CHI Consulting Projects | Office for Business & Community Economic Development

PLEASE NOTE: OBCED restructures department to invest in Supplier Diversity

Due to the restructure of OBCED, certain programs within the Community Health Initiative (CHI) will be phased out. As of the end of this academic year (June 2022) we will no longer run the student consulting projects and there will be NO CHI Summer Internships.

Program Overview

Through funding support provided by Medica, the Office for Business & Community Economic Development (OBCED) will offer the Community Health Initiative (CHI).

The goal of this initiative is two-fold; to provide resources that help community-based nonprofits, government agencies or small businesses that work in the areas impacting public health, social services, medicine, medical technology, or to help these organizations build capacity and improve their overall performance and effectiveness in communities of color; and secondly to provide University of Minnesota students with valuable applied learning experiences by linking them to opportunities in communities that face public health disparities and other socio-economic issues.

About the Consulting Projects

Student Consulting Projects will be offered during the fall and spring semesters. The CHI Program Manager receives applications for the program, and then matches qualifying organizations with qualified student consultants. One or more students are assigned to a project, depending on the scope and type of project requested, with each student contributing 60-80 hours.

Projects MUST be completed within the semester timeframe(approx. 3 1/2 months). Student consulting payments are made (by the CHI Program Manager) at the conclusion of the project. All currently enrolled University of Minnesota-Twin Cities graduate and professional students from all schools and departments are eligible and encouraged to participate.

Project proposals will be accepted in the topical areas of Market Research and Analysis, Supply Chain Management, Public Health, Marketing Plan Development, Human Resources Management, Community Health Education, Business Plan Development, Demography Studies, Social Work, Communications, Feasibility Study, Population Health Coordination, Finance and Accounting, Program Evaluation/Measurement, Nursing/Care Management, Strategic Planning, Operations Management, IT/Technology Development, Management Information Systems, Health/Medical Research, Nonprofit Management, Fund Development and Program Development.