Engaged Universities:
The Michigan State University Model
Outreach is a form of scholarship that cuts across teaching, research, and service. It involves generating, transmitting, applying, and preserving knowledge for the direct benefit of external audiences in ways that are consistent with university and unit missions.
Provost’s Committee on University Outreach (1993)
University Outreach at Michigan State University:
Extending Knowledge to Serve Society
At Michigan State University, outreach and engagement are woven into every facet of academic life. The MSU model for working with communities encompasses the notion that engagement is embedded in the scholarly traditionÑthe generation, transmission, application, and preservation of knowledge. Outreach is not a separate “service” activity detached from teaching and research. It is part of the core academic mission of the University.
- Engaged teaching occurs when credit and noncredit learning opportunities are taken off campus, online, and to community-based settings to increase access; or when service-learning experiences advance students’ knowledge about social issues while contributing to the immediate goals of a project.
- Engaged research occurs when a collaborative partnership conducts an investigation for the direct benefit of external partners; outcomes of the research lead to improved, evidence-based practice.
- Engaged service occurs when a faculty member summarizes current research literature about an issue for working professionals or community organizations, offers research-based policy recommendations to legislators at a committee hearing, or provides medical or therapeutic services to the public.
Since the early 1990s, Michigan State University has been deliberate and purposeful in defining, planning, implementing, and assessing its outreach work. The scholarship of engagement is, in fact, a signature area of the University.
How MSU Engages with Communities
- Every college and major administrative unit at Michigan State University engages with communities.
- Concerns addressed by MSU partnerships include culture and society, business and industry, families, community development, preK-12 and higher education, foods and fibers, government and policy, health, labor, the environment, and public safety.
- Organizational partners include businesses and industries, human service agencies, nonprofit organizations, foundations, government offices, neighborhood centers, research think tanks, school districts, and medical clinics.
- Engagement may take the form of research, expert assistance, credit or noncredit learning opportunities, events and information for public audiences, service-learning, civic engagement, or clinical services.
- Partnerships range from rural to urban and from local to international.
- Much of MSU’s engagement work addresses issues of racial, ethnic, gender, or other diversity and is carried out by diverse faculty teams.
- MSU is a national leader in service-learning and study abroad programs.
Service-Learning and Civic Engagement
Student engagement instills civic values for the next generation. It involves faculty, students, and community in mutually respectful collaborations that enhance the well-being of the community, deepen student learning, and enrich the scholarship of the University.
MSU’s Center for Service-Learning and Civic Engagement provides beyond-the-classroom learning opportunities that are integrated with students’ academic programs. Students who participate in service-learning enrich their academic knowledge with real-world applications and develop personal, professional, leadership, and citizenship skills. The service may be connected to a specific MSU course or academic major (curricular), or may simply be related to a personal passion (co-curricular).
Service opportunities for students can be as short as one afternoon or as long as a semester or academic year. More comprehensive service-learning and civic engagement experiences are offered on a semester or year-long basis. From summer 2005 through spring 2006, the Center for Service-Learning and Civic Engagement received and accommodated 11,235 student applications for service positions.
Contact Karen McKnight Casey, Director, (517) 353-4400 or caseyk {at} msu(.)edu, for more information, or visit servicelearning.msu.edu/.
Prepared by:
University Outreach and Engagement
Michigan State University
Kellogg Center, Garden Level
East Lansing, MI 48824
Phone: (517) 353-8977
Fax: (517) 432-9541
Web: outreach.msu.edu
January 2007
