MetroBridge Program Awarded Two-Year Grant by Davis Educational Foundation

The Initiative on Cities’ MetroBridge experiential learning program has been awarded a two-year grant for $25,000 from the Davis Educational Foundation to support urban, place-based experiential learning at Boston University. The Davis Educational Foundation was established by Stanton and Elisabeth Davis after Mr. Davis’ retirement as chairman of Shaw’s Supermarkets, Inc.

MetroBridge is a university-wide applied research and experiential learning program that matches BU courses to local governments and community organizations. It provides students with the unique opportunity to work on real-world projects, and partners with valuable research to address pressing urban challenges.

Paige Dolci, MetroBridge Program Manager (left) with Dr. Deborah Breen, Director of the BU Center for Teaching & Learning

In partnership with BU’s Center for Teaching and Learning, the MetroBridge program will develop and deliver new faculty resources for experiential learning:

  1. A curriculum toolkit on local government will inform effective university-community partnerships by providing faculty with sample syllabi, relevant class assignments and readings, and a module on how to write briefings for local governments.
  2. Two in-person trainings will encourage faculty to experiment with innovative teaching methods, with guidance on securing partnerships with communities, engagement and implementation, presenting deliverables, and evaluating results.

To best understand and meet the needs of the BU community through these new resources, this grant will also fund Bridge Builders, a new Faculty Fellows Program at the Center for Teaching and Learning focused on experiential learning. Participating Faculty Fellows will regularly engage with and learn from each other, pulling from their own classroom experiences to offer insight into the barriers to and impacts of project-based teaching and to help inform the new curricular toolkit and trainings for their faculty peers. Bridge Builder Fellows will receive $1,000 research stipends for each year they participate.

These exciting new initiatives will launch in Fall 2022. To learn more or get involved, please contact MetroBridge Faculty Director David Glick at dmglick@bu.edu, or Program Manager Paige Dolci at pdolci@bu.edu.