Below are descriptions of the top five solutions developed by our teams for the COVID-19 Campus Challenge. Many teams have also contributed a video going over their projects which can be viewed by clicking on the logo under each team.
If you have any questions, please reach out to [email protected]. We hope you enjoy learning about these creative solutions!
Co-Curricular Activities Solutions
Maize Map: The New Festifall
Overview:
Festifall, our annual student organization fair, is an integral part of the beginning of the Michigan experience in order to build community among peers, and our project focuses on recreating this fair in a safe way following public health guidelines.
Team Members:
Riya Gupta, Seunghyo Rhee, Seungmeen Rhee, Tarun Sanikommu, Sara Sotirov, and Ran Yoo
Masks of Michigan
Overview:
Masks of Michigan is a student-led social media movement promoting proper mask use. Our solution highlights various activities and campaigns to help encourage the following of health guidelines.
Team Members:
Divya Ramamoorthy, Sydney Swider, Eve Sherwood, Vaishnavi Krishnan, Alex Vena, Samriddhi Gupta, Jenna Cicatello, Kate Meade, Kelsey Peregord, Victoria D’Astici, and Ally Kingma
StudySafe
Overview:
We have developed two different methods of occupancy calculation in order to address the need to regulate study spaces around campus to ensure social distancing guidelines.
Team Members:
Ria Bazaz, Yukta Rakesh, and Rishma Balakrishnan
StudySwap
Overview:
We aim to build a social network mobile application that connects students to study groups, project partners, and their peers in order to help those who may otherwise feel overwhelmed and isolated by a virtual academic experience.
Team Members:
Akul Vijayvargiya, Chintan Modi, Ashish Mahuli, Atharva Talpade, and Thomas Huber
Weight Time: Gym Reservation System
Overview:
With our reservation system, students can easily sign up for time slots at the gym. This allows the University to enforce capacity limits that will help to maintain safe, social distancing practices.
Team Members:
Elaina Baker, Madison Caldwell, Alex Kaipainen, Claire Manley, Samuel Mathisson,and Reagan Miller
Diversity, Equity, & Inclusion Solutions
All-Wolverines-Assemble
Overview:
UMich has a diverse community; but during COVID-19, our diversity is threatened by misinformation, social distancing, and travel restrictions. Our solution is a series of three programs to address this complex issue.
Team Members:
Jie Chen, Siyi Chen, Tingjun Lin, Xiaotong Xu, Zihan Zeng, and Zekai Zhang
DEI Solutions in the Age of Covid-19
Overview:
We are addressing racial disparities and xenophobia through universal testing, inclusive classroom policies, and awareness videos.
Team Members:
Karla Bell, Sinmisola Kareem, Linh Phan, Kayla Hurd, Jasmine Williams, Jor – El Santos, and Alyssa Klotz
Peer-Led Lunch Series
Overview:
Offer peer-led weekly Lunch Series in order to provide an outlet for students to share and reflect on experiences and have a network to rely on for emotional support.
Team Members:
Michelle Byun, Chelsea Cheung, and Carol Zhang
Plug ‘M
Overview:
Our website seeks to address the disproportionate effects on racially, and socioeconomically, disadvantaged communities by applying an intersectional framework to provide students of these communities with the resources that they need to prosper during the school year.
Team Members:
Daisy Ogholo, Audrey Funwie, Jade Kissi, Anita Ovbude, Alekya Lingamaneni, and Sanovia Weje
University Trading Application
Overview:
Our solution addresses the salient issue of financial inequity among university students and seeks to provide a safer, more sustainable way of obtaining necessary school-related supplies.
Team Members:
Peggy Randon, Sohan Sarabu, Kathy Huo, and Aabi La’al
Food Insecurity Solutions
Addressing MDining Demand with COVID-19 Guidelines via Residence Hall Take-Out Delivery
Overview:
Our solution focuses on extending meal pick-up locations to lounges on each floor of residential halls.
Team Members:
Ancheng Da, Anna He, Jessie Li, Richa Shah, and Angela Yu
Alternate Location for the Maize and Blue Cupboard
Overview:
For our solution, we propose modifying the existing ‘Maize and Blue Cupboard’ to ease accessibility for students on North Campus by establishing an outdoor location, increasing awareness of the cupboard’s presence, and transitioning to an indoor environment during the winter months.
Team Members:
Christian Aguilar, Chase Marshall, Alayna Nugent, Alex Shellhamer, and Jack Webb
Everybody Eats
Overview:
Our project proposes a pathway to ensuring equal access to food for all and a guide eliminating the other unseen enemy on campus long before the pandemic: Food Insecurity.
Team Members:
Melissa Brei, Halle Hassett, and Soneida Rodriguez
Informational Campaign Addressing Food Insecurity & Food Waste
Overview:
Our group has created a three stage, potential framework to address education and operational barriers in reducing food waste within our community.
Team Members:
Raina Choudhuri, Sonia Gutt, Yingchao He, Sebastian Munoz, and Bridgette Pollaski
Maize and Blue Cupboard 2.0
Overview:
Our team has offered a 3 phase solution in order to prepare the Maize and Blue cupboard for Covid-19 as well as future.
Team Members:
Achintya Saxena, Anjana Pisupati, Ashley Hwang, Shanmukha Akkapeddi, Michael Willard, and Saurav Bhasin
Housing Solutions
Hooking Study Space for the Future
Overview:
In order to ensure cleanliness throughout both on and off-Campus Housing, we are proposing the University work to implement 5 targeted strategies.
Team Members:
Agnes Dunne, Major Stevens, Sandilya Garimella, and Amanda Rudolph
Identifying Risk Mitigating Move-in Protocols Sustained by Contact Tracing Measures
Overview:
To safely move into on-campus housing while limiting person to person contact and mitigating the risk of a widespread Covid-19 outbreak within dormitories throughout the school year we propose the implementation of four unique strategies.
Team Members:
Heba Syed, Maggie Maranz, Ramya Puranam, Priya Gandhi, and Collette Patel
Promoting Public Health while Sustaining Community in Residence Hall Shared Spaces
Overview:
As part of our solution, we are proposing the creation of a new part-time member of residential staff, Student Health Navigators (SHNs). These SHNs will have three distinct roles.
Team Members:
Jade James-Gist, John Rhodes, Lauren Ashley Week, and Lirong Shi
The Need For Safe Study Spaces
Overview:
Our solution proposes the use of new systems to allow the safe utilization of vacant lecture halls and classrooms as available study spaces to be booked by students.
Team Members:
Bonnie Spence, Caroline Kloes, Fizza Ahmed, Omid Shahidi, and Sam Jaehing
UMasks
Overview:
A subscription-like program that allows students to check-out masks for the day and return them to be cleaned by the university, decreasing crowds in laundry rooms and number of loads necessary for students to always have a clean mask to go to class.
Team Members:
Bruna IunesSanches, Charlotte Fuss, Hallee Thompson, and Kaylee Tucker
Mental Health Solutions
CAPS Seminars
Overview:
For our solution we recommend a weekly, virtual seminar series hosted by CAPS covering topics centered around the effects of COVID-19 on student mental health.
Team Members:
Kayla O’Neill, William Russell, and Katherine Wiatrak
LiNK: Battling Social Isolation
Overview:
Our solution is a two-part solution addressing social isolation on campus this fall, and beyond. It focusesion on acting as a liaison between mental health related institutions on campus and students as well as a service to connect students with each other.
Team Members:
Meredith Ainsworth, Manasi Sridhar, and Katerina Vicini
MChat: Improving Mental Health & Student Support
Overview:
Reduced contact with others may lead to feelings of lethargy and helplessness during COVID-19. To combat these precursors to mental conditions, we propose a Student Wellness tab to the Michigan App to directly link to specific tools that are under-utilized via CAPS.
Student Mental Health Ambassador Program
Overview:
The goal of our solution is to fill in the gaps between mental health needs on campus and mental health programs through the use of “Mental Health Ambassadors.”
Team Members:
Jessica Baker and Emily Liytinski
You-Type-They-Talk Appointments
Overview:
In order to eliminate the need for students to verbally disclose confidential information in front of others, we would like to implement and promote the use of the BlueJeans Whiteboard writing and drawing features during virtual appointments for mental health resources on campus. Appointment demo.
Team Members:
Nikita Daniel, Julianna Caton, Madeleine Lee, Anusha Santhapur, Adithi Voleti, and Jacalyn Wasserman
Transportation Solutions
BlueTrace: A Contact Tracing and Occupancy Tracking System
Overview:
In order to mitigate the health threat that public transportation posses during the pandemic, we aim to track riders via contact tracing and programatically limit the number of bus passengers to maintain social distancing.
Team Members:
Robert Buckley, Richard Guan, Sanjeev Raja, Zain Sultan, and Calvin Zheng
MedRide
Overview:
Our solution for the medical community- a community powered ride sharing service for medical employees.
Team Members:
Jill Stecker, Mo Said, Rishik Marneni, David Bacdayan, and Neelay Patel
Optimizing Blue Bus Routes
Overview:
Our proposed solution is to modify bus routes to decrease their complexity and meet the safety standards of the fall semester.
Team Members:
Winni Chen, Isha Bhatt, Sophia Newton, Mariana Moreno-Nava, and Priyanka Marudhavanan
The Clean Seat Initiative
Overview:
The Clean Seat Initiative is a feasible, easy to implement option with a goal of both helping clean the Michigan Blue Buses and ensuring the community’s confidence in the safety of the bus system.
Team Members:
Liberty Hudson, Madison Carroll, Mara Hill, Sanjana Roy, and Cecilia Zacair
The SAFE Bus Initiative
Overview:
The SAFE Bus Initiative is a multi-component solution that centers on maintaining social distancing guidelines by reducing bus capacities.
Team Members:
Brendan Flannagan, Danica Jayco, Likitha Nimmagadda, and Madison Wahlsten
