UF Receives Grants for Digital Storytelling and Entrepreneurial Student Projects

The University of Findlay has received grants to conduct humanities work within the community and to provide experiential business learning.

Megan Adams, Ph.D., assistant professor of communication, received a $9,500 grant from The Council of Independent Colleges’ new Humanities Research for the Public Good program. In partnership with the Hancock Historical Museum and the University of Findlay’s Center for Civic Engagement, the grant will enable the hiring of three undergraduate communication students to conduct community-based participatory research regarding the region’s flooding history. Interviews with citizens, business owners and others will be recorded, and a more interactive digital archive of stories will be created to inspire community-wide conversations.

According to Adams, regional flood-related information is plentiful, but is not accessible from a central location. Doing so, in conjunction with digital storytelling practices, will offer varied perspectives about subjects ranging from personal experiences to government topographical studies. This will provide a richer contextual understanding, she said.

This project was begun by Sarah Stubbs ’17 as a senior capstone communication project.

Scott Grant, Ed.D., assistant professor of business, received a one-year grant for $10,000 from the P&G Fund of The Greater Cincinnati Community Foundation. His project is providing additional professional development and experiential learning opportunities for students in the Oiler 10 club, in which participants work on marketing projects with actual businesses. Students recently travelled to Cincinnati for a storytelling workshop, and will be venturing to New York City and Chicago to participate in deep dives of marketing and business consulting projects at various agencies.

“The Oiler 10 redefines student learning by transforming a class into a living business structure (yes, with weekly 6 a.m. business-casual meetings and work over breaks while traveling) that adds value, develops lasting mentorships, and removes institutional structures to ‘get out of the way’ of learning,” explained Grant in his grant application. “The Oiler 10 aims to better help students find and bolster their passion points, build relationships with agencies to open career pathways, and provide a superior talent acquisition pool to employers.”