In addition to faculty grants and consultation, the Gephardt Institute collaborates with departments and programs to develop and sustain longer-term partnerships. For example:
MGT 250B: Olin Outreach: Applying Business Skills for Social Impact
This innovative class at Olin Business School enables sophomore student teams to address real world business challenges faced by non-profit organizations. For example, a new school may need an effective method for evaluating staff, or a non-profit may wish to determine the feasibility of expanding its programming to new locations. Participating organizations, which may be located next door to Washington University or as far away as Israel, drive the project content by responding to a "Request for Projects" process administered by the Gephardt Institute. Upper-level business students serve as coaches for the consulting teams. Each year the course culminates in a poster session where student teams display their results.
Social Work Practice with Organizations and Communities (Practice II)
This community-based course is required of all master's of social work candidates at the George Warren Brown School of Social Work. Teams of students to review the literature for and provide recommendations regarding a social work practice question faced by a non-profit, governmental or community organization. For example, students may assess the feasibility of program expansion or identify potential clients who have not been targeted for outreach. The Gephardt Institute provides an orientation for community partners as well as reviews their submissions for potential projects
Women, Gender and Sexuality Studies Program
From 2011 the WGSS program began requiring majors to complete either a community-based class or a research methods class. The Gephardt Institute helped faculty develop a menu of options to allow students to apply their learning in community settings. The resulting menu of courses include:
WGSS 3131 Service Learning: Contemporary Female Sexualities: Designing Sex Education
WGSS 3132 Service Learning: Girls’ Studies
WGSS 3171 Service Learning: Women in Prison
WGSS 370 Service Learning: Sex, Lies, and Myths of the Mother
WGSS 3942 Service Learning: Projects in Domestic Violence
WGSS 406A Sexual Health and the City: A Community-Based Learning Course