I'm the coordinator of the School of Information Alternative Spring Break Program (ASB). The ASB program at the School of Information is 13 years old; I've been overseeing its success for five years now. Under my coordination, student participation has tripled, organization participation has quadupled, and I am now able to offer way more projects than we have interested students!

The program is run completely by donations from students, alumni, and corporate sponsors. In the past, we've always pursued a variety of different fund raising activities such as book drives, talent shows and bake sales in order to fund our students to go to Detroit, Chicago, Washington D.C., and New York to spend their spring break applying their information management skills in environments that need them.

This year, I offered over 175 projects for students to select from for the 2011 program.  106 students will be taking part in SI ASB 2011 at 46 different sites. These UM graduate and undergraduate students will spend their 2011 spring break week working at non-profit agencies such as Greenpeace, goverment agencies such as the Library of Congress, cultural institutions such as the Metropolitan Museum of Art, and educational organizations such as Roosevelt University in Chicago. Students also work at grassroots organizations such as Green Map System and Prevent Child Abuse America where they make a significant impact by implementing information and technology solutions allowing the organizations to work better with their constituents, be more effective with their service providing, and be more accessible through technology. All of the participating organizations submit amazing, unique projects that allow the students to gain a real-world experience while contributing to the greater good.

This year, for the the 2011 SI ASB program, we are sharing about SI ASB and fund raising for the program through Crowdrise!

Fourteen SI students, who are pursuing their Master of Science in Information, have volunteered to help raise money this year to support the program, and thus make it possible for 100 other students to take part.

Your donation to the program can greatly help ensure the success of our 2011 program and allow for all the SI students to go on ASB that want to go.