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Message from the Interim Associate Provost

Laurie Van Egeren, Interim Associate Provost for University Outreach and Engagement

Resuming Broader Impacts Activities

Dear Engaged Spartans and our partners in Michigan and around the world,

The beginning of the Fall 2021 semester found us attempting to resume some level of "normalcy" in our professional and personal lives. This includes many faculty and staff colleagues whose research, outreach, and engagement activities faced disruption over the previous 20 months. As this work has begun to move forward again, we have discussed at length how to engage safely and respectfully with our community partners and how to acknowledge the tremendous disruption and loss that they have experienced.

Some of these partners collaborate with our faculty to conduct what the National Science Foundation (NSF) terms "broader impacts" (BI) activities. NSF requires each research proposal to address how the work will advance beneficial societal impacts. These impacts may be framed in a variety of ways and address an almost limitless array of societal concerns – and often ... read more

Featured MSU Engaged Scholars

Ancient Sound, Joyful Community

Chen-Yu Huang, D.M.A.
Assistant Professor
College of Music

If music is a universal language, then perhaps it is needed now more than ever. Bringing people together to share joyful music and creative expression is one of the reasons Chen-Yu Huang loves to play—and teach others to play—the harp.

An assistant professor of harp in MSU's College of Music, Huang began playing harp at the age of 12, when her mother wanted her to audition for a talent class in her home country of Taiwan. The requirement was that each student auditioning must play the piano and one other instrument. Since her piano teacher also played harp, that's what Huang chose to play. She blossomed in her passion and skill, studying with several well-known harpists in Taiwan before coming to the U.S., where she pursued master's and doctoral degrees in harp performance at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.

Engagement is at the heart of everything Huang does, whether performing, teaching, or reaching out into the community. As a result, not only does she engage community; she creates community ... read more

Keeping Indian Children Connected with Family and Culture

Kathryn Fort, J.D.
Director, Indian Law Clinic
Associate Director, Indigenous Law and Policy Center
College of Law

Prior to the enactment of the Indian Child Welfare Act (ICWA) of 1978, American Indian/Alaska Native children were routinely taken away from their extended families, tribes, and cultures, often across state lines. Based on testimony about the long-term impacts following decades of detrimental policies and practices, Congress enacted ICWA in 1978 as a federal law establishing standards for the foster and adoptive placement of American Indian children and enabling tribes to be informed and involved in these placements ... read more

You're Not Alone: Building Diversity into the Geoscience Pipeline

Matthew Schrenk, Ph.D.
Associate Professor, Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences
College of Natural Science

Many people may not be aware of the diverse array of disciplines that comprise the geoscience field.

"I think many undergrads in general don't understand that geoscience is sort of a nexus of all these areas of science—there's chemistry, biology, engineering, and physics, all within geosciences," said Matt Schrenk, associate professor in MSU's Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences (EES). "It's not just rocks—there's environmental health issues; there's climate issues; there's natural hazards. These are not only scientific concerns, but real issues that impact communities across the globe." ... read more

Announcements and Events

Outreach and Engagement Resources

MSU Graduate Certification in Community Engagement
This program prepares graduate students for academic careers that integrate scholarship with community engagement. It offers students a transcript notation indicating that they have completed the program.

Community Engagement Toolkits
Designed by the Center for Community Engaged Learning to guide and support MSU faculty, students, staff, and community partners.

Tools of Engagement Learning Modules
Online curriculum modules are available for use by MSU faculty to introduce undergraduate students to the concept of university-community engagement.

Transformations in Higher Education: The Scholarship of Engagement Series
Available from Michigan State University Press

Looking for Community Partners?

Collaboration and partnership with communities are at the core of engaged scholarship. In all of its work, University Outreach and Engagement emphasizes university-community partnerships that are collaborative, participatory, empowering, systemic, transformative, and anchored in scholarship. If you are a faculty or academic staff member wanting to establish a community partnership, University Outreach and Engagement may be able to help you. Our staff and researchers have connections across the state in areas such as education, mental health, human services, business, and government. For more information, contact Laurie Van Egeren, Interim Associate Provost for University Outreach and Engagement at (517) 353-8977, or vanegere@msu.edu.

ES 360° Feedback ...

We would like to hear from you. Contact us with comments, suggestions, announcements, or “engaged scholar” project information for future e-newsletters. Send to Amy Byle: engaged.scholar@msu.edu or call (517) 353-8977.

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