Volume 8 - Issue 3 - Home Page

March 2016 | Volume 8, Issue 3

Featured MSU Engaged Scholars

Linda S. Vail, representing the Ingham County Health Department, and Dr. Adesuwa B. Olomu, College of Human Medicine, are the co-recipients of the 2015-16 Community Engagement Scholarship Award
  • Adesuwa B. Olomu, M.D., M.S., FACP
  • Professor, Department of Medicine
  • College of Human Medicine

Addressing the Disparity Gap in Cardiac Care Receives Community Engagement Scholarship Award

Cardiovascular disease is a serious diagnosis for an individual, and that often means changing and rearranging one's lifestyle and daily habits.

That can be not only difficult, but nearly impossible, to manage for patients in the lower socioeconomic rungs of society.

Dr. Ade Olomu and the Ingham County Health Department (ICHD) are the 2016 co-recipients of the Community Engagement Scholarship Award bestowed during the annual MSU Awards Convocation on February 9th. The collaboration was recognized for translating research into practice in cardiovascular care for vulnerable populations, with the goal of decreasing the effects of cardiovascular disease and death ... read more

ESL teacher training students from the Panamá Bilingüe Program pose with Sparty at a baseball game.
  • Susan M. Gass, Ph.D.
  • University Distinguished Professor and Director, English Language Center
  • Department of Linguistics and Germanic, Slavic, Asian and African Languages
  • College of Arts and Letters
  • Carol Wilson-Duffy, M.A.
  • Outreach Specialist and Associate Director, English Language Center
  • College of Arts and Letters

The Panamá Bilingüe Program: Helping Panama Increase English Competency

President Juan Carlos Varela of Panama has a vision for a bilingual Panama. After his election in 2014, he set a goal for his five-year term of sending 500 public school teachers each year to the United States to study English and English language education. As a graduate of Georgia Technical Institute in Atlanta, President Varela has a great deal of respect for the American university system.

Panama and the United States have a century-long relationship, much of that centered on the construction and management of the Panama Canal. There is also a U.S. military base in Panama. Spanish is, of course, the country's primary language, and less than 20 percent of Panamanians also speak English. To graduate more high school students with command of the English language, the Panamanian Ministry of Education is working with a number of universities across the United States. Michigan State University through its English Language Center (ELC) is one of the institutions partnering with President Varela's Panamá Bilingüe program, and the ELC will soon welcome its fourth cohort of teachers from Panama since the partnership began last year ... read more

MSU Priorities

Community and Economic Development in the 21st Century

David Douches, director of the MSU Potato Breeding and Genetics Program, discusses scientific findings during the variety evaluation session of the 2016 Winter Potato Conference hosted by the Michigan Potato Industry Commission
  • David Douches, Ph.D.
  • Professor, Department of Plant, Soil, and Microbial Sciences
  • Director, MSU Potato Breeding and Genetics Program
  • College of Agriculture and Natural Resources
  • Christopher M. Long
  • Outreach Specialist, Department of Plant, Soil, and Microbial Sciences
  • College of Agriculture and Natural Resources

Research and Collaboration have Big Economic Impacts on Michigan's Potato Industry

Potatoes appear to be an easy, inexpensive, reliable, nutritious, abundant, and durable staple of most any diet around the world. Dave Douches knows the science is not so simple.

As the program director of the MSU Potato Breeding and Genetics Program, Douches works with science colleagues, potato growers, shippers, processors, and others to advance the growth and development of healthy Michigan potatoes.

Douches leads a multidisciplinary program that integrates conventional breeding and new biotechnological approaches to address pest and disease resistance, along with storage capabilities. He and the MSU team work closely with members of the Michigan Potato Industry Commission to align research goals and educational efforts ... read more

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 Burton Bargerstock, Executive Director of the Office for Public Engagement and Scholarship, at (517) 353-8977 or bb@msu.edu.

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: engaged.scholar@msu.edu.

Resources

MSU Graduate Certification in Community Engagement
This program prepares graduate students for 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.

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

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