Projects by Faculty, Staff and Students at UMD and in Community to Create Positive Social Change
By Jenny Cox
Projects to build a new playground at the Center for Young Children, expand computer science education for Latine communities in local libraries and create courses and field experiences to help bridge the urban-rural divide are among 18 that will split $245,000 from the University of Maryland’s Do Good Campus Fund.
Now in its third year, the grant awards aim to spark innovative ideas that reimagine learning and strengthen efforts to serve humanity, offering students transformative experiences inside and beyond the classroom.
This spring, the Do Good Campus Strategic Leadership Council, in collaboration with Provost and Senior Vice President Jennifer King Rice and the Do Good Institute, awarded the grants to faculty, staff and student groups across nearly every school and college. Arts for All, the presidential campus-wide initiative, contributed $35,000 in arts-related grants, an amount matched by the Do Good Institute.
Over the fund's first two years, grantees have engaged more than 5,000 students in hands-on, experiential learning that connects classroom knowledge with real-world impact, and this year's cohort is poised to go even further.
In today’s landscape, it’s more important than ever to support experiential education projects that invest in people and communities, partner to advance the public good, take on humanity’s grand challenges, and, of course, reimagine learning. From student leaders to faculty and staff, this year’s grantees make us all proud to be Terps. They are fearlessly meeting the moment and showing our campus, our community, and our world what it means to Do Good.James Stillwell Faculty Director, Do Good Campus
Grantees will use their award to scale their impact according to the Do Good learning principles: experiential, inclusive, innovative, social impact-oriented and in service of humanity.
The projects awarded the biggest grants to expand their impact are:
≤ $10,000
College of Behavioral and Social Sciences
Communication 4 Connection is a global service initiative that improves educational inclusion for children with communication disabilities in underserved communities. UMD students in speech-language pathology will collaborate with local teachers and NGOs to co-create tools that reflect the language and cultural context of the host country. Funding will support hands-on workshops, mutual learning and the development of an open-access digital toolkit adaptable by schools across the region.
A. James Clark School of Engineering
This student-led initiative will create a multi-day art camp where visually impaired and sighted participants experience and create art together. Funding will support adaptive tools, sensory markers and clear labeling to make the camp fully accessible, with a focus on tactile and sensory art-making, including 3D-printed works that emphasize texture and imprint. The result is a creative, inclusive space where art is within reach for everyone.
Robert H. Smith School of Business/College of Information Studies
Hack4Impact is a student organization on campus that builds tech solutions for local nonprofits. This grant will help increase the long-term sustainability of those tools by improving accessibility and strengthening community relationships. Funding will support training and onboarding materials as well as software expenses for maintaining nonprofit projects.
College of Agriculture and Natural Resources/Undergraduate Studies
This student-led project supports Ugandan women who are chronically underpaid labourers in shea butter production. Students will build a direct-to-consumer digital sales platform that allows these women to bypass chain retailers and claim greater economic agency over their work. Funding will support platform development, brand identity, and training in digital literacy, entrepreneurship and quality control.
College of Computer, Mathematical and Natural Sciences
This project prepares community college students for STEM pathways by providing accessible research opportunities and training in Python programming, helping close learning gaps and support the next generation of scientists at under-resourced institutions. Funding will allow the project to open-source its instructional materials, including lectures and exercises, and present the program at professional conferences to inspire similar initiatives at other universities.
College of Computer, Mathematical and Natural Sciences
This project explores insects as a sustainable food source by increasing awareness, access and acceptance among UMD students. Through partnerships with Dining Services and existing nutrition courses, it uses experiential learning to challenge societal perceptions and highlight the environmental and nutritional benefits of entomophagy (the practice of eating insects as food). Funding will support educational content creation, project coordination and outreach.
University Libraries
This project introduces students to letterpress printing as a creative medium while strengthening connections across campus. Funding will develop the studio into a dynamic learning resource where students, faculty, staff and the broader campus community can engage with the history of the book and printmaking. Support will cover letterpress materials and personnel expenses.
≤ $10,001 - $25,000
Division of Administration
This project helps front-line UMD workers build English proficiency, strengthen workplace confidence and integrate more fully into campus life. Student facilitators will gain hands-on experience in teaching and curriculum development while working directly with colleagues from different backgrounds. Funding will support curriculum development and the recruitment and training of student facilitators.
College of Education
This project brings UMD teacher candidates and College Park Academy students together to address the underrepresentation of Latino voices in children's literature through bilingual digital storytelling. Funding will support early field experiences for teacher candidates and project implementation through the College Park Academy after-school program.
College of Education
This project brings together Black male students at UMD to serve as mentors and role models for Black boys in local middle and high schools, creating supportive pathways from K-12 to college and strengthening belonging and success for Black male undergraduates. Funding will support mentorship coordination with partner school districts, original photography projects exploring what it means to thrive in educational spaces, and program activities and shared meals that foster authentic connection.
College of Information Studies
This project aims to improve inclusivity in campus team meetings by developing human-centered, flexible solutions for participants with diverse disabilities. Through student research, it seeks to reduce barriers and enhance equitable participation in academic and professional settings. Funding will support the training and development of student ambassadors and resource materials to advance inclusive meeting practices across campus.
College of Agriculture and Natural Resources
This project addresses severe erosion on UMD's Center for Young Children playground while providing hands-on learning for students in INAG251: Landscape Construction. Working in collaboration with the College of Education, students will survey, design and build a functional playground for young children, gaining practical skills in landscape construction, teamwork and project management. The project serves as a model for integrating real-world environmental solutions with workforce-focused education. Funding will support direct construction costs.
College of Computer, Mathematical and Natural Sciences
This project expands access to computer science education for Latine communities in Prince George's County through bilingual, community-based programming. By adapting UMD's Computing Catalyst curriculum, it aims to increase representation in computing and create a culturally responsive pathway to higher education, supported by undergraduate student ambassadors. Funding will support training and coordination, curriculum development and family engagement activities.
College of Education
This yearlong after-school program, a partnership between UMD and Montgomery County Public Schools, uses robotics as a platform for hands-on learning and student-led exploration. The project now aims to expand into additional MCPS middle schools; funding will support pilot schools as they launch and transition to self-sufficiency. The program centers students’ voices through reflection and collaboration, helping participants build confidence, communication skills and a sense of belonging, while connecting UMD students, high school mentors and senior volunteers in a supportive, cross-generational learning community.
College of Arts and Humanities
This project offers high school students at College Park Academy a research-based summer course exploring slavery's formation and development, while producing educational materials available to teachers nationwide. Building on curriculum developed in the last funding cycle in consultation with College Park Academy social studies teachers, the team will offer a Young Terps UMD summer class in Summer 2026, grounded in experiential, hands-on historical research. Students will build familiarity with the tools and methods of historians while strengthening their readiness for college-level coursework. Funding will support a field trip to the National Museum of African American History and Culture, stipends for high school teachers to continue curriculum development and an internship program for participating high school students and UMD undergraduates.
Philip Merrill College of Journalism
This project addresses the lack of in-depth news coverage on issues affecting diverse ethnic communities in the College Park area. Through hands-on roles as researchers, reporters and designers, students will gain experiential learning while helping bridge gaps between communities and local media. By fostering partnerships among students, journalists and community members, the project aims to expand representation, build trust and improve inclusive local reporting. Funding will support audience surveys and focus group interviews.
College of Arts and Humanities
This project revises the COMM107 open educational resource textbook, "Communicating for the Public Good: Public Speaking as Advocacy & Civic Engagement," to incorporate current examples of students making a difference in and around campus, strengthening the connection between communication skills and civic engagement. Funding will support textbook development, outreach coordination, image and video collection, and permissions and attributions for open-access materials and video captioning.
College of Arts and Humanities
This project creates an experiential learning course that connects students with leaders and key issues across Maryland, with a focus on rural regions. It aims to deepen students' understanding of the state's urban-rural divide and the diversity of its communities, providing a more comprehensive statewide perspective. Funding will support course development, field experiences across Maryland, expert speakers from around the state and travel for meetings with community leaders, officials and practitioners.