As Dane County prepares to update a water recreation study, two University of Wisconsin–Madison students are supporting the effort by creating a survey of county residents while gaining valuable policy and research experiences.
Vanessa Gardner and Samantha Givich are working for Dane County as policy analysis interns during the spring 2023 semester through UniverCity Alliance – a network of community and campus partners working to improve local governments and foster innovation in local communities – and the Department of Political Science.
Gardner, who graduated in May with degrees in community and environmental sociology and a certificate in gender and women’s studies, said the experience aligned with the focus of her major – how people interact with their environment.
“With the waterways here, we’re focusing on creating a survey to find out how people are using lakes – when and why and if anything stops them – so that the county can get some feedback about water recreation resources,” Gardner said.
Givich, who plans to graduate in December with degrees in political science and environmental studies and certificates in public policy and gender and women’s studies, pursued this opportunity because she hopes the policy and research experience will support her future goal of attending law school.
The students are putting together the beginning pieces of a survey that will ask county residents about their water recreation use. Their work will provide the first steps in future analysis and inform the update of the existing water recreation plan from 2012.
Dane County Board Chair Patrick Miles said the board has made “community engagement a cornerstone in policy development.”
“Resident input is important on a wide variety of topics, including the use of the county’s water recreation resources,” Miles said. “The input received from county residents who use our water recreation resources will be collected over the next year. Once analyzed, this resident data will help County Board Supervisors gauge resident concerns and potential opportunities.”

The Dane County Board of Supervisors was a UniverCity partner from 2017-19, and starting in 2022, UniverCity has supported the county by pairing two students each semester to work on policy analysis projects. Miles said the partnership provides an opportunity for the county and UW–Madison to learn from and support one another.
“The County Board uses innovative ideas in policymaking, and the partnership with UniverCity Alliance supports this effort while also providing a chance for students to learn from experienced public policy analysts and understand the impact of local county government,” Miles said.
Amy Gangl, director of undergraduate studies in the Department of Political Science, emphasized the value in students engaging in applied research and on-the-ground policy problems.
“Students are always looking for hands-on opportunities and research, and this was applied research where you actually can feel like you are making a difference,” Gangl said.
Givich and Gardner described feeling more confident creating surveys after this experience and being excited to work with real dataset and not sample information for coursework. Additionally, Gardner said the experience connected her more to her local community.
“As a transfer student, it was hard to get involved,” Gardner said. “It’s been really nice to find something that I can get involved in and feel really at home and really welcomed by (Dane County and UW–Madison staff). It’s been really fun.”
The partnership will continue into the 2024-25 academic year with two additional policy analysis projects slated for Fall 2024. If you are interested in inquiring about the projects available, you can contact Gavin Luter at luter@wisc.edu.
—Abigail Becker