Message from the Vice Provost
Kwesi Brookins, Vice Provost for University Outreach and Engagement
A Bright Start to the New Year
I know, this is Michigan. Winter brings more clouds than sun, and the fickle snow-ice-rain dance can make traversing our many communities treacherous. It’s also been a challenging season for higher education overall, but none of this takes our eyes off our collective engagement mission.
That’s why I’m especially pleased to share that the university has received the 2026 Carnegie Elective Classification for Community Engagement, our third such recognition from the American Council on Education and the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching. We were among the first universities to receive this designation in 2006.
What a bright spot to start the calendar year, one that affirms MSU’s firm footing as a global leader in community-engaged scholarship.
To earn this classification, UOE led an extensive self-study with contributions from MSU Extension and input from the Office of Institutional Research and other units. The report highlighted the community-engaged work we do alongside faculty, staff, students, and community partners to make a meaningful impact on society and further the public good.
“Higher education is a vital economic engine for us all. Our colleges and universities not only fuel science and innovation, they build prosperity in rural, urban and suburban communities nationwide,” said Timothy F.C. Knowles, president of the Carnegie Foundation. “We celebrate each of these institutions, particularly their dedication to partnering with their neighbors—fostering civic engagement, building useable knowledge, and catalyzing real world learning experiences for students.”
That’s certainly the case here at MSU. The day after the January 12th Carnegie announcement, an independent economic impact study revealed that MSU and its public university peers generate nearly $45 billion in economic activity each year. MSUToday reported that “MSU accounts for approximately $6.81 billion of that economic activity, underscoring its role as one of the state’s largest drivers of research, workforce development, and innovation.”
The Carnegie classification recognizes the community-engaged work that undergirds so much of MSU’s impact—not only in the state of Michigan but nationally and around the globe.
As part of the self-study process, we reflected on the depth and variety of ways faculty, staff, and students engage with communities through scholarship, service, creative activity, and teaching and learning, and provided countless examples of such work. For other examples, see the stories in this issue of Engaged Scholar and our Engaged Scholar archive.
As we begin a new calendar year, we look forward to building on MSU’s land-grant legacy by strengthening existing ties and forging new relationships with communities in Lansing, Flint, and Detroit, the state of Michigan, and beyond!
If you would like to learn more about ways to engage, please reach out! We’d love to partner with you.
Kwesi Brookins,
Vice Provost for University Outreach and Engagement
