O’Neill Online Week is a voluntary, on-campus course that allows you to meet and build lasting relationships with your fellow online classmates and professors. All students formally admitted to the online MPA program are eligible to enroll.
Join O’Neill Online for an intensive on-campus experience
Description of the video:
We have an online week here at the O'Neill School where students who are taking classes online join other students, as well as the faculty, and work on a project for a real life client.
One of the main benefits of online week is that you can complete an entire project with a group and receive three credits just within a week.
We brought individuals from different areas together to Bloomington and for me it was important because it's not just a class, it's a way to give back to the community.
Part of the slogan for O'Neill is for the greater good, so I think you bring students to this program that are very invested in in leaving a mark in the community.
I chose to attend O'Neill Online Week because it counts as a capstone and along the way you get to experience some of the finer points of the campus and the local restaurants. So you feel like even though you've only been on the campus for just a week of your entire degree, you do feel like you're a Hoosier.
The week itself is very intense. We spent the first day really getting to know the client. We've spent the rest of the week with some really great guest lectures from O'Neill faculty and other experts. We're broken into work groups and so we have a specific part of the problem that we're trying to solve and work together on creating the final presentation for the clients, as well as the final report.
I worked with students from across the country and it was phenomenal. We did great work it was a chance to interact with multiple generations and create a really great work product. It was such an amazing experience and it reconnected me to why I wanted to go back to school and connected me to the university.
I wanted have one experience in person on this campus. I didn't want my only time to be on this campus to be when I came for graduation.
I think an online student should sign up for O'Neill Online Week because it's just such a unique opportunity to be able to get face to face with professors and also to network with other students. It's given me a real energy that I'll take back home with me.
O’Neill Online Week overview
- Work with a community client to address a real public problem
- Earn three credits (some coursework will be required before and after the in-residence week)
- Meet with your advisor to discuss your progress in the O’Neill Online MPA program
- All activities, meals, and hotel accommodations are covered by tuition and course fees
- Network with fellow students, faculty, staff, and O’Neill alumni
- Meet with staff from O’Neill’s Career Hub
- Experience life on one of the country’s most beautiful college campuses
Questions about registering?
If you have questions about registering for O'Neill Online Week, email jushanno@iu.edu.
"It’s been really exciting to meet and work with people from all different backgrounds, who have gone to different schools, and live in different parts of the country. When we work in groups or have discussions, we’re able to learn about what’s going on in different states and how different policy decisions, frameworks, or local contexts impact some of the things we see playing out."
Alicia Pellegrino, Online MPA’25
Conservation Director, Shirley Heinze Land Trust
2026 Projects
Course Information
SPCN-V551 section #4190
Instructor: Trent Engbers
Project Details
O’Neill Online Week in conjunction with the Center for Rural Engagement is pleased to offer a rewarding client-based consulting opportunity focused on the development of a youth center in Washington County. Partnering with the Washington County Community Foundation, the course will explore the development of resources and planning to create a community center.
The design of the project is to aid Washington County with developing a youth center with a primary audience of children in 4th through 8th grade. The goal is to create a safe community space for youth recreation when they are not in school. It may also serve as office program space for area youth-serving nonprofits.
Deliverables for the project may include developing or creating:
- a fundraising plan to secure seed funding
- a sustainability/business plan for continued operations
- policies and procedures for managing the facility
- a use plan including providing guidance on building amenities and structure
- a site selection analysis to guide the choice among facilities
Course Information
SPCN-V551 section #4572
Instructor: Mitch Berg
Project Details
In partnership with the Center for Rural Engagement and Radius, students will work on projects focused on creating opportunities through the establishment of a Main Street program to promote local economic and community development, placemaking, and branding within local communities along the new 50-mile Monon South trail (from Mitchell to New Albany).
The Monon Trail represents a transformative 50-mile regional trail initiative connecting communities across Southern Indiana. Building on the efforts of Radius Indiana and its newly created non-profit partner, Southern Indiana Trailways, this Online Week project engages students in applied research and planning to help shape the next phase of trail development, funding, and management.
Students will explore if a “Main Street” program would be of benefit to the communities along the trail to leverage the trail for economic development and creative placemaking. There may be opportunities to partner with other affiliate Indiana Main Street organizations to help develop or activate their strategic plans. There is potential for students to work with multiple clients along the trail on different projects.
Students will work with the primary client, Radius, to:
- Support the development of trail-connected “Main Street” communities that leverage the Monon Trail for economic vitality and local identity
- Develop a “Trail Main Street” framework connecting local entrepreneurs, municipalities, and trail users
- Create a playbook for how towns along the Monon Trail can capitalize and fund a Mainstreet program
- Create a Trail Town Economic Development Report, a Trail Main Street Framework and Toolkit, and a Branding and Activation Concept Deck incorporating events, business partnerships, and placemaking ideas
Students may also work on a few other similar projects for one or more Indiana Main Street Affiliate organizations to help them strengthen their organizational mission and capacity. This additional work, however, is meant compliment and/or strengthen student’s knowledge about the Main Street program to the benefit of those communities that may wish to join the program along the Monon Trail.
Examples of past O’Neill Online week projects
In 2025, students completed two projects:
Owen County: Mypath Trail System
Students worked with the Center for Rural Engagement in partnership with the Mypath Trail System to strengthen the trail system in south central Indiana. The students created a community engagement plan to involve citizens in trail design and implementation, a marketing plan to increase trail use, conducted an economic analysis of the impact of the trail system, and developed a strategy plan to aid in trail expansion.
Daviess County: Resource Center
In collaboration with the Center for Rural Engagement, students worked with the Daviess County Health Department to develop a plan for fudning and operating a county-wide Resource Center to assist new residents in getting established in the community. Students developed a business plan to transition the Center into an independent non-profit, identified strategies for revenue generation, and outlined a communications plan to increase awareness of the Center to funders, volunteers, and potential clients.
Learn more about the impact of these projects here.
In 2024, students completed two projects:
Monroe County: Hoosier Ticket Project:
Students worked with the nonprofit organization Hoosier Ticket Project, Inc. Supporting the organization in its mission to help individuals and families experience Indiana University athletic events in person for the first time, the students provided strategies for expanding development, improving board governance and structure, and planning for short and long-term program evaluation.
Washington County: Developing Volunteer Fire Departments:
Students worked with the Washington County Community Foundation and IU's Center for Rural engagement to provide the resources, coordination and strategies necessary to improve rural fire response strategies across Washington County's township volunteer fire departments. Students developed resources for a grant writing toolkit, survey design, and a county-wide coordination plan.
Learn more about the impact of these projects here:
In 2023, students completed two projects:
Dubois County: Strengthening Early Childhood Education: Students participated in a client-based consulting opportunity focused on strengthening early childhood education in Dubois County. This project was in conjunction with the Southwest Dubois County School Corporation and the IU Center for Rural Engagement.
Monroe County: The Mobility Aids Lending Library: Students worked with The MALL (Mobility Aids Lending Library) in Bloomington, Ind., in Monroe County, on an initiative started by a local group of women with physical disabilities (aka “the Wheelie Women”) to serve the greater Bloomington community.
In 2022, students completed two projects:
Dubois County Project:The development of a Latinx Welcome Center in Dubois County, in partnership with the Southwest Dubois County School Corporation and the Vincennes University Jasper Campus in conjunction with the IU Center for Rural Engagement.
Lake Monroe Project: Assisting the Lake Monroe Water Fund — an active funder for watershed projects that conserve, protect, and sustain Lake Monroe as a shared community water resource — with stable and ongoing fund development, strategic planning, and septic waste pollution reduction programs.
O’Neill Online students, in conjunction with the Indiana University Center for Rural Engagement, worked with the Town of Bloomfield, Ind. on a project to begin implementation of their parks and recreation master plan.
O’Neill Online students, in conjunction with the Indiana University Center for Rural Engagement, partnered with Orange County, Indiana nonprofit HandUp OC to find ways to improve quality of life for the residents of Orange County.
Students, in conjunction with the Indiana University Center for Rural Engagement, partnered with service providers in Greene County, Indiana to produce resources necessary for counties to advance local initiatives designed to reduce opioid and other drug addiction. The project was conducted with Greene County with the hopes that results can be replicated in other nearby counties.
Students worked as consultants with Space Science Institute to develop plans for implementation of future programs through central and southern Indiana, as well as future plans for expansion of their physical space on the observatory site. This project touched on many topics of interest to O'Neill Online students, including management of public and nonprofit resources, project planning, financial planning, scientific policy, and others.
Students developed four categories of solutions for NSA Crane that would foster compatible land development while maintaining its status as a “good neighbor”: community engagement solutions, transportation solutions, land use solutions, and research and development solutions. For each category of solutions, the team identified benefits, stakeholders involved, possible threats to implementation, and ways to mitigate those threats.
Students developed recommendations for Timmy Global Health focused on establishing lifelong donor relationships, communicating proactively with new audiences, increasing their donor retention rate, and a comprehensive review of the organization's current communication plan to enhance the relationships with current donors.
Students conducted an analysis of the process used to award the Indianapolis Prize for animal conservation. The team quickly came to appreciate the dynamic and enterprising nature of the Indianapolis Zoo, its conservation program and its leadership. The Indianapolis Prize, while prestigious and highly coveted, poses challenges to zoo resources, identity and mission.
Students studied alternative funding mechanisms for the State of Indiana to complete the Interstate 69 project to connect Evansville, Indiana and Indianapolis, Indiana.