JHU SGAThe 114th Session
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SGA Community Solutions Network

Unknown · 113th session · created March 27, 2026 · updated April 27, 2026

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This document is from a previous session and is kept for the record. It may have been amended or replaced since.

SGA Community Solutions Network (CSN)

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  1. Introduction

The SGA Community Solutions Network (CSN) is a proposed student-run initiative designed to mobilize RSOs to address community-identified challenges in Baltimore using ethical, culturally informed, and community-aligned practices. The initiative aims to create structured sustainable mechanisms through which the student can contribute meaningfully to Baltimore’s priorities while maintaining realistic expectations, avoiding overpromising, and ensuring long-term relationship building between Hopkins Students and the greater Baltimore Community. The CSN would be managed by the SGA Standing Legislative Committee on Civic Engagement.

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  1. Core Framework

SGA Civic Engagement Committee:

  • Oversees the full CSN pipeline
  • Selects annual problem areas from 21CC’s community needs dashboard
  • Issues RFPs and selects RSOs
  • Allocates project budgets
  • Conducts feasibility and scope checks
  • Maintains accountability and reporting.
  • Manages the Hopkins-caused problems pipeline.

Supporting Non-Governing Partners

  • Partners provide expertise, context, and connections, but do not control the pipeline. Their input will be thoughtfully considered. Partners and expertise areas include:
    • Center for Social Concern (CSC): community relationships, ethical guidance, CBPR alignment
    • Government Service Corps (GSC): problem scoping, feasibility checks, data access, optional mentors.
    • 21st Century Cities Initiative (21CC): Data insights, climate/social science expertise, community collaboration experience.
    • Other Hopkins entities: SNF Agora, etc.

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  1. Annual Problem Selection

Each academic year, the SGA Civic Engagement Committee selects 1-3 major problems to address. Sources for community-identified problems include: the 21CC Baltimore Survey, Community Partners, City Agencies, Hopkins-caused harms identified by students.

The problems selected must be:

  • Substantive
  • Feasible for 1-2 semester RSO projects
  • Community-aligned
  • Realistically scoped

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  1. Pipeline Overview
  2. Problem Identification
    1. Data driven issues from the Baltimore Survey
    2. Community-identified needs via CSC partners
    3. City-identified needs via GSC
    4. Hopkins-caused harms identified by students or student groups.
  3. Problem Scoping and Feasibility:
    1. Led by SGA Civic Engagement Committee
    2. Includes feasibility check by greater SGA body to avoid overpromising
    3. Partners consulted as needed
    4. Work together at start of semester to put together a clearly defined “problem brief”
  4. RFP Release
    1. Lightweight RFP open to SGA-recognized RSOs that fall under categories related to the nature of the issue.
    2. Focus on understanding of the problem, any RSO/individual member history with the nature of the problem, and proposing a rough draft solution.
    3. Emphasis on interdisciplinary approaches.
  5. RSO Selection
    1. Evaluated on feasibility, alignment, capacity, and community relevance.
    2. The selection committee includes SGA Civic Engagement Committee and optional partner advisors.
  6. Issue-Specific Micro-Advisory Groups
    1. 2-4 advisors per project
    2. Drawn from community organizations or city agencies if possible, may include Hopkins advisors/administrators or partners from CSC, 21CC, or GSC.
    3. Provides context, guardrails, feedback, and assistance in the detailed planning stages.
    4. Not a standing body; formed individually for each project. Some individuals may be consistent partners for multiple boards.
  7. Proposal Refinement:
    1. SGA and advisors help refine the RSOs rough draft
    2. Ensure CPBR alignment, feasibility, and realistic deliverables (SMART goals)
  8. Implementation
    1. RSO executes the project, calling on SGA as necessary.
    2. SGA provides stipend to RSO for their willingness to take on the project. Stipend may be used however the RSO seems fitting, and any leftovers are awarded to the RSO as a “thank you.” If RSO needs to go over budget, they must get a Senator to propose a new funding bill, and leftovers will not be awarded to the RSO.
    3. Partners offer optional support, mentorship, or data access.
    4. No one-off engagements (e.x. 10 members from an RSO go to a pre-organized park cleanup project); projects must be substantive. Think “I can come back 30 years later and the difference we made will be noticeable.”
  9. Reporting and Accountability
    1. RSOs report progress to the Civic Engagement committee as the project goes on.
    2. Once the project is complete, RSO reports progress to the Senate at GBM.
    3. Community partners provide feedback.
    4. SGA documents outcomes and lessons learned for future RFPs.

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  1. Hopkins-Caused Problems Pipeline
  • RSOs or students may identify issues caused or exacerbated by Hopkins.
  • RSOs or students that identify these issues will submit a “policy memo” to the Civic Engagement Committee, including background on the problem and reasonable recommendations for action.
  • If passed the Civic Engagement Committee, will be discussed during non-Legislative Business at the next GBM for general SGA input.
  • SGA will advocate to the administration for institutional change, as considered reasonable by key stakeholders.
  • This provides a unique accountability mechanism unavailable to external actors.

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  1. Community Partnership Maintenance

To ensure long-standing connections and avoid one-off interactions, SGA will create a Community Partner Posting Board (a simple Google Form to submit, and then events are added to the SGA webpage) Community Partners can share:

  • Volunteer needs
  • Ongoing programs
  • Opportunities for student involvement
  • Long-term collaboration interests
  • Maintained by SGA Civic Engagement Committee, CSC, and the SGA Director of Communications.

This aims to ensure ongoing relationships beyond just individual projects.

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  1. Guiding Principles of SGA CSN
    1. Community Led: problems and solutions defined by community partners and data.
    2. Feasibility: projects must be reasonably scoped and achievable.
    3. Sustainability: long-term relationships prioritized over one-off engagements.
    4. Transparency: Clear expectations, timelines, and deliverables.
    5. Student development: Students gain practical experience while contributing meaningfully.
    6. Political Neutrality: following SNF agora principles, in political situations, the SGA CSN and its selection processes will not take on a biased political lens, honoring viewpoints across the political spectrum.

LOG OF ACTIONS TAKEN: 1/26/2026 – Shreemann Patel shares Problem-Solving Network idea during cohort time at Senate GBM (over Zoom) 2/11/2026 – Shreemann Patel writes initial hard-copy proposal for CSN 2/11/2026 – Shreemann Patel and Jason Yu met with Dr. Blanks Jones, Director of the Center for Social Concern. 3/19/2026 – Shreemann Patel meets with Adler Archer of the Government Service Corps 3/19/2026 – Shreemann Patel meets with Mac McComas of the 21st Century Cities Initiative 3/27/2026 – Shreemann Patel writes revised CSN proposal. 3/29/2026 – Shreemann Patel presents CSN to Civic Engagement Committee 3/31/2026 – Shreemann Patel presents CSN at SGA GBM

GENERAL NOTES AND INFORMATION:

  • Eventually, the CSN will take the form of a guiding document for the Civic Engagement Committee, similar to the Finance Committee’s guiding documents.
  • While the primary purpose of the CSN is to bridge the gap between students and Baltimore, there is a secondary goal of providing the Civic Engagement Committee with a consistent schedule of things to do during the academic year.
  • No individual student will be selected to solve a problem. RSOs may only apply as full organizations. This is to prevent burning bridges due to, for example, a midterm that happened to be the day of a major deadline for a proposed community solution.
  • GW Uni Similar Thing – reach out!!!!
  • Accountability:
    • Will be consequences – attendance/disciplinary enforcements, etc.
    • Once every few weeks report to SGA
    • One individual held fully accountable for this (One person as the “main point of contact/project coordinator” but full group responsible for planning and execution)
  • School of Public Health, — leaning on that (we are not trying to go in with a hero complex… ) → students from other campuses looking to work WITH the student government, see if we can connect with them/their SGAs and see if they can collaborate with us to make it a city-wide thing. THINKING OUT LOUD: let’s partner with other universities but later… once we know this works for us.
  • Long-term (more than just two semesters)
  • CSC training on how to engage with community ethically
    • CLDP (look at how that is structured as well)
  • Forming meaningful relationships in just a few semesters:
    • Still opportunities for us to engage with community partners and be open about expectations and go into it by saying “oh we only have a semester or two there are a lot of projects that can still be taken up meaningfully.
  • Follow the Eagle Scout/Summit Award/Distinguished Conservation Service Award workbooks, etc.