Diversity Blueprints

The recommendations included in the complete subcommittee reports are the product of many individuals and groups at the University of Michigan. In the interest of an inclusive, community-wide conversation, we have shared the full set of subcommittee materials as well as the many suggestions sent to the Task Force by students, faculty, staff, alumni and community members. Specific recommendations reflect this diverse input, and do not necessarily represent the consensus of the entire Diversity Blueprints Taskforce nor the official position and approach of the University.

Educational Outreach and Engagement Subgroup

Diversity Blueprints Task Force
University of Michigan
February 15, 2007

Download this report as a 96K .pdf*

Members:
Jill Andrews
Deborah Ball
Percy Bates (Co-chair)
Philip Bowman
Angela Dillard
Billy Joe Evans
Brittany Marino
Robert Megginson (Co-chair)
Laura Patterson
Julie Peterson
David Schoem
Charles B. Smith
Richard Stacy

The University of Michigan is one of the premier universities in the country, both because of our academic excellence and because of the diversity of our scholarly community. The recommendations laid out in this subcommittee report will support our efforts to build a diverse student body within the boundaries established by Proposal 2. Educational outreach will be an essential part of our ability to achieve this goal by allowing us to build long-term relationships with prospective students, their parents and advisers, schools, and the broader community.

We view these outreach efforts as distinct from admissions recruiting. Our purpose is not specifically to recruit students to apply to and enroll at U-M — that is a more focused set of activities being addressed by a separate subcommittee and by admitting offices across the university. Rather, we seek to develop and deepen relationships that will increase the pool of qualified students available to attend the University, and make it more likely that these highly qualified students will see the University as a desirable choice for advanced education. However, the two efforts — outreach and recruiting — should be mutually supportive and interconnected to the greatest extent possible.

The term “outreach” does not fully capture a mutually respectful relationship that values the role of external communities and individuals in this endeavor. Our approach must be one of partnership, in which the University and its community partners are equal participants and ideas and activities flow in both directions.

Such partnerships take place in dozens of ways across the campus, across the state, and around the globe. However, these efforts are often fragmented and do not work together toward a coherent goal. Our recommendations are intended to provide coordination, increased visibility, and enhanced resources in order to maximize the impact of the University’s outreach and engagement activities. Rigorous evaluation of the effectiveness of our programs will be an important component.

It will also be important that the schools and colleges, as well as academic units within each school, recognize the value of educational outreach and its contribution to the academic mission of the University. Faculty involvement in and support of these educational partnerships is essential — our outreach efforts will not be successful if they are limited to a staff or administrative function. Reward systems must encourage and appropriately value faculty involvement in outreach.

Finally, we would like to make mention of campus climate. None of the Diversity Blueprints subcommittees was specifically charged with exploring the role of campus climate in sustaining and enhancing our diversity. Yet we have heard frequently from students, faculty, and staff that climate plays a central role in the willingness of individuals to work and study at the University. Incidents that reflect poorly on the climate can become a barrier to our efforts to build community partnerships and increase the pool of qualified students who are interested in the University. It is our belief that climate is an important concept underlying the work of each of the subcommittees.

Recommendation #1
Create a University Center for Outreach and Engagement

Mission of Center
The Center for Outreach and Engagement will be a central unit that facilitates and supports partnerships between the University and its many communities. Specifically, the Center will facilitate collaboration among academic and administrative units, foster the development of new community outreach initiatives and partnerships, and administer some outreach and engagement programs of its own. Evaluation of the effectiveness of specific programs will be an important component of the Center’s work.

Structure of Center
The Center will be directed by a high-level executive within the current University structure, possibly an individual situated at the cabinet level. Adequate support personnel should be provided to the Center along with a budget at a level to assure the successful implementation of the Center’s programs. Included in the Center structure will be representation from the schools and colleges in order to provide a connection for the development and implementation of tailored programs from the academic units. It is anticipated that there will be broad participation across the University’s schools and colleges.

Suggested Center Activities
These activities or initiatives could be part of the Center or could originate within a school or department. Many of these kinds of programs exist in fragmented form around the campus. This proposed unit would draw these efforts together, making them a stronger signature of the University and creating greater synergy between the units.

  1. Work with deans and directors to identify an “outreach liaison” from each unit who will work with the Center to coordinate, increase, and enhance engagement activities within the unit.
  2. Establish and promote competitive, internal grant opportunities for faculty and staff for new outreach and engagement programs and activities.
  3. Provide funding to faculty to support community outreach and engagement related to academic pursuits.
  4. Facilitate ongoing conversations among academic and administrative units, and conduct content-specific focus groups to generate ideas and build collaborations around new outreach and engagement activities.
  5. Collaborate with the Office of Undergraduate Admissions, the Office of Academic Multicultural Initiatives, the National Center for Institutional Diversity, other centers, and the academic units to develop more programs that bring underrepresented groups to campus for programs, tours, etc. Underrepresentation will be broadly defined and not limited to race or gender.
  6. Establish University-Community Advisory groups in targeted communities to engage leadership from those communities in generating proposals for outreach activities.
  7. Conduct population analyses, economic analyses, and market research to better understand the demographics of the state of Michigan and the United States to identify new opportunities for outreach and engagement and build new pipelines for student and faculty recruitment.
  8. Develop and maintain an inventory of outreach and engagement activities; report to Executive Officers and the Board of Regents annually on engagement activities, their costs and outcomes.
  9. Expand the role of Alumni in outreach and engagement of future students.
  10. Establish criteria to assess faculty/staff/programs in outreach and engagement.
  11. Utilize programs such as the Michigan Service Corps to support schools, neighborhoods, and community-based organizations in the state of Michigan.
  12. Establish communication avenues with government bodies that would allow us to advocate for areas where we might be engaged.
  13. Establish 4-year student citizen scholarship program in coordination with Michigan Community Scholars Program (MCSP) for undergraduates with distinguished service to the community through their four years at Michigan.

Recommendation #2
Reinvent the University of Michigan as a University of Research and Public Service

  1. Strive to recast U-M research centers as both research and social problem-solving centers.
  2. Revise promotion and tenure criteria to value engagement, outreach, and service activities.
  3. Assure the potential pipeline between research projects, community outreach, and student admissions is defined at the time a research proposal is developed and established at the time a research project is initiated.

Recommendation #3
Enhance Communication With the Citizens of the State of Michigan About the University of Michigan's Values of Democracy, Citizenship, Diversity and Access, and Connect Those Values to the Needs of the State

  1. Develop and disseminate strategies and vehicles for increased public dialogue on key issues (i.e. town hall meetings, focus groups, etc.). For example, highly effective programs such as the Youth Dialogues on Race and Ethnicity in Metropolitan Detroit could be expanded to reach additional communities across the state.
  2. Expand and diversify the pool of key advocates of University positions to demonstrate a broader foundation of support and more clearly articulate the underlying rationale.
  3. Construct routine interface methods (not crisis-centered) with members of the news media to educate them about the work, environment, and realities of the University, and the future challenges our students will face.
  4. Activate a team of high-profile alumni across the state to serve as active partners in ongoing efforts to communicate with and educate local media and community leaders.

Recommendation #4
Develop Highly Focused Partnerships With K-12 Schools Inside and Outside of Michigan in Order to Increase the Pool of Qualified Students Who Aspire to Attend College

  1. “Adopt” one or more schools and create opportunities for interactive programs, campus visits and scholarships through the school.
  2. Develop a pilot program with a minority-serving middle school and high school modeled after the Kalamazoo Promise. Program would include setting standards of academic achievement and guaranteeing admission and financial support to those students who achieve the standards. Accompany this pledge with a carefully developed support system for the school(s) and the students.

DB Outreach & Engagement Appendix
Brainstorming Top 4-5 Recommendations

Item # Concepts Activities
1. Partnerships to Solving Social Problems Work with parents
2. Work with K-12 Public Schools at the District and School Level Work with children
3. U-M Pre-college Academy: STEM Focus Work with low-income grades 9-12 students
4. Michigan Service Corps Work with school administrators
5. Promote and Reward Public Scholarship in the Research University Work with teachers
6. Engage Public Media/Publishing Companies to Support Public Scholarship Work with community-based Organizations
7. Include Outreach Efforts as Part of Tenure Process Facilitate community service
8. Establish Summer Satellite Programs for Adult and Continuing Education Facilitate service-learning
9. Expand Use of Detroit Center Offer arts of citizenship opportunities
10. Establish University Outreach and Engagement Values Four-year student-citizen scholarships (with MCSP)
11. Collaborative Institutional Agenda Setting with External Constituents Offer summer internships
12. Coordinate/Support Regional, State, National, and International Outreach Initiatives Establish UM staff/alumni mentoring program
13. Enhance Fundraising Efforts to Support Outreach and Engagement Activities Develop outreach programs complementary to research projects
14. Construct a Strategic Framework Based on Current Campus Outreach Offer summer institutes to: teachers, administrators, non-profit personnel, urban/community/government leaders
15. Recognize Academic Outreach as Scholarly Activity Conduct a study on peer institutions’ outreach and engagement and establish a “Best Practices Guide” for UM
16. Facilitate Student Recruitment Establish a clear definition of UM outreach
17. Evaluate, Assess, Oversee Outreach of Units Link outreach and engagement to overall academic planning
18. Foster Development of New Community Outreach and Partnerships Encourage all units to be actively engaged with external constituents
19. Initiate Outreach and Engagement Scholarship Opportunities for Students, Faculty, Staff Inventory outreach activities and align with campus reporting system, e.g., annual faculty reports, performance reviews, etc.
20. Encourage Outreach and Engagement to be written into Research Grants Establish criteria to evaluate faculty/staff outreach and engagement
21. Revise UM Research Centers as both Research AND Social Problem Solving Centers Establish formal award program to recognize outreach
22. Conduct Ongoing Outreach and Engagement Administrative Activities (Budget, Training, Hiring, Policymaking, Procedures, Systems, Faculty Appointments, Databases, etc.) Maintain comprehensive record of campus outreach
23. Develop Public Scholarship and Applied Research Office Conduct summer enrichment programs for high school students
24. Develop Public Partnership Grants Designate an “outreach liaison” from each unit to work with the Center
25. Develop Student Public Partnership Fellowships Promote outreach grant opportunities for faculty
26. Develop Public Partnership Consortium/Consortia Facilitate content-specific focus groups to generate ideas for new outreach and engagement activities
27. Develop Public Partnership Alumni Network and Assessment Office Bring under-represented groups (not limited to race and gender) to campus for programs, tours, etc.
28. Build Comprehensive UM-Urban Community Partnership with Specific “Low Access Communities” in Michigan With a Focus on Geographic and Class Diversity Establish university-community advisory groups to engage leadership in outreach activity proposals
29. Ensure Adequate Financial Support of Outreach Staffing in Units and Schools Conduct population, economic, and market analyses to better understand the demographics of Michigan and USA to identify new opportunities for outreach
30. Evaluate and Measure Effectiveness of Innovative Outreach Efforts and Pilot Projects Provide summer scholarships for students to participate in outreach-related internships
31. Establish Better Reward System for Faculty, Students, and Staff to Engage in Outreach Activities (Including Public Praise and Recognition) Establish a liaison with high schools, community colleges, and technical colleges in Michigan to develop outreach and partnership projects
32. Explore Ambitious Pilot Program similar to “Kalamazoo Promise”, Accompanying Pledge with Carefully Developed Support Establish the Michigan Service Corps, a volunteer service group to support schools, neighborhoods, and community organizations in Michigan
33. Greatly Expand the Role of Alumni in Outreach and Engagement of Future Students Work with OVPR and IRB to have each grant incorporate a dissemination or public outreach plan as NSF does, but more effectively reviewed
34. Expand and Enhance CSP Programs to a College Level Similar to RC, or the College of Life Long Learning at WSY Provide an intake point for research needs expressed by non-profit organizations, community partners, and state and national government departments and programs
35. Serve a coordinating function so that various initiatives can be bundled into larger projects either by geographical location or by common research theme with many facets and relationships
36. Work with Communications so that the broad benefits of a world-class public research university are widely known and not just seen to be of benefit to those admitted or hired by U-M
37. Assist in surveying, gathering data and finding out from community partners their own needs and reactions to university activities and providing forums for that information to come back to campus partners
38. Work to develop could transition criteria or programs so that community partners are not simply “Dropped” when grants or projects end or forced to work on the university semester calendar
39. Provide student scholarships available as two and four-year scholarships through formal programs such as the Michigan Community Scholars
40. Student groups dedicated to the success of particular under-represented or potentially isolated groups on campus could receive funding for hosting potential students, maintaining community contacts, tutoring and support, and increasing yield among admits
41. Replicate processes being developed by the Pathways to Social Responsibility Project under the Provost’s Committee on a Diverse Democracy, so that students who connect particular experiences such as IGR, Intercultural Leadership Seminar, GIEU, Ginsberg projects, etc. would be eligible for recognition and support for their own projects and activities
42. Form alliances with Wayne State, MSU and UM to avoid duplication of effort, but also unnecessary competition (without eliminating the healthy kind), and exchange valuable practices, information, and reach many more communities and populations
43. Partnerships with government bodies would allow us to advocate for and lobby areas that we might be engaged, but which are not our primary institutional focus, nor places where we can be broadly effective beyond a few targeted or demonstration projects, such as K-12 education in general, inequities in funding, general encouragement towards higher education, poverty and health disparities, etc.
44. Provide referrals to institutions and bodies that have the expertise particular communities might seek that are not our focus, thus still being of value as an information source and a source of valuable networking
45. Conduct Summer Academic Workshops for rising 9th-11th grade students from the UM-Urban Community Partnership
46. Alumni Mentoring Program, Adopt-A-School Program, The Village Concept
47. Develop a Diversity Media Campaign

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