The Morgridge Center for Public Service will continue to be open virtually fall semester. Our programs and support are pivoting in ways that support community-identified priorities, faculty and the learning needs of students.
While we understand that this may impact in-person community-based programs and operations — we are prioritizing the health and wellbeing of our students, staff, faculty and community partners.
Consultation and guidance to support an alternative version of Badger Volunteers and Community-based Learning course engagement will be offered remotely. For more details on how the Morgridge Center Fall Restart will look like, see below:
Badger Volunteers
Through August 21, community partners will be able to register individual virtual opportunities. Registration for returning Badger Volunteers (BV) will begin Thursday, Sept. 3 with registration open to all UW-Madison students on Friday, Sept. 4.
While many characteristics of the program remain the same, including the timeline throughout the semester, key changes include students volunteering virtually and individually, not in teams, as well as a move from the BV Dashboard to SignUp Genius for community partner and volunteer registration.
Badger Volunteers will continue to engage in orientation and education sessions and we are enhancing learning through new workshops and reflection sessions for volunteers using a virtual platform.
Community-based Learning
The majority of community-based learning courses will be conducted via virtual or contactless community engagement. Decisions about sending students into the community should be made in conjunction with the leadership of departments, units or programs and Deans. Face-to-face experience would only be supported if the course is a requirement for graduation, certification, or licensure AND if community partners are comfortable with face-to-face interactions. All physical community engagement must follow CDC guidelines including physical distancing, masks, and cleaning protocols. For details and guidance on making decisions, see the “Off-Campus Case Studies” tab for Direct Student Model on this page.
Student Organization Partnership Program (SOPP)
- The Morgridge Center will offer re-affiliation to Registered Student Organizations (RSOs) previously participating in the SOPP program in 2019-2020.
- The SOPP program will not be offering transportation services during the fall semester and will re-evaluate transportation for spring semester.
- Affiliated RSOs are encouraged to discuss virtual engagement opportunities with community partners.
- Organizations participating in SOPP will still receive access to trainings, Morgridge Center peer advisor support and access to mini-grant funds.
Voter Engagement
The Morgridge Center will continue to support voter engagement efforts remotely through the BadgersVote Coalition.
To learn more about voter registration, where to vote, eligibility, and voting early visit vote.wisc.edu. All students and campus members are encouraged to sign-up for the new BadgersVote text alerts to be kept up-to-date on elections and civic engagement. Text 56525 with the word BadgersVote.
Wisconsin Idea Fellowships
We will be accepting grant applications will be accepted for the 2021-2022 academic year on the same timeline as previous years. The call for applications will go out in December 2020, priority deadline and final deadlines will be announced in December. We will prioritize WIF projects that address social determinants of health and the impacts of COVID-19. Depending on the type of proposed project, applicants will be asked to provide multiple action plans and timelines to account for the potential impacts of COVID-19.
For current WIF projects (2019-20 and 2020-21), please contact Beth Tryon and Laura Livingston about your individual project plans and timelines.
For more information on Morgridge Center, operations, updates and resources regarding COVID-19, please visit this page.
If you have further questions, please contact the following staff member:
Cristina Johnson – Assistant Director of Civic Engagement and Communications
Anya Piotrowski – Badger Volunteers Coordinator
Haley Madden – Community-Engaged Scholarship Specialist
Laura Livingston – Wisconsin Idea Fellowship Graduate Mentor