds of food to local families in need.
• Partnerships: We partnered with multiple local food banks and suppliers, fostering strong community relationships and enhancing students' real-world learning experiences.

Impact:

• Community Support: Our efforts provided essential support to local food banks, ensuring a steady supply of food to those in need.
• Student Learning: Students gained valuable experience in logistics, community service, and teamwork. This initiative also raised awareness about food insecurity and encouraged students to become active participants in community solutions.

This project not only supported our local community but also provided our students with a meaningful experiential learning opportunity. By engaging in this initiative, students were able to apply classroom knowledge to real-world challenges, fostering a sense of civic responsibility and practical skills.

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