The Scott Scholars Design Studio Internship program allows Scott Scholars to impact community organizations by helping solve an organizational challenge using a human-centered design thinking approach.
Summer 2026 Design Studio Internship Applications Are Open!
2026 Dates: June 1 - August 7
To begin, complete the Design Studio Internship Application.
Please feel free to contact kbaysa@unomaha.edu or 402.554.2275 if you have any questions.
Launched in Summer 2020, the Design Studio Internship program allows Scott Scholars to impact community organizations by helping them solve an organizational challenge using a human-centered design thinking approach.
Scott Scholar interns spend their days working with clients and their evenings learning programming languages to create mobile applications. The Design Studio Internship program has expanded to feature students from all five Scott Scholar programs.
The Opportunity:
- Solve real-world problems for organizations around the Omaha area
- Learn programming skills in various programming languages
- Competitive salary with benefits including room and board and an unlimited meal plan
- Live and learn with fellow Scott Scholars across all nine national programs in Omaha, Nebraska
- Present deliverables and next steps with your groups for stakeholders
Requirements:
- Incoming students who have accepted their scholarship or current Scott Scholars
- Ability to work at least 30 hours per week in person on UNO's campus
- Must not miss more than five days of the internship experience
- Must live in Scott Residence Hall during the work week
During the Summer of 2025, 45 students from UNO, Creighton, Colorado State, Hastings College, Southeast Community College, and Northeast Community College worked in teams to deliver technical solutions for community organizations.
Summer 2025 Cohort
The Collective for Hope
Problem Statement:
The Collective for Hope is an Omaha-based nonprofit that provides free grief support services to children, adults, and families experiencing loss. After undergoing branding and name changes, the organization has experienced declines in awareness and volunteer engagement, limiting access to essential grief support and reducing the reach of its services in the community.
Proposed Solution:
The team designed creative marketing initiatives—including interactive, gamified tabling activities and take-home memorial lantern kits—that fostered emotional connection and sparked community interest. They also developed Standard Operating Procedures to maintain alumni engagement, creating a pipeline for graduates to return as trained volunteers. This approach strengthens the organization’s reach, deepens its volunteer base, and sustains its mission over time.
The Collective for Youth
Problem Statement:
Collective for Youth is an Omaha-based nonprofit that coordinates high-quality after-school programs for over 5,000 students, aiming to support academic success, social-emotional growth, and safe environments. Despite its meaningful impact, the organization faces challenges with community awareness, provider engagement, and event coordination, which limits its ability to expand reach and fully leverage partnerships to benefit students.
Proposed Solution:
Interns delivered a strategic social media marketing plan designed to amplify Collective for Youth’s visibility, strengthen provider partnerships, and engage the broader community. They created a refreshed visual identity—including partnered logos and a proposed new logo—to establish a recognizable and unified brand. To expand community engagement, they designed a blueprint for a new spring event, adding a signature experience to the organization’s annual calendar that could attract new families, volunteers, and donors.
Completely Kids
Problem Statement:
Completely Kids is a nonprofit in Omaha providing safe, enriching out-of-school programming, food distribution, and childcare to support the development of over 2,900 children and families annually. Despite its success, the organization struggles with teen retention, particularly among older teens, leaving many youth without continued access to critical developmental support during a key transitional period.
Proposed Solution:
To address teen retention, the team developed a multi-pronged strategy blending physical space improvements, targeted marketing, and event-based engagement. Initiatives included a teen-centered marketing campaign, a renovated library space designed for socialization and study, and a stronger digital presence. They also launched signature events such as a homecoming prep day and a trades career fair, giving teens both immediate incentives to participate and long-term reasons to stay connected.
Henry Doorly Zoo & Aquarium
Problem Statement:
Henry Doorly Zoo and Aquarium, consistently ranked among the top zoos in the nation, is a premier destination in Omaha, providing world-class exhibits and conservation education to millions of visitors each year. However, the zoo faces challenges with an outdated membership database, including duplicate profiles and data inconsistencies, which hinder accurate tracking, communication, analytics, and fundraising. Additionally, declining membership numbers threaten the organization’s ability to maintain a sustainable budget and support its ongoing programs.
Proposed Solution:
Interns tackled membership challenges by creating automated scripts to detect and reconcile duplicate accounts, improving data accuracy for communication, analytics, and fundraising. They produced a detailed database operations manual, ensuring sustainable long-term management. To counter declining memberships, the team presented a targeted growth plan—including segmented marketing strategies, loyalty incentives, and member-exclusive experiences—positioning the Zoo to both attract new members and deepen engagement with existing ones.
Nebraska Medicine
Problem Statement:
Nebraska Medicine is the largest medical center in the Omaha metro area, serving more than 90,000 patients annually with advanced emergency and trauma care. Despite clinical excellence, the emergency department experience suffers from long wait times, limited communication, and unclear processes, negatively impacting patient comfort and satisfaction while adding stress for staff.
Proposed Solution:
To improve patient comfort and reduce anxiety in the emergency department, interns curated a tiered amenities plan—ranked by cost and feasibility—that Nebraska Medicine can implement in stages. They also designed an informative, easy-to-read patient guide explaining the waiting process, setting clear expectations, and connecting visitors to on-site resources. Together, these solutions have the potential to enhance patient satisfaction scores, ease staff workload, and improve overall care perception.
Omaha Community Playhouse
Problem Statement:
The Omaha Community Playhouse (OCP) is the largest community theater in the nation, offering live performances and arts education programs. While the theater provides quality programming, it struggles to connect with younger audiences, limiting the cultivation of future patrons and the long-term sustainability of its programs.
Proposed Solution:
The team conceptualized and launched OCP Fest, the theater’s first immersive community festival, showcasing upcoming productions, providing behind-the-scenes tours, and partnering with local businesses for cross-promotion. This inaugural event drew a younger demographic, increased season ticket interest, and created a scalable model for future audience engagement— laying the foundation for cultivating the next generation of patrons.
Refugee Women Rising
Problem Statement:
Refugee Women Rising supports approximately 200 refugee women annually in Omaha by offering wellness classes, culinary training, and driver’s education. Outdated technology and inconsistent processes have hindered operational efficiency, limiting staff capacity to deliver programs and support women in building independence and community.
Proposed Solution:
Interns modernized the organization’s technology infrastructure by streamlining its file systems, consolidating platforms, and producing an 11-page best-practices manual to ensure long-term efficiency. They also restructured the onboarding process, giving new staff instant access to essential documents, training materials, and communication tools. These improvements free staff from administrative bottlenecks, enabling them to focus more time on delivering impactful programs to the women they serve.
Scouting America
Problem Statement:
Scouting America’s Mid-American Council serves youth in eastern Nebraska, western Iowa, and parts of South Dakota through outdoor education and leadership programs. The organization faces declining scout retention in grades 4–6, a critical age for youth development. Loss of engagement at this stage threatens leadership growth, long-term participation, and the organization’s ability to positively impact youth outcomes.
Proposed Solution:
The team designed a fully detailed wireframe for a mobile application that connects scouts, parents, troop leaders, and volunteers in a single, centralized hub. Features include progress tracking, resource sharing, event calendars, and communication tools—all designed to keep members engaged and informed. This digital platform directly addresses retention by making participation easier, more interactive, and relevant for today’s youth.
Scholars in STEM
Problem Statement:
Scholars in STEM is an initiative dedicated to empowering middle school students to explore science, technology, engineering, and mathematics. Inconsistent curriculum and limited program scalability currently restrict long-term outreach and impact for future programming.
Proposed Solution:
Interns designed and hosted a hands-on STEM camp for middle school students, delivering engaging activities in physics, zoology, biology, and electrical engineering to spark curiosity and confidence in STEM fields. Beyond the event, they created a step-by-step planning guide, ensuring the program can be replicated and scaled for future programs. This dual approach provides both immediate impact for participants and a sustainable growth model for the organization.
UneTech
Problem Statement:
UNeTech is the technology transfer and commercialization arm of the University of Nebraska Medical Center. Its proprietary antibiogram tool tracks antibiotic resistance patterns, but limited adoption outside UNMC reduces its public health impact, particularly in rural hospitals and private practices.
Proposed Solution:
The team built a dynamic, scalable antibiogram platform using the Ionic Angular Framework, delivering fast, intuitive access to antibiotic resistance data. Features include advanced filtering, real-time search results, and a streamlined interface for quick clinical decision-making. By making the tool accessible to healthcare providers beyond UNMC, including rural clinics, this solution expands the reach of critical public health data and positions UNeTech to compete with existing market tools.