Career Opportunities

University of Michigan Ford School of Public Policy

COVID-19 Consulting Corps

Leveraging the time, energy, and skills of the University of Michigan Ford School’s Master of Public Policy (MPP) students and other exceptional UM students supporting the Ford School’s research centers, the COVID-19 Consulting Corps, or CCC, will provide a flexible, responsive, and remote resource to local governments and nonprofit organizations[1] in Michigan as they move from responding to the COVID-19 health crisis to responding to the onslaught of economic and social challenges facing Michigan in the coming weeks and months.

MPP students participating in the CCC will have the opportunity to learn about resources and programs available to local governments and nonprofit organizations to help them respond to the impact of COVID-19 and provide targeted, pro-active outreach to these sectors across Michigan. These students may also offer virtual ‘consulting’ appointments to interested state or local government officials and/or nonprofit leaders at their request. Outreach and consulting activities could include:

• Connecting partners to resources compiled by UM or other reputable sources. Many groups are already publishing syntheses of newly available resources and programs, both inside and outside the University. Rather than deploying students to compile potentially redundant resource guides, the CCC students will provide the time and capacity that local governments and nonprofits may not otherwise have during this crisis to identify, digest, and disseminate the right resource(s) in a timely fashion.

• Conducting research on a topic, regulation, or program of interest. Local governments and nonprofits in Washtenaw County have already reached out to the CCC to assist in research on FEMA regulations and reimbursements, and both the Michigan Municipal League and the Michigan Township Association have identified research projects for which we are lining up CCC support. And more opportunities are coming together as we speak.

• Linking partners to an expert in the field to provide more in-depth support on a given topic. Where we have government or nonprofit partners seeking expertise on a topic that exceeds our CCC students’ knowledge or skill set, the students will work with UM’s Ginsberg Center and/or YPL, Poverty Solutions, CLOSUP, P3E, and other Ford research centers to link them to an academic expert in that field.

• Providing virtual support to help advance COVID-19 responses. CCC students may be called upon to assist with a variety of efforts depending on demand and skill set. Some of these may include: developing and leading webinars on topics of interest to local governments or nonprofits, helping develop automated mechanisms to satisfy federal and state program documentation requirements, conduct data analysis to help partners get real-time answers to their questions, and more.

Ford School research centers are providing the infrastructure necessary to stand up this project, and will be funding some of the CCC placements. The following centers have committed to participating:

• Youth Policy Lab: The Lab will be providing leadership and coordination of the CCC, as well as hiring at least 2 CCC students for the summer. Jeremy Guardiola, a project manager with the Lab, will be the coordinator of the CCC for summer 2020. YPL may also have a few RAs to deploy towards CCC efforts (depending on their summer plans).
  
• Poverty Solutions: In addition to facilitating connections to community partners and on-campus experts, they have dedicated 3 existing masters-level research assistants to the CCC.
  
• CLOSUP: Leveraging their relationships with the three statewide local government associations – the Michigan Township Association (MTA), the Michigan Association of Counties (MAC), and the Michigan Municipal League (MML) – they will help facilitate project opportunities and needs from local governments throughout the state. Additionally, CLOSUP is compiling resources for local governments on important fiscal issues and will host them on a website that CCC students will be able to help disseminate. Finally, they will be hiring 2 CCC students for the summer.
  
• P3E: In addition to providing Graduate Career Services (GCS) with financial support for summer internship opportunities, P3E staff and leadership will survey their existing partners to determine if there are needs the CCC can help address.
  
  

In addition to the Ford research centers, the UM Ginsberg Center will provide support for the CCC. As a leader in public engagement for the University, the Ginsberg Center is best positioned to facilitate connections to academic experts across campus and to advise CCC students and staff on best practices for public engagement efforts.

CCC opportunities are open to all MPP/MPA students, however, priority will be given to students completing the required MPP internship. These summer positions will last for at least 10 weeks, will require approximately 20 hours of work per week, and will pay \$18/hour. There are currently 9 positions open.

Application Process

Recruiting for these projects is being centralized (aka you do not need separate applications given the various research centers involved.) Interested applicants should submit a resume and statement of interest via FordCareers by Sunday, May 3. In your statement, please indicate your interest in the CCC, the potential projects of greatest interest to you, and the skills/experiences you bring to this work.

[1] Support is being provided to small businesses by other groups on campus including the Economic Growth Institute and the Detroit Neighborhood Entrepreneurs Project, among others. Should there be a demand for more support for this sector, we will examine the appropriateness of deploying MPPs in coordination with these other units.