Novel Coronavirus Pandemic
UOE RESPONDS
The Office of University Outreach and Engagement (UOE) is providing resources and ways to engage for faculty, academic staff, students, and the general public during this time of social distancing.
- Community-Engaged Research and Partnership Forums: Faculty, academic staff, post-docs, and graduate students will discuss how the pandemic is affecting our community-engaged research and share resources in moving this work forward. Learn more about the forums and register
- Student Virtual Volunteer Opportunities: All in-person volunteer opportunities coordinated by the Center for Community Engaged Learning have been suspended, but students may still participate as a virtual volunteer. Find volunteer opportunities
- MSU Science Festival: The Science Festival team has developed web-based resources, digital presentations, and other activities you can do at home. Find digital science resources
- Summer Online Pre-College Programs: UOE is providing consulting support to MSU precollege program leaders in transitioning their summer programs to online. Find Spartan Youth Program resources
Featured MSU Engaged Scholars
Editor's Note: The articles in this issue of The Engaged Scholar E-newsletter were written before the coronavirus pandemic. Our communication team members are now working remotely to bring you stories of MSU faculty and community partners working together. Thank you, and be well.
- Jean Kerver, Ph.D., MSc, RD
- Assistant Professor
- Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics
- College of Human Medicine
Increasing Access to Care for Opioid Use Disorder Patients in Northern Michigan
For individuals struggling to overcome opioid use disorder (OUD), the need for a strong support system is critical. If those individuals are pregnant, that need is critical-times-two. Jean Kerver, assistant professor of epidemiology and biostatistics in the College of Human Medicine (CHM), is working with partners at Munson Medical Center in Traverse City, Michigan, on the Community Opioid Recovery Expansion (CORE) program, an effort that facilitates long-term recovery and improved health outcomes for people with OUD through increased access to medication assisted treatment along with complementary behavioral services.
Kerver was placed at Munson five years ago, as part of CHM's effort to promote public health in rural communities. She was joined in 2016 by MSU colleague Kelly Hirko, assistant professor of epidemiology and biostatistics ...
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- Bruno Takahashi, Ph.D.
- Associate Professor, School of Journalism
- Research Director, Knight Center for Environmental Journalism
- College of Communication Arts and Sciences
An Island Incommunicado: Puerto Rico and Hurricane Maria
It's one thing to be a foreign correspondent for a major TV station or newspaper, flying off into danger to report on wars and natural disasters from Syria, China, Egypt, or other faraway places. While the danger is nothing to minimize, still, it's very different when the disaster is right in your own backyard.
Bruno Takahashi, associate professor of journalism and research director of MSU's Knight Center for Environmental Journalism, and his team are studying some of the unexpected roles that journalists found themselves playing after Hurricane Maria hit Puerto Rico on September 20th, 2017. They are talking to both journalists and their audiences who survived the storm about journalistic functions during a disaster and how audiences use the information they receive. It's a two-year project funded by the National Science Foundation ...
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MSU Awards Recognize Outstanding University-Community Partnerships
Two recent events represented the pinnacle of university-community efforts by recognizing faculty, staff, students, and external partners working together to produce diverse benefits for others in their communities.
The All-University Awards Convocation on February 4, and the MSU Outreach and Engagement Awards Ceremony on February 19, recognized people and partnerships of distinction in community-engaged research, teaching, service, and creative activity.
"So many good people go about their work quietly, while creating significant positive outcomes that contribute to our local communities and beyond. These awards feature some of those outstanding partnerships and give us inspiration for what happens when we work together," said Laurie A. Van Egeren, interim associate provost for University Outreach and Engagement ...
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