Students for Design Activism



Students for Design Activism exists to provide service both to the Twin Cities community as well as students at the University of Minnesota.

If you are interested in becoming a member of SDA or hearing more about what we are working on, please come to one of our bi-weekly meetings! We meet every other Monday in Rapson Hall (East Bank), Room 225 from 6:00-7:30pm. Please send us an email if you have questions.

Benefits of Membership

Students involved with SDA will:

  • be exposed to opportunities to use their skills with tangible projects
  • connect with members of and organizations in their local community
  • work on multidisciniplary teams of students from different fields
  • see real-world projects through to completion
  • add projects to their portfolios
  • explore innovative design ideas outside of the classroom setting
  • do all of the above with the institutional support of a Campus Life program housed in the College of Design

Expectations of Student Members Involved with a Project

Student members will have the opportunity to take on a role in a project through SDA. Projects can either be self-initiated or accepted when community members reach out to SDA. During each biweekly meeting, SDA co-chairs will share the newest possible projects, and also provide space for the brainstorming of student-initiated projects.

When a student takes on a project, they will be expected to:

  • Participate in the project as a volunteer (receiving no compensation for work, outside of the intangible yet invaluable benefits listed above!)
  • Establish a project leader who will be main contact with the client, and communicate the expected level of involvement of other students
  • Copy SDA in email correspondence with the client
  • Establish a project timeline and future deadlines (including blog entries, project completion date, presentation material publication deadlines, etc.)
  • Write a short project summary for the SDA blog within 1-2 weeks of project start
  • Fulfill client expectations of project (i.e. do the design, create deliverables)
  • Discuss project presentation materials before delivery in order to coordinate graphic consistency between projects
  • Upon project completion, write a press release (templates provided)
  • Contact co-chairs immediately if at any point a deadline cannot be met.
  • Have fun!