This case study describes the complex relationships between nonprofit boards of directors and executive directors, especially when the executive director is the organization's founder. The case takes the perspective of an MPA student, with limited professional experience, who is asked to serve on a board of a new nonprofit. It is an exciting…

Courses: This semester-long project is suited for instructors teaching communication courses in health communication, advanced persuasion, applied communication, and media literacy. The pedagogical design features service-learning and integrative-learning (IL) approaches. Objectives: (1) adapt and apply various perspectives learned in the course…

Mobile instructional spaces such as retrofit buses, customized trucks or trailers, and repurposed shipping containers are innovative, unique venues for teaching and learning. STEM-focused mobile instructional spaces have emerged as vehicles for providing students and teachers with high-quality integrated STEM learning experiences that emphasize…

All over the United States, adult ESL programs enroll students who are undocumented immigrants, often unbeknownst to the instructors who teach them. During the COVID-19 crisis, adult ESL enrollments decreased overall, but most especially for the undocumented immigrants who were most disadvantaged during the crisis. In order for program…

Faculty who are interested in activism and social justice often struggle with how to integrate principles of community activism into courses that have been traditionally designed to prepare students for careers in the corporate world. Most public relations textbooks now dedicate a section or chapter to corporate social responsibility due to its…

In this story collected and shared as part of the OurStoryBridge online short-form oral history project from the Tremonton City Library in Tremonton, Utah, Parry recalls learning Shoshone history and culture from stories that his grandmother, Mae Timbimboo, told him. Parry recounts his excitement in elementary school when he heard that Shoshone…

Public affairs and nonprofit program administrators and directors interested in (or tasked with) implementing undergraduate programs require a resource where they can find information for recruiting and retaining the next wave of public and nonprofit workers. While similar to graduate public affairs programs, undergraduate programs may differ in…

This case study helps students better understand barriers to youth sport participation that low-income families face and then offer solutions to alleviate some barriers and create a more inclusive sport community. The case focuses on the struggle that many sport organizations face when trying to increase diversity and inclusiveness, regardless of…

When an organization's need for technology changes, users expect solutions to provide sophisticated and complex functionality regardless of the size of the organization's budget or available resources. In exploring candidates for filling software needs for nonprofit organizations, one of the best tools is the request for proposal (RFP). This case…

The hypothetical case presented in this article challenges students in a legal environment of business course to answer that question by examining key legal concepts in agency and contract law, and to conduct an ethical analysis in a case involving volunteers. Although the events in the following case are hypothetical, the contract that the…

Integrating engineering and science in the classroom can be challenging, and creating authentic experiences that address real-world problems is often even more difficult. "A Framework for K-12 Science Education" (NRC 2012), however, calls for high school graduates to be able to undertake more complex engineering design projects related…

Over the last twenty-five years, the Minnesota Historical Society, the University of Minnesota Libraries, and Minitex have developed a partnership centered on creating pathways to higher education by engaging local middle school and high school students in immersive programs at academic libraries. These activities vary in scope and content, but…

Tackling challenging topics in history can be difficult, and sometimes teachers struggle to find age-appropriate ways to help students confront painful stories from the past. About four years ago, this author spearheaded a focus group with the purpose of taking on such a challenge. In the initial meetings, members of the group (four educators from…

This article, the first of a two-part series, catalogs teaching innovations presented at the 2013 Association for Business Communication (ABC) Annual Convention, New Orleans. They were presented during the My Favorite Assignment session. The 11 Favorite Assignments featured here offer the reader a variety of learning experiences including…

Social Entrepreneurship (SE) programs have been expanding over the past decade. The emergence of this new discipline can be attributed to two overlapping factors. Students (particularly business students) have expressed an increased desire to blend values, ethics and social causes into their own vocations. At the same time, the nonprofit and…