Message from the Vice Provost

Kwesi Brookins, Vice Provost for University Outreach and Engagement

Leading with Purpose, Partnership, and Impact

I am excited to share our new Strategic Priorities, a roadmap to guide our efforts over the next 5 years.

Entitled Leading with Purpose, Partnership, and Impact, the priorities are aptly named: They are purpose-driven, grounded in authentic and reciprocal partnerships with communities, and designed to produce lasting and positive impact in Michigan and beyond.

This is not a document that will collect dust on a shelf or languish on our website, but a dynamic plan of action that spells out concrete steps to amplify and expand upon the work of MSU professors, staff, and students alongside community partners to address today’s most pressing challenges.

In 2026 alone, new initiatives include:

• Establishing Engagement Innovation Labs to connect faculty, staff, and students with community partners to seek external funding to address community-articulated priorities. Labs draw on university and community expertise to deliver practical solutions and publishable results.
• Supporting the Office of the President in identifying next steps for a Roadmap for Local and Regional Engagement in Lansing, Detroit, and mid-Michigan.
• Co-leading a working group charged by the provost to recognize faculty and staff already doing community-engaged scholarship by integrating innovation, entrepreneurship, and engagement into reappointment, promotion and tenure processes.

And this is only the beginning. In the months and years ahead, University Outreach and Engagement (UOE) will focus on achieving additional goals in four key areas: 1) External Partnerships and Engagement, 2) Excellence in Engaged Scholarship and Learning, 3) Communicating the Outreach and Engagement Story, and 4) Organizational Excellence.

These priorities and initiatives were shaped with broad input from UOE staff; MSU faculty, staff, and students; and community partners. At the center of this process was a guiding question: How can we innovate and strengthen partnerships to enhance MSU’s public engagement and scholarly impact?

Our discussions affirmed the strong value UOE brings to advancing MSU’s engagement and research mission. We heard that MSU continues to be respected for its contributions to the well-being and vitality of communities throughout Michigan and beyond. We learned that communities are eager to collaborate with MSU.

Meeting with colleagues and communities is one of the things I find most inspiring about my role as vice provost of UOE. These conversations energize me and fuel my optimism about the work ahead to advance the public good and deepen MSU’s commitment to meaningful engagement.

We at UOE invite you to read the Strategic Priorities, reflect, and imagine new possibilities with us!

Kwesi Brookins,

Vice Provost for University Outreach and Engagement