For their capstone project, graduate students in Public Affairs worked with city officials to identify strategies to address drug misuse trends among youth in Clinton, Iowa.

Graduate students in the School of Planning and Public Affairs will work in consultation with the City of Manning, the City of Stanton, the City of Cedar Rapids, and Iowa AARP to help Iowa communities reach "age-friendly" status. 

For a community to reach "age-friendly" status, they must demonstrate progress towards making communities livable, quality places for all ages. More information about the "age-friendly" program can be found here:

As part of the project students will:

As part of their Senior Capstone Course, Civil & Environmental Engineering students identified and connected points of interest on the Camp Courageous grounds with ADA-compliant nature trails for all campers to use.

As part of their Senior Design Capstone course, Civil & Environmental Engineering students explored alternatives and made recommendations to reduce contaminants in the source water that serves Camp Courageous. 

As part of his graduate capstone project, Sports & Recreation management student Chris Gelhaus provided recommendations for the reuse of a historic school gymnasium in Essex, Iowa. 

Essex, Iowa, is interested in the redevelopment and reuse of a gymnasium within town. The city is looking for a community center, focused primarily on creating public spaces, hosting programming for youth and adults, and holding public events.

As part of their Senior Design Capstone course, Civil & Environmental Engineering students created design alternatives for new uses of the former school building in Essex, and provided specs and cost estimates for the final design.

Essex, Iowa, was interested in the redevelopment and reuse of a gymnasium within town. The city was looking for a community center, focused primarily on creating public spaces, hosting programming for youth and adults, and holding public events. The city was also interested in a storm shelter.

As part of the Senior Design Capstone Course, Civil & Environmental Engineering students identified trail route alternatives connecting the Sidney community to the Sidney High School located just outside of town, and provided the trail design and cost estimates for the selected route. 

As part of their Senior Design Capstone course, Civil & Environmental Engineering students created design alternatives for a trail system in Schaller, Iowa. The trail site is located along an abandoned rail line within the city, and connects to the county trail system. 

As part of his graduate capstone project, Sports & Recreation management student Thomas Harder collaborated with the Manning Parks and Recreation department on a strategic plan for their community recreation center and ballfields.

Graduate students in the course Health Communication Campaigns in the College of Public Health created campaigns around the topic of mental health for four distinct population segments in Fairfield and Jefferson County. 

Students from the University of Iowa and Grinnell College will conduct research, collect data, and engage community members in the city of Newton to develop projects and programs to promote health and prevent obesity. 

As part of their capstone project, second-year graduate students from the School of Urban & Regional Planning created a plan outlining potential opportunities for conversion of low-traffic residential streets to non-vehicular greenways, in addition to developing bicycle and pedestrian routes, for the city of Keokuk, Iowa.