Accessibility or Affordability

Everything you need to know about ��-Dearborn’s comprehensive campaign

lblouin — Wed, 11 Dec 2024 13:24:31 +0000

Everything you need to know about ��-Dearborn’s comprehensive campaign lblouin Wed, 12/11/2024 - 08:24

You’re probably starting to hear more about the University of Michigan’s Look to Michigan fundraising campaign, which is a coordinated effort across all three campuses and kicked off its public phase in late October. But this latest comprehensive campaign has actually been going on for about three years, says ��-Dearborn Vice Chancellor for Institutional Advancement Casandra Ulbrich. That’s typical of big fundraising pushes, which try to raise about a third to a half of their total fundraising goal from big donors in a “quiet” or “private” phase before courting a larger base of small-dollar donors in a “public” phase. Ulbrich says campaigns are organized this way for a couple of reasons. First, a private phase is a great test of whether your message is going to resonate with people. “The majority of your giving is coming from a small percentage of people. And you’re not going to be successful unless they’re on board with your vision,” she says. Second, demonstrating that your cause already has momentum can help make public-phase donors feel more confident about supporting your cause.

This campaign differs from ��-Dearborn’s last big push — fundraising for the Engineering Lab Building — in that it’s what development staff call a comprehensive rather than a capital campaign. Ulbrich says university capital campaigns typically raise money for something very specific, often a building. Comprehensive campaigns target donors who feel passionately about a wide range of causes, and priorities typically include specific programs and scholarships, though it might also include buildings. In some ways, this makes it much easier to fundraise. “With a comprehensive campaign, we have priorities that give us guideposts, but if a donor comes to us with something they’re passionate about that falls out of the official case for support, we can likely find something within the university that they can support. So we’re not pigeonholed for what we’re raising money for," Ulbrich says.

For the Look to Michigan campaign, ��-Dearborn’s general guideposts are fourfold: student experience and success, faculty and staff excellence, holistic excellence and economic sustainability. And within that structure, Ulbrich says a few priorities seem to be especially resonating with donors. First, people are really getting behind the university’s prioritizing of need-based financial aid. The free-tuition Go Blue Guarantee is the flagship program in that area, but under the university’s new financial aid scheme, families who don’t meet the GBG’s income requirements are still often eligible for some need-based aid. Second, Ulbrich says donors are excited about the university’s practice-based learning initiative. “As soon as you talk to them about the theoretical versus the hands-on, that makes total sense to them,” she says. “And here at ��-Dearborn, that includes things like internships, study abroad, experiential learning — so there are a wide array of things donors can support.” Ulbrich says they even played up the practice-based learning theme with a soft launch gift that was mailed to recent donors and prospects. The custom Block M Lego set with a Dearborn base came unassembled so supporters could get a little taste of the hands-on ethos at ��-Dearborn.

Compared to past fundraising efforts, Ulbrich says the current campaign is leaning more heavily on the support of standout alumni like Anthony Williams (left), pictured here at the Look to Michigan campaign launch event in October with College of Business Dean Frédéric Brunel. The '03 COB alum and CEO of Corktown Health is making a difference in Detroit and beyond as he works to provide comprehensive and affirming health care to the LGTBQ+ community. Williams was also recently appointed by Governor Whitmer to the state's first LGBTQ+ Commission. Photo by Carolyn Noble

So who exactly is our donor base this time around? Ulbrich says this campaign is a little different in that we’re relying most heavily on alumni support. “This has changed a lot at Dearborn over the years,” she says. “Our fundraising used to be more heavily skewed toward corporations and foundations. But a lot of corporations have cut back on giving, and foundation money has become much more competitive. Now, the majority of our fundraising comes from individuals, the vast majority of whom are alumni of the institution. Larger gifts also tend to be alums.” She says most large donations come in the form of planned gifts, where donors pledge to give a certain amount of their wealth after their deaths. “This is an attractive option for a lot of people because it allows them to support something they believe in and be recognized for it without having to reorient their finances while they're alive,” she says. Ublrich also expects this fundraising campaign could have a different shape than the typical donor pyramid: The rule of thumb is that 80% of your fundraising comes from 20% of donors. But with a little more grassroots support from smaller donors, Ulbrich says the donor pyramid “might start to look a little more like a rectangle.” So far, Ulbrich says we’ve raised about $26 million, which puts us “ahead of where we’ve been in past campaigns.”

With the public phase in full swing, the development team will continue to seek out big-dollar donations, but a lot of energy will now turn to social media, newsletters and direct mail efforts that court small-dollar donors in the wider ��-Dearborn-connected community, especially alumni. Another big thing to look forward to: On May 1, the university is hosting a gala at the newly renovated Michigan Central Station. “We decided on a soft launch for the public phase for a couple reasons. We didn’t want to compete with the 50 events happening in Ann Arbor. But we also wanted to have an event at a location that was significant historically for us, and with our connection to Ford, we had our heart set on Central Station. With the renovation, they simply weren’t ready for us,” Ulbrich says. Details for that event are still forthcoming, but Ulbrich says they’re planning to have a discounted faculty-staff ticket price.

In fact, though alums make up the lion’s share of the donor base, Ulbrich doesn’t want faculty and staff to overlook their role in supporting the campaign. One of her talking points with bigger donors is that a large number of people who work at ��-Dearborn also choose to give. “Faculty and staff giving is hugely symbolic, because it’s a show of faith in the institution,” she says. “I give to the Go Blue Guarantee. And so I can say that to a donor and explain why it's important to me to give. To show a donor that the people who know the institution best are willing to support it with their own dollars — that can be very persuasive.”

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Ready to make a gift? Find a cause you're passionate about and donate now. Story by Lou Blouin

Accessibility or Affordability

Experiential Learning

University-wide

Alumni Engagement

Institutional Advancement

Off

Wed, 12/11/2024 - 13:24

It’s beginning to look a lot like . . . fundraising season. We answer your top questions about the university’s Look to Michigan campaign, which recently entered its public phase.

So far, ��-Dearborn has raised about $26 million during its Look to Michigan fundraising campaign.

‘Education is the equalizer’

jpow — Fri, 26 Jul 2024 19:38:01 +0000

‘Education is the equalizer’ jpow Fri, 07/26/2024 - 15:38

Aaron Kinzel discovered a dusty, old box while searching the property of his grandfather‘s farm in 2021. After opening it, Kinzel sifted through pictures of his immigrant German family, newspaper clippings and legal papers. One document, a divorce decree from the early 1920s, caught his attention: it said his great-great grandfather had been sent to the Ohio State Penitentiary for life and his spouse filed for a separation due to his incarceration.

Kinzel was stunned — not only because it was a family secret, but because it gave him a new perspective on his own life.

“My childhood was like living in a horror movie. We were very poor and there was a lot of violence and abuse. My stepfather almost murdered me when I was 9,” says Kinzel, a lecturer in criminology and criminal justice. “I knew that violence was a part of my growing up, but looking at those papers, I could trace violence and incarceration in my family more than a century back. Incarceration has had a recurring role over multiple generations for my bloodline — including me.”

Lecturer Aaron Kinzel says his family immigrated from Germany more than a century ago — and the American dream wasn't in their grasp. The poverty they found themselves in led to a family history of incarceration. Photo courtesy Aaron Kinzel

If Kinzel wasn’t so open about his background, you wouldn’t suspect that the award-winning educator — he’s the 2024 ��-Dearborn Faculty Awards recipient for Lecturer Excellence in Inclusive Teaching and a King-Chávez-Parks Initiative's Future Faculty Fellow— served time in prison for a violent confrontation with law enforcement as a teenager.

He says incarceration was the culmination of run-ins with the law that began when he was young. “I was in a dark place surrounded by drug dealing and crime. Looking back, that was my rock bottom. I shot at the police. No one was physically hurt, but it still weighs heavily on me,” says Kinzel, who was paroled in 2007 after serving 10 years. “Going to prison and having time to reflect and mature is what helped me turn my life around. Now I want to work collaboratively with criminal justice professionals to make the system and society a safer place.”

Kinzel, who had dropped out of high school, says education was a catalyst in his transformation. He earned his GED while awaiting trial in a local county jail in 1997. Then, prior to his release from prison, he enrolled in several non-credit courses and eventually saved up enough money to be admitted to the University of Maine at Augusta — Kinzel served his prison sentence in Maine — for a psychology course that addressed drug use and how it influences choices, alcoholism and genetics, and brain development.

“The area of the brain that controls reasoning and helps us think before we act develops into adulthood. It was this a-ha moment for me. It will never excuse my actions and I take full responsibility, but my childhood certainly helps explain my criminal conduct. The class helped me better understand my actions and that I had the ability to grow and change,” he says.

As a ��-Dearborn educator, Kinzel, pictured center, has taken students on field trips including prison tours, museums, police stations and boxing clubs (shown here). Photo courtesy Aaron Kinzel

After he was released, Kinzel earned his associate’s degree at Monroe Community College and an undergraduate degree at Siena Heights University. He then went on to earn his master’s degree from ��-Dearborn. He is currently working on his doctoral dissertation and plans to graduate with his Ed.D. from ��-Dearborn in 2025.

But, as important as education was to unlocking opportunities, Kinzel says getting into college came with significant hurdles.

“As a society, we don’t want to educate felons or hire them. I tried to get a job right out of prison, but couldn’t get hired. For college, I applied at multiple institutions. Some outright rejected me, but others noticed my growth. I ended up being the first person ��-Dearborn accepted while still on parole — and that was on a probationary status,” he says. “If the purpose of prison time is to reform offenders, we need to come up with a better path for reentry.” Kinzel hopes academic institutions will begin to expand their DEI efforts to be more inclusive for justice-impacted people.

There are, and will continue to be, many returning citizens in positions similar to Kinzel’s, he points out. “According to numbers, 95% of the men and women in prisons will be coming home. That’s a fact. So now the question is: Who do we want as our neighbor?,” Kinzel observes. “People with skills to help them make a living and be productive members of society? Or people who are sitting around and finding themselves in desperate situations?”

Kinzel says his pivot toward education helped him build skills over time.

While at community college, he became a member of Phi Theta Kappa International Honor Society and an academic tutor on campus. As an undergrad, he gained campus employment as a newspaper staff writer and was named a Ronald E. McNair Scholar, a U.S. Department of Education program that teaches highly qualified students from underserved populations about how to apply and succeed in graduate school. He graduated from ��-Dearborn’s Masters in Public Administration program in the top 15% of his class. He also was named a ��-Dearborn Difference Maker.

Throughout his education journey, Kinzel says he gained confidence, built networks and honed skills, while also proving himself to professors and administrators. This led to instructional assistant opportunities, which began while he was an undergraduate. Then in 2015, while a graduate student, Kinzel says support came from a seemingly unlikely place: Donald Shelton, then-director of ��-Dearborn's Criminology and Criminal Justice program and a retired long-time circuit court judge.

“I helped him promote a criminal justice symposium that he was working on and I believe that I exceeded his expectations. He saw my work ethic. Getting to know each other more, I let him know my background and discussed how I was teaching a couple classes part time at Western Michigan University. He thought that with my education, professional accomplishments and personal experience that I’d be a good addition to the criminal justice faculty and encouraged me to apply,” Kinzel says. “This respected judge gave me, a convicted felon, the experience I needed to move up in my career. He’s been a mentor and a friend.” Shelton retired from ��-Dearborn in spring 2024.

Kinzel says he shares these stories with returning citizens — individuals recently released from prison — so they know there are people in the criminal justice system who want previous offenders to have opportunities.

Officer Kaitlyn Wrobel, Class of 2017, speaks to one of Kinzel's classes. Photo courtesy Aaron Kinzel

Wayne County Airport Authority Officer Kaitlyn Wrobel, who graduated from ��-Dearborn in 2017, says Kinzel’s ability to see the criminal justice system through a unique lens has made him one of the best professors and mentors she’s had. He’s written letters of recommendation, provided encouragement during tough times and is now inspiring her to attend graduate school.

She first had Kinzel as a professor in 2015 and recalls when Kinzel shared his background with the class. “You’d have never known if he didn’t tell you — you should have seen the reaction of the class. We were shocked in a good way. I didn’t know it was possible to climb back from a low like he had and be so successful. It’s not something I’d seen or heard about before,” says Wrobel, who has been a guest speaker in Kinzel’s classes since her graduation. “I am a driven person, but Aaron’s story inspired me to push myself further and to overcome any challenges that came my way.”

Kinzel draws on his experiences to advocate for criminal justice reform. He lobbied for the government to reinstate federal Pell grants for prisoners; in 2023, Congress passed a new law that made this a reality. He’s founded and collaborated with numerous organizations to assist returning citizens with their transition from prison to society. Kinzel also works with the U.S. Department of Justice to help train executive-level corrections professionals — Kinzel says former Director of the Michigan Department of Corrections Pat Caruso, one of Kinzel’s mentors, helped connect him to this opportunity.

Kinzel is currently taking his LSATs, with the hopes of earning a Juris Doctorate. He publicly shares his story as an example of what’s possible when someone is given the opportunity to show how they have changed after serving time in prison. He also develops collaborations — like workshops or panels — with justice-impacted people and the criminal justice system to create effective policy change.

Wrobel says Kinzel’s experience not only showed her what’s possible for returning citizens, it also shaped how she views her profession. “It’s important to hold people accountable, but also remember that we are all human and make mistakes. A bad decision doesn’t make someone a bad person. Aaron’s living proof of that. I now train new officers and instill what I’ve learned from Aaron in every person I train,” she says. “Officers run into people on their worst days — and we need to solve problems. It's important to remember that how you handle a situation can have a life-long impact on someone, so we need to use our authority responsibly.”

Kinzel isn’t just making an impact in the classroom and in the criminal justice field. He’s also fostering changes on the homefront. Now a father of a school-focused and community-active teen, Kinzel has noticed a change in his century-long family cycle. “I’m a fan of history, but it doesn’t need to repeat itself,” he says. “The key to change is education. Education is the equalizer.”

Kinzel and daughter Lily. Photo courtesy Aaron Kinzel

Story by Sarah Tuxbury.

Accessibility or Affordability

Faculty and Staff

Inclusion or Diversity

College of Arts, Sciences, and Letters

Social Sciences

Off

Fri, 07/19/2024 - 19:38

Criminology and Criminal Justice Lecturer Aaron Kinzel shares how higher education helped break a cycle of incarceration that spanned nearly a century in his family.

Criminology and Criminal Justice Studies Lecturer Aaron Kinzel. Graphic by Violet Dashi

The power of support

stuxbury — Wed, 25 Oct 2023 19:34:12 +0000

The power of support stuxbury Wed, 10/25/2023 - 15:34

Narmin Jarrous is a Crain’s Detroit Business “40 under 40” winner, a ��-Dearborn graduate and a business leader.

But before Jarrous could become these, she had to embrace another part of her identity: a person with a disability. She credits ��-Dearborn’s Disability and Accessibility Services office for helping her do that.

“My time at ��-Dearborn changed my life,” she says. “They set me up for success. College is the first time someone with the power to help listened to me, explained that disabilities aren’t always visible, and said that it’s OK to ask for and receive help.”

Prior to this, Jarrous, who was diagnosed with endometriosis in her early teens and experiences excessive pain due to the disease, says a high school staff member told her she’d never attend college due to her absences, which were medically approved. She had a teacher refuse to let her take an exam she missed due to surgery. She even had friends question if her pain was really bad enough to skip social events.

“I was so drained physically from the pain. And I felt like I always had to defend myself or fight to convince people that my pain is real, which drained me mentally too,” Jarrous says.

A ��-Dearborn department chair — who heard about Jarrous’ health-related absences from professors — reached out to Jarrous and referred her to the university’s Disability and Accessibility Services office. At the DAS office, DAS Coordinator Judy Walker spoke with Jarrous about her successes and challenges, collected documentation, advised her on available accommodations, and reached out to Jarrous’ professors. Jarrous’ accommodations included excusing her absences and allowing her to make up missed classwork, which is what she needed to be successful.

“I learned that disability is not a bad word and to accept myself as I am. I learned about equity and how empowering it is. Judy helped renew my excitement for my education,” she says. “My health is always a worry, but I no longer had to worry about how it would impact my education.”

Jarrous graduated with honors and is now the chief development officer at Exclusive Brands, a cannabis company with locations across Michigan, where she focuses on social equity efforts.

DAS Director Sara Byczek

DAS Director Sara Byczek, who works with Walker, says Jarrous’ story shows the power of support. But, to give the best support, education is crucial. Byczek says most people are well-intentioned, but often don’t realize the challenges people with disabilities face unless they know someone or are someone.

“You don’t know what you don’t know. Advocacy and education helps us all develop lenses on how to see things from different points of view,” says Byczek, who also serves as ��-Dearborn’s Counseling and Psychological Services director. The DAS office offers educational events and training multiple times a year, she says.

Here are a few DAS offerings and tips the campus community may find helpful.

Simple steps can make classes more inclusive.

Upload materials to Canvas before class so students can preview the content, consider larger fonts and contrasting colors for PowerPoint slides, and turn on the caption tools available in Zoom or Canvas for recordings and remote sessions. Check out DAS faculty resources.

DAS has a space for DAS-registered students who need additional time for testing.

If a testing accommodation can’t be made in the classroom, the DAS office offers test proctoring and alternative formatting options.

In addition to academic accommodations, DAS offers support coaching.

If you notice a DAS-registered student who’s struggling with class-related tasks, let them know DAS offers support coaching. The 30-minute sessions are tailored to a student’s needs and may include mindfulness techniques for testing anxiety, note-taking strategies, time management tools, email assistance and more.

Byczek says events and awareness months — October is National Disability Employment Awareness Month — promote education, but she hopes that society gets to a point where disability awareness and inclusion happens every day.

DAS Coordinator Judy Walker

“It’s something we should talk about year round because a disability could affect any of us at any time and there are easy-to-adjust things we can do to make life better for everyone,” she says.

To help people discover what they can do, DAS is co-hosting a "Re-imagining Access as a Relational Process" remote workshop from 1 to 2 p.m. Nov. 1. Ohio State University Associate Professor and the Director of Disability Studies Margaret Price will lead interactive activities aimed at discussing — and ultimately finding concrete takeaways for — access questions in work environments. In addition, Price will lead a faculty-focused “Cultivating Communities of Access in Teaching Spaces” in-person workshop from 12:30 to 2 p.m. Nov. 9 in Fairlane Center North Quad E. Lunch is provided. Register here. This is a partnership effort with the Hub for Teaching and Learning.

Jarrous, who recently spoke at a ��-Dearborn event, says her time on campus with Walker and the DAS staff helped her see the importance of supportive communities. Jarrous now serves as an advocate for others. Her advocacy work, business success and leadership roles have been featured in Forbes, Detroit Metro Times, Medium and more. “I had someone speak up for me when I felt I didn’t have a voice,” she says. “Now I can speak up and give a voice to those who need it.”

Jarrous wants Dearborn Wolverines with disabilities to know there’s a caring place to go if they need a voice, advice or accommodations.

“The Disability and Accessibility Services office will support you. Judy advocated for me and took a weight off my shoulders. She gave me a sense of dignity that I didn’t have before,” Jarrous says. “That experience shaped who I am today, what I do today and where I am today.”

Article by Sarah Tuxbury.

Accessibility or Affordability

Disability Services

Off

Wed, 10/25/2023 - 19:32

Narmin Jarrous, Class of 2018, says the ��-Dearborn Disability and Accessibility Services office changed her life by giving her the tools she needed to embrace her disability and become a successful business leader and social justice advocate.

Narmin Jarrous is a 2018 ��-Dearborn graduate, business leader and equity advocate.

'I want to be the adult I needed growing up'

stuxbury — Wed, 25 Oct 2023 13:27:59 +0000

'I want to be the adult I needed growing up' stuxbury Wed, 10/25/2023 - 09:27

In the basement of a church-turned-community center in Detroit's Springwells neighborhood, Ana Alvarez offers a tour of a new Youth Mental Health Hub. With a beaming smile, she points out features of the space: a fresh coat of yellow and green paint, new couches and comfortable seating, a mural painted by young people from the neighborhood. She then draws attention to a corner of the room that will soon become a private space for professional counseling.

Alvarez, the youth leadership and outreach director at Urban Neighborhood Initiatives, first connected with UNI in 2012 through the Grow Detroit’s Young Talent youth employment program. Building out the organization's new youth-driven Mental Health Hub is part of her current role. It's one she feels well prepared for in part because of her educational background: Alvarez graduated from ��-Dearborn in 2019 with a degree in business administration and marketing.

Alvarez is in good company. She is one of four ��-Dearborn alumni currently working for UNI. Several other alums have transitioned to different organizations after their time there. There are many reasons UNI has drawn so many ��-Dearborn grads: Some grew up in the neighborhood and have had ties to the organization since childhood. Some came through internships. Others came after a career change. The constant, Executive Director Christine Bell says, is that “they all have a confidence that I believe ��-Dearborn fosters in its students. That is so critical.”

Originally called Neighborhood Centers Incorporated, UNI was founded in 1997 to address community issues in Springwells, a part of southwest Detroit. With a current focus on youth development, education and land use/economic development, the organization engages residents of all ages in efforts to create positive change in their neighborhood.

Listening to the needs of youth

To Alvarez, a first-generation college student whose family came to Detroit from Mexico, diversity and inclusion were driving factors in both her decision to attend ��-Dearborn and to work at UNI. “I chose to attend ��-Dearborn because I value diversity. I was able to share experiences with many of the students and professors, and I was able to make friends from all over the world and from different backgrounds,” she says.

From coordinating grant requirements to developing budgets, Alvarez has poured months into working with youth to create UNI’s Mental Health Hub. She’s especially proud that she has been able to support youth leadership through the process: “We listened to the needs of both youth and the larger community and created a space that they envisioned,” she explains.

This work is deeply personal to Alvarez, who grew up in southwest Detroit. “I want to be the adult that I needed growing up,” she says.

Education as a ticket to a better life

As an adolescent, Alejandra Gomez spent many weekday afternoons in UNI's after-school program. When she was 14, she started working at UNI through its youth employment program. Then, throughout college, she worked at the front desk. When she graduated from ��-Dearborn in 2016 with a degree in international studies, she originally planned to work abroad. But all of her years at UNI compelled her to think more seriously about working in education. “Luckily, my degree program had a broad focus, so I was able to think about applying what I was learning to different sectors, like nonprofits,” Gomez says. “Working in education is so important to me because, as a first generation Latina, education was always a ticket to a better life. Working at UNI, I love that I get to offer opportunities that support our youth, support that many of us were not able to receive,” Gomez says.

Now, she not only works in the neighborhood where she was raised, but at the very organization that helped raise her. After graduation, she began as an AmeriCorps VISTA member at UNI, then she transitioned to coordinator of educational initiatives, and now serves as the educational initiatives director, where she oversees and supports after-school and summer youth programming, the Detroit AmeriCorps Youth Success program and SEEDing for College, a collaboration among several local nonprofits to promote children’s savings accounts for college.

“My role of leading out-of-school time opportunities for youth is so important to me because it creates space for youth to explore different enrichment opportunities and dream of the life they want to create for themselves using post-secondary as a stepping stone,” Gomez reflects. “As someone who grew up three blocks away from UNI, I know how important it is to see other people that look like me walk a similar path and be able to support each other as we create a different path together.”

‘��-Dearborn gave me a chance’

While at ��-Dearborn, where she graduated in 2021 with a degree in communications, Daisy Recinos worked with the SOAR Program on social media and marketing and with the media team in the College of Arts, Sciences, and Letters on promotional videos. She learned about a job opening at UNI from a fellow student in one of her communications classes. “After hearing about their work and how UNI has helped out the neighborhood I grew up in, I wanted to be a part of the organization,” Recinos says.

Now UNI’s marketing and media specialist, Recinos has the opportunity to apply the skills and experiences she gained in her coursework and employment at the university. “��-Dearborn gave me a chance, and I took it and flew. The university is definitely why I am confident in my abilities and work ethic,” Recios reflects. “Now that I think about it, all of the work I did at ��-Dearborn is basically what I do now at UNI.”

Recinos sees her role as an opportunity to equip young people with new skills. Recently, while working on a video to highlight UNI’s work for a grant application, she made the conscious decision to bring youth into the process. “I like to include youth in our marketing work to teach them what I have learned over the years and help guide them on their journey of creativity,” she explains.

Helping youth get to college ‘against all odds’

Following her graduation from the College of Education, Health, and Human Services 20 years ago, Tanya Aho enjoyed a decade-long career as a teacher in Detroit. She then transitioned to nonprofit community work, which she believes enables her to better serve young people. “Youth programs in community organizations are able to build relationships that are less restrictive than schools. I also have a very strong belief in youth voice and agency. In general, schools struggle with that, while community organizations, especially over the last decade, have found a way to really encourage and create spaces for that kind of involvement,” Aho says.

After working for eight years in youth development on Detroit’s east side, Aho recently joined UNI as the post-secondary initiatives program director. In this capacity, Aho works with programs that support youth through the college process, from application to graduation. “I always tell people, ‘I help put kids into college that no one thought would go, and help them graduate,’” Aho says. She recalls recently attending the college graduation of a student who “against all odds was not even supposed to graduate high school.” She reports excitedly, “He is in grad school now!”

Executive Director Bell sees something special in the ��-Dearborn alums on her staff. “They come prepared for a career. They’re willing to engage in creative problem-solving and critical thinking. They come with a professional competence that we often call ‘soft skills’ but that are so critical to getting anything done,” she says. “Showing up, being present, and doing the work. As an executive director, those things are so important.”

Article by Matt Homrich-Knieling
Homrich-Knieling is a freelance writer and current board member of UNI

Accessibility or Affordability

Off

Wed, 10/25/2023 - 13:26

A southwest Detroit neighborhood organization has a long history of welcoming ��-Dearborn alums to its staff. Here’s how four Dearborn Wolverine grads are making a difference.

Four ��-Dearborn grads work at Urban Neighborhood Initiatives, where they address community issues in Springwells, a part of southwest Detroit. Photos/Julianne Lindsey

What’s next when it comes to recruitment and retention

stuxbury — Mon, 15 May 2023 18:18:10 +0000

What’s next when it comes to recruitment and retention stuxbury Mon, 05/15/2023 - 14:18

College professors, support staff and campus administration know that students are more than a number — they are leaders, learners, researchers and mentors. But to make sure ��-Dearborn stays competitive and offers a quality education, meeting enrollment each semester is a necessary reality to manage a balanced budget.

“In higher education circles, there is understandable concern around the enrollment cliff,” said Vice Provost of Strategic Enrollment Management Melissa Stone. “I want to let people know that while there are challenges to address, the campus is well positioned to manage through these.” Stone said a draft SEM Plan, released in February 2023, was an important first step in developing a holistic understanding of ��-Dearborn’s enrollment environment and developing strategies that are goal-oriented, actionable, measurable and aligned with ��-Dearborn’s Go BluePrint for Success Strategic Plan.

“We appreciate the campus feedback to date and we’re excited to move into the next phase and continue to work collaboratively across campus to execute the plan,” said Stone. “This living document brings faculty, staff and administrators onto the same page and unites our current and future efforts around recruitment, retention and student success.”

The plan has been updated in response to feedback from the campus community over recent months. A new SEM Plan Executive Summary has also been finalized and provides a broad overview of the plan. The plan will be executed, with guidance by the SEM Executive Committee, in conjunction with existing committees and governance. Stone said the campus is encouraged to stay engaged, as achieving enrollment goals requires everyone’s commitment to executing impactful change.

Stone recently discussed some of the key initiatives in the plan, the different student population needs and some initiatives moving forward. Urana Pridemore, director of undergraduate enrollment, and Trista Wdziekonski, executive director, graduate enrollment management, also provided comments for this story.

First-year students need to know what makes ��-Dearborn different.

Looking at ��-Dearborn’s numbers over a 10-year span, first-year student enrollment has remained relatively stable. But the number of students who are college ready and seeing the value of a college degree will continue to challenge the university’s first-year recruitment.

Stone said prospective first-year students want to see for themselves what sets ��-Dearborn apart. The best way to do that is to showcase that they are earning a Michigan degree and having impactful experiences — like practice-based learning courses (classes with active engagement and industry-based learning outcomes) and undergraduate research opportunities. Sharing success stories from current students or recent graduates that highlight why they should choose ��-Dearborn over competitors is an important message and a key component of the plan.

A critical strategy in the SEM Plan is developing, in conjunction with colleges and faculty, enhanced and customized campus experiences — like tours and events — that highlight PBL, research and the more personalized and supportive experience students receive on our campus.

The plan also emphasizes the importance of developing a 21st century non-residential experience, as defined in the strategic plan, while still highlighting other campus experiences students can leverage at ��-Ann Arbor, such as offering free season football tickets to the incoming first-year class. These are key components to showing students they can have a more engaging classroom experience while still accessing other exciting extracurricular activities, Stone said.

The plan also calls for engaging with high school students earlier and specifically identifies programs that have a unique dual enrollment initiative, like one with Detroit Public Schools that’s in the works. Under that initiative, students will be able to earn an undergraduate certificate while in high school.

The plan also highlights a new college-ready program with Dearborn Heights School District No. 7 that begins to work with students as they enter high school. “These are just the beginning of what we envision as new exciting partnerships we will be developing with even more high schools across our region,” Stone said.

Transfer students want seamless admission pathways.

At one time, 50% of ��-Dearborn’s new undergraduates each year were transfer students. Over the last decade, that number has dropped significantly, with only 35% this past year.

Urana Pridemore, director of undergraduate enrollment, pointed to a couple reasons for this change — and then shared some ways the SEM Plan addresses each.

Pridemore said community colleges where ��-Dearborn students typically transfer from have seen declining enrollment — for example, Wayne County Community College went from 55,705 students during the 2017-18 academic year to 25,582 students in 2021-22.

��-Dearborn's top partner, Henry Ford College, experienced a less significant drop (from 19,004 to 16,524) during the same time period. This still impacts the transfer pipeline and requires the university to focus more intentionally on transfer recruitment to rebuild transfer enrollment knowing there are fewer students, Pridemore said.

To reach the students who do want to transfer, the SEM Plan calls for simplifying the process and building on community college transfer partnerships that have been recently created or are in the works. One example is Henry Ford College and ��-Dearborn’s Learn4ward to a Michigan Degree, a program that takes the guesswork out of transferring and helps alleviate concerns over college acceptance, transfer credits and tuition costs. Learn4ward is a part of Destination Dearborn, ��-Dearborn’s overarching initiative for transfer students from two-year colleges that provides enhanced academic advising, increased financial aid, career-ready resources and more.

The plan also calls for better aligning staff. Recognizing that transfers have unique needs, the SEM Plan includes a strategy to institute staff focused specifically on transfer recruitment to help the university regain the transfer pipeline.

Domestic graduate student recruitment will expand — and recommendations from two key working groups addressing international student needs are forthcoming.

Trista Wdziekonski, executive director of graduate enrollment management, said that while international graduate student numbers reached record highs in 2022-23, much of this was due to pent up demand caused by pandemic-related influence. She noted, “As the world adjusts to our new post-pandemic normal and international students consider all their options, we are seeing how markets and the global economy are shifting and if this rebound can be sustained on our campus. We must continue to be welcoming and meet the needs of this important segment of our graduate enrollment.” To help with this, an International Student Services work group led by Office of International Affairs Director Francisco Lopez has been charged with identifying gaps in international student support services and exploring solutions for how we can address them in the future.

Directly related, a Housing and Transportation Workgroup, co-led by Business Affairs Lead Business Officer Marc Brigolin and Wdziekonski, is currently considering how to better systematically support roommate and affordable housing connections. They are also addressing transportation issues that arise when students do not have vehicles in a limited public transportation setting. Providing housing and accessible transportation options helps with recruitment, builds a better community for all students and creates a stronger connection to ��-Dearborn overall.

Stone said volatility will always play a part in international student recruitment, so the plan calls for more intentional efforts around domestic graduate student recruitment and enrollment. This includes considering strategies for rebuilding the graduate pipeline in southeast Michigan and meeting the needs of local industries. The plan also identifies an opportunity to leverage ��-Dearborn’s online graduate programs and certificates outside of the state. Assessing graduate pricing and discount strategies is another strategy.

To keep students on a graduation path, they may need to be connected with support services.

The most recent National Assessment of Educational Progress scores demonstrated a national decline in performance in mathematics and reading. Due to factors that include a pandemic-related learning gap, more students are coming out of high school without the education needed to be college ready. The SEM Plan identifies this as an area to continue to monitor and assess. Looking at overall state data last year, only 28% of students were considered college-ready based on SAT scores.

Stone said many of the initiatives launched from the strategic plan’s student experience and success efforts were designed to keep our students on a path to graduation and help students gain better access to academic, financial and personal support. “The campus is dedicated to student success — but we will likely continue to see an ever greater need. It will be necessary to continually assess to ensure we are advocates for our students and their needs to help them reach their goals while also working toward the university’s goals.”

A new initiative in the works is ensuring space on campus reflects student needs and gives them easy access to critical support and experiences. A working group led by Dean of Students Amy Finley and Executive Director of Facilities Operations Carol Glick is helping to re-imagine the space in the Renick University Center and Mardigian Library to develop best-in-class service around academic, administrative and high-impact practices to support recruitment and retention.

Other ways the campus community can help with recruitment and retention? Share good things that are happening at ��-Dearborn with friends and family, ask students if they need help when they appear to have difficulty finding an office or classroom, connect students to the right office if your office doesn’t house the services they are seeking, and submit an Early Warning Program form if a student is struggling in class. The Early Warning System, which is included in the SEM Plan, is designed for faculty to communicate with Academic Advising and the Office of Academic Success so struggling students get help before it impacts their college experience.

In closing, let’s share some good news.

Looking to Fall 2023, Stone said ��-Dearborn is seeing positive trends regarding applications and deposits — particularly, we’re up in undergraduate admits and deposits over this time last year. Stone said this is good news, and if these trends continue will result in a strong undergraduate enrollment number.

In addition, Stone said it will take multiple years and sustained campus commitment to new and innovative strategies to meet our Strategic Enrollment KPIs — but she said her team, and the campus community as a whole, are up to the challenge. “The SEM plan is meant to help us align time and resources by developing a shared vision of the most impactful initiatives to support the success of current and future students, and I look forward to collaborating across campus to help execute the plan to meet our enrollment goals,” she said.

Want to know more? Visit the SEM Plan website. Have feedback or questions? Reach out to em-strategic@umich.edu. Look for future updates in the Enrollment Management Newsletter that will be issued a couple of times each semester and will provide updates and progress on the SEM plan.

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Mon, 05/15/2023 - 18:17

Enrollment Management leaders share a few key initiatives and takeaways from the Strategic Enrollment Management Plan — and an update about the trends they are seeing regarding fall enrollment.

Dearborn Wolverines say the Go Blue Guarantee is changing their lives

stuxbury — Mon, 13 Mar 2023 20:57:22 +0000

Dearborn Wolverines say the Go Blue Guarantee is changing their lives stuxbury Mon, 03/13/2023 - 16:57

When the ��-Dearborn letter came, it carried an important message. Soon-to-be Dearborn Wolverines read that they received the Go Blue Guarantee, a need-based financial aid award for high-achieving students. Their education would be free.

For College of Engineering and Computer Science sophomore Puwadon Sapprasert, this meant his hard-working parents, who had immigrated with the family from Thailand only five years earlier, wouldn’t need to choose between investing in his education or their Thai restaurant, which had just emerged from challenges after the pandemic.

For Valeria Garcia-Lopez, who’s worked since age 15 and wondered if she needed to get additional jobs to help ends meet, the news let her know that she could focus on her studies.

“Because of the Go Blue Guarantee, I am enjoying the college journey,” said Garcia-Lopez, a first-year student in the College of Business. “I’m getting involved in student organizations, taking on leadership roles and learning about myself and how I can realize my dreams."

The scholarship — which Garcia-Lopez calls life changing — is ��-Dearborn’s free tuition promise to in-state undergraduate students from low-income backgrounds who enter ��-Dearborn with a 3.5 GPA or higher.

Garcia-Lopez and Sapprasert are two of the 839 students on ��-Dearborn’s campus who receive the Go Blue Guarantee, which is funded by the university’s Go Blue Guarantee Endowment. With the impact the endowment makes, it’s a major focus of ��-Dearborn’s Giving Blueday 2023.

Giving Blueday, the university’s day of giving, is March 15. Annual Giving Assistant Director Kaitlyn Ledford said it’s a day for the entire university community to come together and support the causes that make ��-Dearborn the leaders and best.

This year ��-Dearborn leadership and the Alumni Society Board will match up to $18,000 in donations to the Go Blue Guarantee Scholarship Endowment.

The Alumni Society Board, which is celebrating its 50th year, wanted to find a program that resonated with their experiences and has the potential to reach students from a variety of backgrounds and interests, said Eva Gogola, Director of Annual Giving and Advancement Services, 2004 CASL graduate, and former Alumni Society Board member. “Many ��-Dearborn graduates really got their chance here. They may be in wealthy or middle class backgrounds now — but they didn’t start there. They saw that their college journey took a village. Now they want to be the ones who lift people up.”

Because helping students earn an education is inspiring, Gogola said scholarship funding is popular. But there are also opportunities to give to student organizations, athletic teams, technology funds, study abroad experiences and more.

“This is a great day to multiply dollars and impact because of the giving matches and challenges,” Gogola said. For example, first-time donors of $50 to the university automatically get a $50/match when giving to a campus area of their choice.

Talking to Sapprasert right after midterms, he said his brain was a bit tired after all the studying, especially since he has to do lots of Thai-to-English translation in his head. But he felt good — it was another step closer on his journey to becoming a computer engineer.

“I keep thinking about possibilities for the career that I’m going to have. It’s exciting,” he said.

Puwadon Sapprasert is not the only one in his home having thoughts like these. His brother Puwanat, a CECS sophomore, is also a Go Blue Guarantee recipient.

“My family, my parents won’t need to worry about our tuition. After we graduate, my brother and I will be able to go straight to work without needing to worry about the debt,” Puwadon said. “This sets us up for a very good future.”

Garcia-Lopez said she knows that the Go Blue Guarantee will have a ripple effect on her family too. The first-generation college student already has her curious little brothers asking her questions about college.

“This is changing my life. And it has the potential to change the lives of people around me,” she said. “I want my little brothers to see that anything is possible if you work at it. And not only is it possible, but there’s also support. There are people in the world who want to help you reach your dreams. It’s an honor being a Wolverine.”

Article by Sarah Tuxbury.

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Mon, 03/13/2023 - 20:56

With the impact the full tuition financial aid makes, it’s a major focus for ��-Dearborn’s Giving Blueday 2023, the U-M day of giving that takes place March 15.

Brothers Puwanat and Puwadon Sapprasert of Lincoln Park, Mich. both received the Go Blue Guarantee, which aims to provide a college education to high-achieving students from low-income backgrounds.

This 4+1 program is giving students better options for careers in social work

lblouin — Wed, 07 Dec 2022 16:55:59 +0000

This 4+1 program is giving students better options for careers in social work lblouin Wed, 12/07/2022 - 11:55

��-Dearborn Health and Human Services senior Riley Day hadn't really considered a career in social work until she took her first couple classes in the subject and got hooked. After that, her previous goal of being a child life specialist, a very focused branch of pediatric health care, seemed a bit too narrow compared with all the options she’d have as a social worker. Day particularly loved the holistic approach that the field takes to supporting people, which is something she’d experienced firsthand at the family service agency she volunteered with while in high school. “I worked in the childcare center, and you’d be spending time with the kids when the parents were doing a parenting class or someone was helping them find some economic opportunities,” Day says. “The more I learned, the more I saw how everything in a person’s life is interconnected, and it’s not just one thing that can bring someone’s life back into balance. So how could I work in just one area?”

There was just one snag with Day switching gears. While ��-Dearborn has three versatile Health and Human Services (HHS) major concentrations, and some great courses in social work, the university doesn't formally offer a Bachelor of Social Work (BSW) — the degree many students pursue when they’re looking to get into the field. However, shortly after Day started at ��-Dearborn in 2019, the university started offering a degree program with arguably more perks than a BSW. Through a partnership with the Ann Arbor campus, which has a top-ranked social work program, ��-Dearborn HHS undergrads could earn a U-M Master of Social Work degree (MSW) with just one additional year of study.

Here’s how the Human Services and Social Work 4+1 program works: During their first three academic years at ��-Dearborn, Health and Human Services students interested in social work complete their required courses for the Bachelor of Science in HHS with a Human Services concentration. Then, by March 1 of their junior year, they can apply for admission to the 4+1. If accepted, ��-Dearborn seniors take four graduate courses that count toward both the completion of their undergraduate HHS degree at ��-Dearborn and their U-M School of Social Work MSW. Then, after completing their bachelor's, students fully matriculate into the MSW program and can finish in as little as three additional semesters.

For Day, the 4+1 was a great fit. Now in the first semester of the program, she says her experience has been really positive. One of the things she appreciates — and which has also been a bit of an adjustment — is taking classes with older students who have more robust social work experiences, including many who have been working as social workers for years. “Some of my classmates have traveled abroad to work, they are married with kids, they moved here from other states to study, and I was feeling a little like, ‘I’m very much at the beginning of my career, my bachelor’s has not solely been in social work, and I’m still very much learning,’” Day says. “I think part of me was wondering if I was too young to be here, and that maybe I needed to get some more experience and then come back. But the flip side of that is it’s pretty amazing to have classmates with different backgrounds and so much experience, because they can speak to how things are in the places they’re coming from. I honestly feel like I’m getting so much more out of my classes because of that.”

U-M Associate Professor Katie Richards-Schuster, who’s been involved with the planning of the program since the beginning, says making sure the 4+1 students feel like they belong is something the program administrators always have their eye on. For example, while they don’t call out a student’s 4+1 status to the whole class, they do let faculty know when they have undergraduates in one of their courses. “We want our faculty to be prepared that students may have a lot of questions, so they may want to check in to make sure they feel confident or have what they need,” Richards-Schuster says. “Knowing that students might need a little extra nudge to participate, a faculty member may also want to find ways for them to speak up in class; for example, starting with pairs, then small groups, so it’s not always just one big class discussion.”

That’s a strategy Lecturer Grace Helms-Kotre has used effectively in her MSW courses, where she frequently asks students to write personal reflections on class topics. That provides students a chance to test drive and get feedback on their ideas in a more private setting, while giving her a window into how they’re doing both personally and academically. Day, who has Helms-Kotre this semester, says she’s really valued having that platform, and it’s helped reassure her that she deserves to be there. Regarding performance, the results have been definitive thus far: Richards-Schuster says faculty consistently report that 4+1 students, which include Dearborn HHS students and sociology undergrads from the Ann Arbor campus, are doing some of the best written and theoretical work.

Only a handful of students from Dearborn have enrolled in the program so far, but applications are showing signs of picking up in 2023. In many ways, Richards-Schuster thinks a slow start is probably a good thing, because there are always administrative and scheduling bugs to work out when you’re coordinating systems between two campuses. Based on the feedback of some of the early enrollees, they’ve also built out a more comprehensive set of programs to strengthen the cohort experience and guide students on admissions, financial aid and different tracks within the MSW program.

Day doesn’t mind being an early adopter/guinea pig. For her, the timing of the program launch was fortuitous, and she says she’s received a ton of support from advisers on both the Dearborn and Ann Arbor sides. She’s also starting to get more questions about the 4+1 from students coming up behind her, which bodes well for the future of the program. “I actually had a classmate ask me about it when I was applying, because she was kind of in the same boat I was in,” Day says. “She wanted to do social work with geriatric populations, but we didn’t have the BSW. Obviously, this gives you the option to get a social work degree, but being able to reduce the time and money it takes to get a graduate degree is huge. So I’m happy to answer any questions and be an ambassador, because I definitely think it’s a great option for a lot of students.”

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Are you interested in learning more about the 4+1 MSW program? Get more information and learn how to apply. Story by Lou Blouin

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Wed, 12/07/2022 - 16:54

Launched two years ago, the program allows ��-Dearborn undergraduates to get a Master of Social Work from Ann Arbor with just one extra year of study. So how is the program going so far?

Health and Human Services student Riley Day is taking advantage of a unique program that is allowing her to get a head start on her ��-Ann Arbor Master of Social Work degree while still a senior at ��-Dearborn. Photo courtesy Riley Day

CECS mentors help metro Detroit students imagine life after high school

clmeeks — Mon, 31 Oct 2022 15:26:30 +0000

CECS mentors help metro Detroit students imagine life after high school clmeeks Mon, 10/31/2022 - 11:26

Sean Galvin often tells a story explaining why he became an educator and not an astronaut—the basic premise of which is that growing up, he knew a ton of the former but not any of the latter.

“My mother was a teacher, my aunts and uncles were teachers, there were educators basically everywhere I turned,” Galvin said. “Being an astronaut—I probably thought about doing that as a kid. But you can see how that might fade from your list of career possibilities if you didn’t know anyone who could tell you how to actually do that.”

It’s a simple but convincing argument for how exposure to real-life examples can shape your future—and one that’s at the heart of an after-school program Galvin heads up at the Jefferson Barns Community Vitality Center in Westland’s historic Norwayne neighborhood. For his students, the horizon of possibilities usually falls far short of a trip to space or even being a teacher. Here, Galvin said, many families face a long list of economic challenges. And for the young people in the neighborhood, the idea of going to college “might as well be a trip to the moon.”

Galvin, however, is hoping to bring that particular dream closer to earth, and he has some compelling people around him to help him make the case.

For the past few years, ��-Dearborn College of Engineering and Computer Science (CECS) undergraduates have become familiar faces around his STEM-focused learning lab. They’re officially here as tutors and mentors, but Galvin smiles wryly when he says their real job is simply to “be there and be helpful.”

Some days that includes helping students ages 8 to 18 with their math or science homework. But if a kid wants help shooting videos for his or her YouTube channel, or printing something weird on the lab’s 3D printer, or playing with the VR goggles, that’s just as good. Anything “productive” that keeps them engaged, Galvin said, is pretty much fair game.

��-Dearborn student mentors Shawn El-Souri (left) and Mustafa Abdulkareem take the learning lab’s virtual reality setup for a spin.

The structure may be loose, but the strategy here is well defined. The collaboration between the lab and the ��-Dearborn students is part of a “near peer” mentoring program run by the College of Engineering and Computer Science’s Office of Extended Learning and Outreach, and the aim is, basically, to help solve a version of Galvin’s astronaut dilemma.

Specifically, CECS is trying to find creative ways to get more kids from under-resourced communities into college in STEM fields, and one of the approaches they think has legs is simply providing opportunities for those kids to meet, learn from and develop a relationship with a real-life college student.

“For some of the kids, our coaches might be the first college student they’ve ever met—let alone a student studying computer science and engineering,” said Rayna Anderson, who helps oversee the near peer program that now has five mentors at two sites in metro Detroit. “They may have a lot of questions about how you do that, and what it’s like—and those are exactly the kinds of conversations we hope they have. But this is not about recruitment. They’re there to nurture a positive attitude about higher ed and life after high school—as well as nurture some math and science skills.”

Anderson said her team also encourages their near pear coaches to share experiences about their lives, and many mentors have their own moving stories about overcoming adversity. For example, two-year mentor Shawn El-Souri was born in the U.S., grew up in Lebanon and returned to the U.S. for his college studies—a journey that involved leaving his family and friends in an uncertain world back home.

“I’ve been in situations where my family was living without electricity for weeks or my best friend passed away because of conflicts in the region,” El-Souri said. “And while I can never truly understand what some of the students might be living through, I think that helps me have empathy. I’ve lived my own version of it. And it shows them that, yes, even if the odds feel like they are stacked against you, you can push forward.”

Conversations like this, El Souri said—the times when things “get real”—are more the exception than the norm. More often, he says the kids keep the energy creative and light—like the time a couple students spent the day teaching him the ins and outs of the Japanese manga Yu-Gi-Oh card game. That’s just one of several things his students have mentored the mentor on.

In fact, Anderson said the lessons the student coaches are taking away are just as much a part of the mentoring program as the math, science and life lessons they impart.

“Today’s engineering world is really focused on cooperation and collaboration,” Anderson said. “Employers are looking for people who not only have all the technical training, but those ‘soft’ interpersonal skills. So the mentoring is obviously really important for those high school and middle school students, who we hope now are dreaming of going to college. But it’s also important for our students. It helps arm them with an important tool they’ll need to achieve their own dreams.”

***

The Jefferson Barns Learning Lab is supported by Byrne JAG State FY 2018 #2016-MU-BX-0703, awarded by the Bureau of Justice Assistance, Office of Justice Programs, U.S. Department of Justice, and administered by the Michigan State Police.

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Mon, 06/18/2018 - 15:26

Can young people’s dreams of higher education be ignited through near peer mentoring?

Ronan Barber (left) of Westland shows off his latest coding project to ��-Dearborn student mentor Shawn El-Souri at the Jefferson Barns Community Vitality Center.

U.S. News & World Report ranks ��-Dearborn as top Michigan regional public university

stuxbury — Mon, 12 Sep 2022 11:39:32 +0000

U.S. News & World Report ranks ��-Dearborn as top Michigan regional public university stuxbury Mon, 09/12/2022 - 07:39

University of Michigan-Dearborn ranks as a top Michigan university in U.S. News & World Report’s annual guide to American colleges and universities. The new numbers were released today.

The university ranks first in the state and fifth overall among regional public universities in the Midwest. And it’s 30th — moving up the list from last year — among all regional universities, public and private, in the Midwest.

"��-Dearborn faculty and staff should be very proud of this ranking. It's proof that our work here changes lives and makes our region stronger and more competitive,” said Chancellor Domenico Grasso. "Our practice-based curriculum means that our graduates will hit the ground running in their careers, earn higher salaries and have less debt after college."

Another point of pride: ��-Dearborn takes a top spot on the “Best College for Veterans” list. In the 2023 rankings, the university — when ranked among regional campuses in the Midwest — earned the top placement in the state at No. 11 overall.

Criteria for the designation includes being GI Bill-certified and participating in the Yellow Ribbon Program. In addition, ��-Dearborn has an active Veteran Affairs staff that organizes veterans-based programming and provides structure for incoming students. “We are veterans, so we understand the needs of our service members and veterans,” said Veterans Affairs Coordinator Tom Pitock, who has more than 22 years of military service.

In college-specific listings, U.S. News again recognized ��-Dearborn’s undergraduate business and engineering programs.

The College of Business ranks as the third best undergraduate business program in the state. This is the 14th consecutive year it’s appeared on the list. The College of Engineering and Computer Science was ranked with the fifth best ABET-accredited undergraduate engineering program in Michigan. Their computer science undergraduate degree also was named a top program.

��-Dearborn is also the number one regional public university in Michigan on the list of “Top Performers on Social Mobility.” The campus ranked 15th overall among regional universities in the Midwest. The list includes colleges that are successful at advancing social mobility by enrolling and graduating large proportions of Pell Grant eligible students.

U.S. News & World Report’s overall rankings are based on data on up to 15 indicators of academic quality including first-year retention rate, graduation rate and strength of faculty.

The complete 2023 rankings will appear in the magazine’s annual guidebook to “America’s Best Colleges.”

In other rankings news, the university was recognized on the Forbes list of America’s Top Colleges.

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Mon, 09/12/2022 - 11:39

��-Dearborn also number one Michigan public regional university on "Best College for Veterans" and "Top Performer in Social Mobility" lists.

��-Dearborn Wolverines are enjoying a warm Fall '22 day at the beginning of the semester.

‘The more people understand about OER…the more we all benefit’

rudmehta — Thu, 08 Sep 2022 14:20:41 +0000

‘The more people understand about OER…the more we all benefit’ rudmehta Thu, 09/08/2022 - 10:20

This article was originally published on October 17, 2019.

College of Business faculty member Patty Graybeal’s managerial accounting course is a large class with mostly sophomore-level students. Realizing not all of them will go on to be accountants — but knowing the lessons are useful in future business classes, their careers and everyday life — she looks for ways to reach them.

Graybeal does “Your Turn” exercises in class to show how accounting is relevant. For example, to explain the concept of managing costs, Graybeal compares business costs to a student’s cost of attending college — emphasizing controllable versus non-controllable costs.

She encourages students to try applying the concepts and using equations without the help of their phone’s or calculators and walks around the room giving one-on-one assistance. She even color codes the equations and concepts on the board to make it easier to follow along.

This semester Graybeal did something else in an effort to help her students: She chose a textbook that 's completely free and saved each student in her class up to $200.

The textbook is on OpenStax, an Open Educational Resources (OER) that provides freely accessible and openly licensed textbooks or other digital assets for teaching and learning. The students have access to the materials online or they can download a pdf.

And Graybeal is very familiar with the OpenStax accounting textbook she chose — she wrote it.

Principles of Accounting Vol. 2 Managerial Accounting, which was published in July, was created with student and faculty educational needs in mind; she thought about how to keep students engaged and how to help faculty teach. For example, each chapter starts with “Why It Matters,” a scenario that relates the chapter material to a student-related situation, such as managing a student organization.

What started as a cold call out from OpenStax — a Rice University-based publisher with funding from the various foundations such as the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and the Koch Foundation — looking for business faculty to write textbooks turned into Graybeal’s nearly three-year 739-page project.

“I know some of our students are struggling financially; it was very motivating for me. I wanted to write a textbook that they could read because it was free. And that they would read because they found it interesting. I wanted to create useful supplements,” says Graybeal, who also contributed to Principles of Accounting Vol 1 and crafted over 1,400 PowerPoint slides for both texts. “I simply want students to learn and hopefully appreciate what they have learned. Removing any barriers, such as cost of materials, is a first step.”

Sophomore Chris Kachigian says it is the first time he didn’t need to worry about buying an expensive textbook for a class. “I can use that money for gas to get here,” says Kachigian, noting that he doesn’t discard print as a medium, but many of his required textbooks — each costing hundreds of dollars— won’t be used beyond the class. “I’m not an accounting major, but this book is actually interesting as far as textbooks go. And it doesn’t take up space like the one I have just sitting in my closet because I couldn’t sell it. It’s pretty cool that Professor Graybeal did this.”

OERs in higher education have been on the upswing during the past few years and with the high quality of today’s publications, more and more institutions are looking into ways to incorporate OERs into classrooms. And ��-Dearborn is among them.

Professor and Interim Library Director Maureen Linker, who leads campus’ OER Task Force, says courseuse of OERs has the potential to increase teaching efficiency and reduce economic barriers to education through these shared resources.

Linker says college students are struggling to get ahead, so reducing the cost of course materials — in this instance, textbooks — is a good thing. Linker says a 2017 OER campus student survey reported some students had to choose between buying groceries or textbooks; that finding was motivation for the task force.

And not making people choose between needs and textbooks leads to students having the materials they need to be successful: A 2018 publication in International Journal of Teaching and Learning in Higher Education found that DFW rates — rates where students have grades of D, F or Withdrawal — decreased by one-third among minority and Pell-eligible students in classes that switched from commercial textbooks to OER.

On the teaching side, there’s a benefit through the resource sharing — which includes prompt questions, class activities, study guides, talking points and more — that faculty can find on OER websites along with the textbooks.

Linker knows that OERs may not always provide a perfect solution — for example, e-text may be an unfamiliar territory for some — but free quality resources are a move toward equity in educational access. For any issues that arise, Linker says the task force will research solutions. To address the above example, they are looking into low-cost publication services for campus use and providing how-to-use OER educational workshops.

As an incentive to try it out in the classroom, the OER Task Force offered grants to College of Arts, Sciences, and Letters faculty — CASL was chosen because it had the largest amount of OER resources available in appropriate subject matter — who were interested in remixing and adapting OER texts for use in Fall 2019 courses. Linker says Graybeal was ahead of the trend and acted independently in her OER work, but they’ll work together in examining campus outcomes.

Now implemented in four classes that have a combined 26 sections, OERs have saved students $263,000 in this Task Force initiative. Linker says the faculty are happy with the results too. The ��-Dearborn OER Task Force is presenting at a statewide conference Friday about the success of the program. And there will be a campus panel discussion and lunch at 12:15 p.m. Oct. 25 in Library Room 1216 to hear from faculty about their OER experiences.

With the success of their first major OER campus push, the grant program will expand to all colleges in 2020. The application process and additional information will be announced in January. The task force will also run OER trainings on how to find and tailor materials to a professor’s class needs.

Because of educational efforts and positive experiences, there’s been an increase in OER awareness. According to a 2017-2018 survey about teaching materials in U.S. higher education, responses from more than 4,000 faculty and department chairpersons report that nearly 50 percent of faculty have OER awareness, up from 34 percent in 2014-2015. And with this increased awareness, it’s believed the OER adaptation will continue to steadily grow.

“OpenStax has saved students over $600 million in textbook costs since 2012. For my text alone, there have been nearly 20,000 downloads and it’s only been available for a couple of months. It’s rewarding to see so many classrooms incorporating it in their lessons and to realize the impact of free textbooks,” Graybeal says. “This is not a fly by night thing. The more people understand about OER — that these are well-written, well-cited learning and teaching resources that are free, accessible and customizable — the more we all benefit.”

The members of ��-Dearborn's OER Task Force are: HUB for Teaching and Learning Instructional Designer Autumm Caines, Library User Services Supervisor Anna Granch, Library Interim Director Maureen Linker, CEHHS Librarian Raya Samet, HUB for Teaching and Learning Instructional Designer Alfonso Sintjago, Library Electronic Resources Specialist Tim Streasick, and Mathematics Associate Professor Alan Wiggins.

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Campus continues efforts to educate and adopt Open Educational Resources, saying OER materials are well cited, customizable and promote educational equity in the classroom.

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