About
Angela Dillard, interim vice provost for access & opportunity and her team leads units and initiatives that open doors and create pathways so every student can pursue and attend college with confidence. Access & Opportunity (A&O) units prepare students for higher education, connect them with support as college students, and help them thrive and lead, wherever their journey takes them.
Angela Dillard is also Vice Provost for Undergraduate Education and will continue to oversee the VPAO portfolio while there is a search for a permanent Vice Provost for Access & Opportunity.
Core Work
A&O is both a hub of expertise and a network of impact. It unites three core units—the Center for Educational Outreach (CEO), the Office of Academic Multicultural Initiatives (OAMI), and Wolverine Pathways (WP)—as well as a set of cross-campus initiatives and partnerships that strengthen belonging, inclusivity, and student success across the university.
Together, these units form a continuum of access and success that begins in K–12 and extends through the college experience and into faculty development and institutional capacity building.
A&O’s efforts align around six interlocking areas of impact that define our contribution to the university’s mission:
- Expanding Access – We create and sustain pathways to higher education through outreach to K–16 learners, campus and community partnerships, and programs that lower barriers for students and families across Michigan.
- Building Readiness – We help students prepare for college by offering academic enrichment, coaching, informational resources, and guidance on admissions and financial aid so they feel motivated, confident and equipped before they apply.
- Supporting Transitions – We ease the move to university life with mentoring, advising, coaching, and programs that help students find their place, and thrive as they start their U-M journey, in their first year and beyond.
- Navigating Success – We empower students to chart their academic journeys with clarity by connecting them to essential resources and supportive networks that foster resilience, belonging, wellbeing and achievement.
- Celebrating Identities and Communities – We uplift students’ cultural, spiritual, and interfaith engagement, while supporting the disability community and honoring traditions of achievement and belonging across campus.
- Building Institutional Capacity – We serve as a vital connector within the U-M ecosystem, coordinating efforts, building capacity, and facilitating partnerships across campus. By providing expertise, forging strategic connections, encouraging open inquiry, and sharing resources we empower faculty, staff, and students to enhance their work and contribute to a stronger, more collaborative institution.
Central Office Staff
Angela Dillard, Interim Vice Provost for Access & Opportunity and Vice Provost for Undergraduate Education; Richard A. Meisler Collegiate Professor of Afroamerican and African Studies and History in the College of Literature, Science, and the Arts.
Marionette Cano, Project Coordinator
Catalina Concha-Ormsby, Assistant Vice Provost for Access & Opportunity
Julie Kelley, Business Administrator
Marie Ting, Assistant Vice Provost for Access & Opportunity
Deborah Willis, Assistant Vice Provost for Access & Opportunity
Reporting Units
- Center for Educational Outreach (CEO): connects schools, students, and communities across the state to life-changing educational opportunities. Through innovative programs, strong partnerships, and statewide experiences, CEO helps students see themselves in college—and give them the tools to get there.
- Office of Academic Multicultural Initiatives (OAMI): supports and celebrates students’ unique experiences, backgrounds, communities, and identities. OAMI collaborates with campus and external partners on programs and initiatives that aid students in achieving their academic ambitions while developing the skills and perspectives necessary to succeed in college and beyond. These initiatives assist U-M in its ongoing commitment to nurturing an intellectually and culturally diverse campus.
- Wolverine Pathways (WP): seeks to confront the barriers that limit the college and career aspirations of highly motivated students from under-resourced communities. WP believes that every student deserves the opportunity to pursue a wide range of professional and academic pathways. Toward this end, WP provides free college preparatory enrichment and guidance for 7th through 12th-grade students in Detroit, Southfield, Ypsilanti and Grand Rapids.