Dubois County is a rural community in southern Indiana with a population of 42,543. Several towns and cities comprise Dubois County, including Jasper, Huntingburg, Dubois, Ferdinand, Birdseye, Holland, Celestine, and Schnellville.
Residents and tourists alike enjoy the recreational and cultural resources of Dubois County, home to Patoka Lake, the Indiana Baseball Hall of Fame, Jasper City Mill, Huntingburg League Stadium, the historic Astra Theatre, and year-round festivals and celebrations, such as the Latino Culture Fest.
IU staff and faculty are working with Dubois County leaders and residents on projects ranging from women's health to Latinx cultural representation.
Dubois County, Center for Rural Engagement partner on Sustaining Hoosier Communities projects
Indiana University and Dubois County are expanding their community development collaboration with the Center for Rural Engagement's Sustaining Hoosier Communities initiative.
Sustaining involves helping, but most importantly, recognizing the fundamental characteristics of our community and through them, building up a community that supports growth in an equitable manner.
Rossina Sandoval, Director of Community Engagement, Southwest Dubois School Corporation
Projects
O’Neill Online partnered with representatives of the Southwest Dubois County School Corporation, the Vincennes University Jasper campus, and the Association of Latin Americans of Southern Indiana (ALASI) to design a resource center model for the local Latinx community. The project investigated Latinx resource centers in similar communities, developed a business plan, fostered strategies for communication, and compiled resources to secure financial stability.
Community Partner Rossina Sandoval, Southwest Dubois School Corporation Christian Blome, Vincennes University, Jasper Campus Evelyn Rivas, ALASI
IU Instructor Trent Engbers, O'Neill School of Public and Environmental Affairs
Project Course SPCN-V 551 SPEA Connect Week
ALASI, a nonprofit organization dedicated to removing barriers to access for the Latino population and expand cultural competency, sought an updated website design to assist in communicating with their stakeholders and the public. Students in Serve IT developed a new website design, created a plan to sustain the site, and wrote guides for board members managing the site to keep it current.
Community Partner Evelyn Rivas, ALASI
IU Instructor Una Thacker, Luddy School of Informatics, Computing, and Engineering, Serve IT
Project Course Serve IT
Purdue Extension—Dubois County sought to formally identify the needs and opportunities within the county food system. This information would be leveraged to build partnerships, apply for funding opportunities, or guide educational programs. Students examined the local food system and proposed ideas to increase access to local food and education on local food issues.
Community Partner Chelsea Brewer, Purdue Extension-Dubois County
IU Instructor James Farmer, O'Neill School of Public and Environmental Affairs
Project Course SPEA-R 519 Food Systems and Community Resilience
As part of Jasper's downtown revitalization project, students developed creative plans for the alleyway next to the historic Astra Theater. The mural has been installed by artists Hannah Jones and Blondebrush.
Community Partner Darla Blazey and Kate Schwenk, Heart of Jasper
IU Instructor Daniel Martinez, Eskenazi School of Art, Architecture + Design
The City of Huntingburg recently upgraded its web presence. The current website needs to be reviewed to determine what content is essential, how the website should be updated (and by whom). The website is intended to be a helpful and up-to-date resource for residents and visitors alike. Students reviewed web content and developed recommendations.
Community Partner Rachel Steckler, City of Huntingburg
IU Instructor Les Morris, The Media School
Project Course MSCH-A 315 Advertising and Consumer Culture
To develop a solid foundation for healthy economic growth in our region, the community must grow its talent and educate the population. Familiarizing new residents with services and local businesses is a key step to encourage a sense of community and participation from current and future residents. The welcome packet is in paper form, and it is bulky and costly to print and mail. Faculty and students evaluated the current packet of information available, streamlined the information, translated it, and organized it into a single PDF document as an online version that can be used by businesses and organizations to promote a positive image for the community and to provide a valuable resource for attracting new residents and visitors.
Community Partner Darla Blazey, City of Jasper
IU Instructor Les Morris, The Media School
Project Course MSCH-A 315 Advertising and Consumer Culture
Dubois County Leadership Academy collaborated with Kyla Cox Deckard and students in the PACE C-100 Leaders and Leadership course to develop updated programming based on emerging community needs and implement new evaluation tools to measure the program’s success.
Community Partner Becky Hickman and Chris James, Dubois County Leadership Academy
IU Instructor Kyla Cox Deckard, Political and Civic Engagement
Project Course PACE-C 100 Leaders and Leadership
Dubois County has an excellent 136-acre county park with both passive and physical activities for residents of all generations and abilities to enjoy. Amenities like this are essential to the county’s ability to retain and attract talent to the community and to ensure a thriving future. Dubois County Park Board approved a master plan in 2018, and undergraduate public affairs students will think creatively about the fundraising needed to implement parts of the plan.
Community Partner Christine Prior, Dubois County Park Board
IU Instructor Lori Garraghty, O'Neill School of Public and Environmental Affairs
Project Course SPEA-V 458 Fund Development for Nonprofit Organizations
Demand for licensed early learning childcare centers exceeds availability in Dubois County. How can Dubois County increase available quality and affordable pre-k options for families? Students conducted an asset and needs assessment with recommendations for increasing early learning resources in the community.
Community Partner Melissa Boeglin and Rossina Sandoval Monsivais, Southwest Dubois County School Corporation
IU Instructor Trent Engbers, O'Neill School of Public and Environmental Affairs
Project Course SPCN-V 551 SPEA Connect Week
Like many rural towns, Holland's downtown is in need of restoration and revitalization. Holland Commons was a community-wide project for the state's bicentennial in 2016. It is used as a gathering space, annual events are held there to promote the community's heritage. The people in our community are willing to engage in revitalization and are seeking data and a needs analysis to support best-case projects.
Students researched data to find out what community citizens are seeking in an improved downtown, including accessible sidewalks, lighting, and banners.
Community Partner Lee Bilderback and Melanie Barrett, Town of Holland
IU Instructor Frank Nierzwicki, O'Neill School of Public and Environmental Affairs
Project Course SPEA-V 365 Urban Development and Planning
Faculty and students in the comprehensive design capstone course produced a set of possible mural designs for community consideration that depict historical representations of Holland. Trenton "Moosey" Musch completed the mural in the community. Read more about this creative placemaking project here.
Community Partner Lee Bilderback and Melanie Barrett, Town of Holland
IU Instructor Jon Racek, Eskenazi School of Art, Architecture + Design
Student interns at the IU Center for Rural Engagement designed a concept for a storybook trail at the Holland Park that is connected with the Library Storywalk program and the local library branch. The team also provided technical assistance with fundraising efforts.
Community Partner Melanie Barrett, Town of Holland
IU Partner Nicole Vasconi and student interns, Center for Rural Engagement
League Stadium in Huntingburg was the backdrop of the movie League of Their Own. How can the town and the region capitalize on this remarkable asset and boost tourism and visitors? Media school students researched similar sites and created a comprehensive tourism plan to increase annual events and visitors.
Community Partner Steve Schwinghamer, Rachel Steckler, and Dale Payne, City of Huntingburg
IU Instructor Les Morris, The Media School
Project Course MSCH-A 315 Advertising and Consumer Culture
Students are supporting the City of Jasper with a public art master plan that will provide a pathway for completing public art projects for multiple years and offer strategies and guidance on funding, encouraging new as well as established artists, and engaging the community. The plan may also include design of the artwork or a plan for reaching out and selecting artists, as well as a theme or collective vision that could be incorporated into a future cultural district.
Community Partner Kyle Rupert and Emily Colucci Peak, City of Jasper
IU Instructor Julia Driscoll, O'Neill School of Public and Environmental Affairs
Project Course AADM-Y 550 Practicum in Arts Administration
As part of Jasper's downtown revitalization efforts, local officials and students in the ServeDesign program developed an interactive mural that highlighted Jasper's musical heritage as the piano capital of the world. Read more about this creative placemaking project.
Community Partner Kate Schwenk, Heart of Jasper
IU Instructor Jon Racek, Eskenazi School of Art, Architecture + Design, and Bryce Himebaugh, Luddy School of Informatics, Computing, and Engineering
Project Courses ServeDesign and ENGR-E 490 and ENGR-E 491 Engineering Capstone I & II
There is no Latinx club on the Vincennes University Jasper Campus. In collaboration with Vincennes University administrators, students will examine the role of a club like this and the opportunities it might offer to college students to determine what this club could look like, how it could function, and how VU could sustain its growth over time.
Community Partner Dennis Tedrow, Vincennes University
IU Partners Jim Johnson, Associate Director, Student Involvement and Leadership, and Lillian Casillas, Director of the IU Bloomington La Casa Latino Cultural Center
Students in Chris Cook's consulting course conducted a benchmark study of all Indiana community farmers' markets south of Carmel, Ind. to inform future optimization of the Jasper Farmers' Market.
Community Partner Heart of Jasper
IU Instructor Chris Cook, Kelley School of Business
Project Course BUS-A 569 Field Consulting
Undergraduate students designed a permaculture garden for the Dove Recovery House that supports food production and health and wellness activities to benefit residents, visitors, staff, and others. Dove Recovery House is opened a residential treatment facility for women in November 2022, the first of its kind in Dubois County.
Community Partner Megan Durlauf, Dove Recovery House; Chelsea Brewer, Purdue Extension
IU Instructor Rhonda Baird, O'Neill School of Public and Environmental Affairs
Project Course SPEA-E 400 Topics in Environmental Study: Permaculture
Partnering with the Heart of Jasper, a team of graduate accounting students evaluated Jasper’s retail market. The data from this study will help fill vacant buildings downtown and make use of available grants for building facades and incentives to encourage and entice new businesses.
Community Partner Kate Schwenk and Darla Blazey, Heart of Jasper
IU Instructor Chris Cook, Kelley School of Business
Project Course BUS-A 569 Field Consulting
There are many beautiful hiking trails in the Dubois County wilderness, but it's tricky to find them, particularly for people who are new to or visiting the area. Students are collaborating with the Ferdinand State Forest and Visit Dubois County to create a publication that promotes trails, including updated photos of current terrain and way-finders.
Community Partner Jessica Lindauer, Visit Dubois County, and Jamie Winner, Department of Natural Resources
IU Instructor Brian Forist, School of Public Health
Project Course SPH-R 221 Creating Sense of Place through Design
It is the duty of the Dubois County Museum to document the stories of the entire community, but Hispanic heritage is not currently represented in the Dubois County Museum exhibits and programs. This has been identified as an area of need in the museum planning sessions. Outreach efforts to the Latinx community are ongoing and the museum has partnered with community groups to present Latinx programs. The museum has the opportunity to generate a permanent Latinx history exhibit to meet the goal of inclusion and promote cultural awareness in the community.
Media students will create a a well-designed, polished document that tells the story of the Voces Vivas project through personal narratives pays tribute to the Hispanic families of Dubois County through a compilation of narrative interviews.
Community Partner Shirley Ray, Dubois County Museum Rossina Sandoval Monsivais, Southwest Dubois School Corporation
IU Instructor Les Morris, The Media School
Project Course MSCH-R 349 Public Relations Writing
Purdue Extension—Dubois County seeks to empower local youth to address health issues among their peers and in the broader community. Students studying youth development designed an infrastructure for a youth health coalition modeled off of the Greene County Youth Health Coalition, engaged youth in the development and initiation of the coalition, and facilitated goal-setting by youth for the first year of activity.
Community Partner Chelsea Brewer, Purdue Extension
IU Instructor Deb Getz, School of Public Health
Project Courses SPH-F 150 Intro to Lifespan Development SPH-F 180 Introduction to Child and Youth Work
Students studying grant writing assisted a community group in applying for grant funding—by creating a plan that outlines possibilities, dates, deadlines, and recommended next steps—that would support restoration of a historic public schoolhouse in Zoar.
Community Partner Lee Bilderback and Roger Katterhenry
IU Instructor Jill Nicholson-Crotty, O'Neill School of Public and Environmental Affairs
Project Courses SPEA-N 557 Proposal Development and Grant Administration
