Orange County is a rural community in southern Indiana with a population of 19,605. It includes four incorporated towns: the county seat of Paoli, Orleans, French Lick and West Baden. Unincorporated communities include Chambersburg, Leipsic, Prospect, Orangeville and Valeene. Home to a local food cooperative, a countywide community garden, agricultural youth programs, an artist-in-residence program and a restored, historic resort, the county is in a unique position to progress through a tourism economy, relying on its historical, agricultural and recreational roots.
IU students and faculty worked with Orange County leaders and residents on projects ranging from promoting bike path planning, to developing community health and wellness networks, to creating interior and exterior designs for an art shop, studio, gallery, and retail space in Paoli, IN.
Orange County
28county year projects
8alum year projects
450+students
Projects
Orange County Community Gardens in Paoli sought to increase access for all visitors. Graduate students from the School of Public Health–Bloomington designed an ADA-compliant pathway to ensure that community members of all abilities can enjoy and participate in the garden.
Community Partner
- Orange County Community Gardens
IU Instructor
- Becca Lassell, IU School of Public Health-Bloomington
Project Course
- SPH-R 550 Designing Accessible Space for Healthy Places, spring 2026
As the Monon South Trail develops, planners sought to capture the trail and the surrounding communities as they evolved together. Students from the Eskenazi School of Art, Architecture + Design painted en plein air along the trail to document the changing landscape and the communities connected to it.
Community Partner
Radius Indiana
IU Instructors
Amanda Smith and Caleb Weintraub, School of Art, Architecture + Design
Project Courses
SOAD-S 330 Painting 2: The Landscape, SOAD-S 530 Graduate Topics in Painting (Painting the Landscape), SOAD-S 430 Painting 3: The Landscape, SOAD-S 230 Painting 1, fall 2025
As a growing nonprofit serving southern Indiana, Safe Haven Recovery Center would like to communicate the impact of their work to stakeholders and participants. Graduate students from the Paul H. O’Neill School of Public and Environmental Affairs conducted a cost-benefit analysis and prepared a public document detailing Safe Haven’s impact.
Community Partner
Safe Haven Recovery Center
IU Instructor
Kerry Krutilla, O'Neill School of Public and Environmental Affairs
Project Course
SPCN-P 541 Benefit Cost Analysis, fall 2025
Communities along the Monon South Trail are seeking ways to boost local economies by tapping into the trail’s potential to attract visitors and support small businesses.
Students from the Kelley School of Business and the Paul H. O’Neill School of Public and Environmental Affairs assessed opportunities for small business and housing development and offered recommendations to help trail communities leverage the trail for economic growth.
Community Partner
Radius Indiana
IU Instructors
Keith Dayton and Doug McCoy, Kelley School of Business
Mitch Berg and Scott Burgins, O'Neill School of Public and Environmental Affairs
Project Courses
IU Center for Real Estate Studies, BUS-A 569 Field Consulting, SPCN-V 551 SPEA Connect Week, SPEA-L 563 Planning and Community Development, fall 2025–summer 2026
The Sustain Art & Music Festival is designed to raise awareness for social, economic, and environmental sustainability. The nonprofit organization seeks to grow its reach and impact in promoting southern Indiana arts. In an effort to strengthen the festival’s impact and success, students from the School of Public Health–Bloomington collaborated with Sustain Fest to identify opportunities to enhance festival event management practices. Students from the Paul H. O’Neill School of Public and Environmental Affairs collaborated to identify and complete grants to fund artists. Recreation and Park Tourism students from the School of Public Health–Bloomington evaluated festival marketing, event operations, and revenue to better position Sustain Fest as a leading regional festival.
Community Partner
Sustain Art & Music Festival
IU Instructors
Laura Littlepage, O'Neill School of Public and Environmental Affairs
Celina Thomas, School of Public Health
Project Courses
SPEA-V 481 Grant Writing, SPH-T 323 Festival and Event Management, fall 2025
Nonprofit accounting students in the Paul H. O’Neill School of Public and Environmental Affairs collaborated with nonprofit organizations in Orange County to enhance their accounting practices. Efforts will increase the capacity of these organizations to advance health, wellness, and arts in the area.
Community Partners
Families Forward
Sustain Art & Music Festival
IU Instructor
Andrea Astill, O'Neill School of Public and Environmental Affairs
Project Course
SPEA-V 356 Introduction to Nonprofit Accounting and Reporting, spring 2026
Team Peace, a nonprofit in Orange County, is seeking support to expand its trauma-responsive programming for schools and families.
To help strengthen the organization’s capacity to serve youth and promote resilience in the community, IU sociology students organized and analyzed post-assessment data, created a new board member handbook, and developed an annual report template.
Community Partner
Team Peace
IU Instructor
Veronica Medina, IU Southeast School of Social Sciences
Project Courses
SOC-S 380 Introduction to Methods of Social Research I (IUSE),SOC-S 309 The Community (IUSE), fall 2025 and spring 2026
Paoli and Orange County stakeholders are working to revitalize their downtown and strengthen long-term community development. Students from the Paul H. O’Neill School of Public and Environmental Affairs collaborated with Possibilities in Paoli to create a strategic plan that outlines a focused roadmap to strengthen the organization’s volunteer-led Main Street affiliate. Built around Main Street America’s Four-Point Approach—Organization, Promotion, Design, and Economic Vitality—the plan provides practical strategies to increase organizational capacity, deepen community engagement, and align local revitalization efforts with broader county and regional priorities.
Community Partner
Team Peace
IU Instructor
Mitch Berg, O'Neill School of Public and Environmental Affairs
Project Course
SPEA-L 622 Local Economic Development, fall 2025
Orange County is home to a strong local foods economy and a thriving tourism industry. Purdue Extension partnered with students in the Media School to conduct surveys and interviews to shed light on the community’s readiness for partnerships in agritourism and the best strategies for promoting agritourism in the future.
Community Partner
Abby Heidenreich, Purdue Extension
IU Instructor
Esi Thompson, Media School
Project Course
Public Relations Planning and Research, spring 2019
The Black Vulture Project collaborated with the School of Art, Architecture, and Design to develop interior and exterior designs for an art shop, studio, gallery, and retail space, incorporating elements of the local community into their designs.
Community Partner
Tim Schmidt, Black Vulture Project
IU Instructor
Jeeyea Kim, School of Art, Architecture, and Design
Project Course
SOAD-D 374 Advanced Interior Architectural Design Studio: Global Context, fall 2018
After securing space for an artist residency, studio, gallery, and coffee shop, the leaders of the Black Vulture Project worked with students in the Kelley School of Business to identify benchmarks for similar organizations, to lay the foundations for a sustainable business plan.
Community Partner
Sherry Schmidt, Black Vulture Project
IU Instructor
Steven Kreft, Kelley School of Business
Project Course
Sustainable Enterprise, spring 2019
Members of the project worked with community health entities, small clinics, and physicians to develop outreach strategies that increase health education and awareness, particularly around chronic disease management and prevention.
Community Partner
Katarina Koch, Southern Indiana Community Health Care
IU Instructor
Whitney Schlegel, Department of Biology
Jeanne Johnston, School of Public Health
Project Course
BIOL-P 451 Physical Activity and Health, spring 2019
Supporting patients with chronic illnesses, Southern Indiana Community Health Care implemented chronic care management procedures and staffing to provide follow-up and intermittent care for patients. They joined forces with the School of Nursing to conduct home visits for chronic illness management.
Community Partner
Donna Charles, Southern Indiana Community Health Care
IU Instructor
Greg Carter, School of Nursing
Project Course
NURS-B 334 Transitional Care of Families and Populations, fall 2018/spring 2019
With many small local groups working to build a better arts environment, the Community Arts Communications Network project sought to create connections and improve communications within the community through a comprehensive web-based information hub.
Community Partner
Andrew Gerber, Black Vulture Project
IU Instructor
Matt Hottell, School of Informatics, Computing, and Engineering
Project Course
Serve IT, fall 2018/spring 2019
Celebrating a diverse cultural history, the Media School and the Political and Civic Engagement Program engaged long-term Orange County residents to develop a timeline of the county, attending to trends in population and economics, to examine locally-held artifacts, and encourage community participation in mapping a history of the region’s rural development.
Community Partner
Roger Moon, resident
IU Instructor
Lisa-Marie Napoli, Political and Civic Engagement
Project Course
PACE-C 100 Introduction to Theories of Leadership, fall 2018
To encourage bicycling as a mode of transportation and outdoor recreation, community residents considered plans for a bike path system that would safely connect the towns of Paoli, Orleans, and French Lick. The Media school supported this planning through a community stakeholder survey process.
Community Partner
Kara Schmidt, Orange County resident
IU Instructor
Minjeong Kang, Media School
Project Course
MSCH-R 348 Public Relations Campaigns, fall 2018
Indiana University’s Applications in Outdoor Recreation, Parks, and Human Ecology class engaged in a service-learning project focused on the Lost River Watershed and Hoosier National Forest in Orange County, Indiana. Collaborating with the Indiana University Center for Rural Engagement, students researched and developed interpretive media strategies for three significant sites: Wesley Chapel Gulf, Orangeville Rise, and the historical Buffalo Trace. This project aimed to enhance public awareness of watershed issues and conservation practices, blending ecological and cultural history with practical media design skills. Through site visits, guest lectures, and class discussions, students learned about the management of natural resources, the role of public agencies, and the importance of cooperative efforts in preserving and communicating the region’s unique natural and cultural heritage.
Community Partner
Jenny Rowland, Orange County Soil and Water Conservation District
Marion Mason and Alexander Johnson, Hoosier National Forest
IU Instructor
Brian Forist, School of Public Health
Project Course
Survey of Practice with Youth and Families, spring 2019
Habitat for Humanity has a history of helping families find affordable housing in Orange County. To build on this past success, students studying public relations conducted a survey and series of interviews to better understand how to reach qualified applicants and engage volunteers and donors.
Community Partner
Phil Mininger, Habitat for Humanity
IU Instructor
Esi Thompson, Media School
Project Course
Public Relations Planning and Research, spring 2019
HandUp OC is a nonprofit serving Orange County to encourage citizens to create better lives for themselves through improving personal and community health, connections with one another, and life skills. They worked with the School of Art, Architecture, and Design to establish a brand identity to more effectively engage with the community.
Community Partner
Dessica Albertson, HandUp OC
IU Instructor
Jenny El-Shamy, School of Art, Architecture, and Design
Project Course
SOAD-S 452 BFA Graphic Design, fall 2018
Students helped HandUp OC design assessments and evaluations, prepare for grants, conduct stakeholder analysis, and build internal capacity.
Community Partner
Dessica Albertson, HandUp OC
IU Instructor
Trent Engbers, School of Public and Environmental Affairs
Project Course
SPEA Connect Week, Summer 2019
Community Partner
Katarina Koch, Southern Indiana Community Health Care
IU Instructor
Laura Littlepage, School of Public and Environmental Affairs
Project Course
SPEA-N 552 Human Resource Management in Nonprofit Organizations, spring 2019
Southern Indiana Community Health Care worked with the School of Informatics, Computing, and Engineering’s Serve IT team to develop the IT needs assessment, automate and streamline clinical processes, and train clinic staff on new information technology tools.
Community Partner
Doris Weaver, Southern Indiana Community Health Care
IU Instructor
Matt Hottell, School of Informatics, Computing, and Engineering
Project Course
Serve IT, spring 2019
Working toward improving the overall health of the community, the Healing Arts Center of Southern Indiana sought to create a website and information hub to match residents and providers of health and wellness services in Orange County.
Community Partner
Emily Loveland, Healing Arts Center of Southern IN
IU Instructor
Matt Hottell, School of Informatics, Computing, and Engineering
Project Course
Serve IT, fall 2018/spring 2019
The Black Vulture Project collaborated with the School of Art, Architecture, and Design to develop low-cost, innovative, and sustainable architectural designs as well as budgeting and fundraising plans for a modest home that would serve as workforce and aging-in-place housing.
Community Partner
Tim Schmidt, Black Vulture Project
IU Instructor
Jon Racek, School of Art, Architecture, and Design
Project Course
SOAD-C 381 Topical Issues in Collaborative Design, spring 2019
The Media School supported the Lost River Market and Deli Co-op in developing a public relations plan aimed at expanding the customer and membership base of the co-op market.
Community Partner
Debbie Turner, Lost River Market and Deli Co-op
IU Instructor
Minjeong Kang, Media School
Project Course
MSCH-R 429 Public Relations Campaigns, fall 2018
This project partnered Southern Indiana Health Care with the Department of Sociology to analyze data collected from the Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs) metric and offer key findings from data analysis to improve health care services.
Community Partner
Doris Weaver, Southern Indiana Community Health Care
IU Instructor
Syndee Knight, Liberal Arts and Management Program
Project Course
LAMP-L 316 Junior Seminar: Analytical Problem Solving, spring 2019
Students in Dr. Jill Nicholson-Crotty’s grant writing class collaborated with the Orange County Health Coalition to identify and apply for grants that advance their mission to improve the overall health of Orange County.
Community Partner
Katarina Koch, Southern Indiana Community Health Care
IU Instructor
Jill Nicholson-Crotty, School of Public and Environmental Affairs
As the sole recycling service in Orange County, the Orange County Recycling Co-Op partnered with entrepreneurship students in the Kelley School of Business to brainstorm strategies for generating revenue, improving workflow efficiency, and increasing community education.
Community Partner
John Maier, Orange County Recycling Co-Op
IU Instructor
Marty Pieratt, Kelley School of Business
Project Course
Venture Ideas and Models, fall 2018
As the sole recycling service in Orange County, the Orange County Recycling Co-Op partnered with a graphic design student to create a new brand with the goal of more effectively engaging community members.
Community Partner
Tim Schmidt, Orange County Recycling Co-Op
IU Instructor
Jenny El-Shamy, School of Art, Architecture + Design
Project Course
BFA Graphic Design Seminar, fall 2018
As the sole recycling service in Orange County, the Orange County Recycling Co-Op worked with students to create a website with the goal of more effectively engaging community members.
Community Partner
Tim Schmidt, Orange County Recycling Co-Op
IU Instructor
Matt Hottell, School of Informatics, Computing, and Engineering
Project Course
Serve IT, spring 2019
With a need for an inclusive recreational space that fosters community connection while providing an attraction for visitors, HandUp OC partnered with the School of Art, Architecture, and Design to develop plans and assist with securing resources for the construction of an accessible playground as well as develop promotional materials to increase awareness about disability needs in the community.
Community Partner
Dessica Albertson, HandUp OC
IU Instructor
Jon Racek, School of Art, Architecture, and Design
Project Course
SOAD-C 280 Introduction to Comprehensive Design, fall 2018
Students practicing public relations writing crafted features of the formerly untold stories of Orange County, showcasing the community’s unique history and character.
Community Partner
Roger Moon, Resident of Orange County
IU Instructor
Chuck Carney, Media School
Project Course
Public Relations Writing, spring 2019
With the potential to be an active site for youth recreation and education, students studying youth development examined the Orange County Community Garden and proposed youth programming for implementation.
Community Partner
Dessica Albertson, HandUp OC
IU Instructor
Deb Getz, School of Public Health
Project Course
Survey of Practice with Youth and Families, spring 2019
The 4H Fairgrounds are an important community gathering space, but its current location has some accessibility barriers. Students conducted a location analysis using Census data and Google Maps to inform selection of a relocation site.
Community Partner
Dessica Albertson, HandUp OC
IU Instructor
Dan Knudsen, Department of Geography
Project Course
Advanced Economic Geography, spring 2019
In partnership with community residents, accounting students in the Kelley School of Business developed business and organization plans to help provide affordable solar power to homes in Orange County.
Community Partner
Samuel Kinsey, resident
IU Instructor
Bree Josefy, Kelley School of Business
Project Course
BUS-A 569 Field Consulting, fall 2018
To prepare communities in Orange County for the 2024 solar eclipse, Visit French Lick West Baden collaborated with the Media School to create public relations materials and produce a feature story with information and local opportunities.
Community Partner
Kristal Painter, Visit French Lick West Baden
IU Instructor
Elaine Monaghan, Media School
Project Course
MSCH-R 349 Public Relations Writing, fall 2018
To increase the number of visitors and their enjoyment of the forest, the Hoosier National Forest prepared to pursue Dark Sky designation for parts of the forest within Orange County. Light sensors—developed by IU School of Informatics, Computing, and Engineering Professor Bryce Himebaugh—were deployed in the fall semester to generate data needed to identify accessible locations with low enough light pollution to qualify for designation.
Community Partner
Sarah Hess, Hoosier National Forest
IU Instructor
Bryce Himebaugh, School of Informatics, Computing, and Engineering
Project Course
ENGR-E 321 Advanced Cyber-Physical Systems, spring 2019