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Office of the Provost
Office of the Provost

Mythbreaking: Education Abroad

In this edition of Mythbreaking, the Global Engagement team addresses some of the misconceptions surrounding education abroad. 

The University of Michigan has long been a leader in education abroad. Our schools and colleges offer an unparalleled range of international opportunities for students to engage globally. From study abroad programs to internships, from research to volunteer trips, more than 5000 U-M Ann Arbor students participated in experiences in more than 120 countries across the globe in the 2023-2024 school year.

While study abroad participation is rebounding and nearing pre-pandemic levels, the Global Engagement Strategic Plan, launched in 2023 by Vice Provost for Engaged Learning Valeria Bertacco, aims to dramatically increase and diversify student participation in international experiences over a five-year period. In the first year of the plan, new programs promoted early awareness of education abroad opportunities, diversified program offerings by location and format, promoted accessibility and affordability of education abroad programs, and enhanced pre-departure and post-experience support.

Yet, many students and their families remain hesitant to pursue education abroad, and these apprehensions are often grounded in persistent myths. To shed some light on the truths about study abroad, let’s dissect and debunk some prevalent myths and juxtapose them with the eye-opening realities.

 

Myth: Studying abroad won’t help students in their future careers. Employers don’t value international experiences.

Fact: Studying abroad helps students gain important skills needed in the 21st-century workplace. Some career-related outcomes of studying abroad include:

  • Increased Intercultural Understanding: In our increasingly globalized world, the ability to navigate different cultures and understand various perspectives is invaluable. Employers seek candidates who can operate effectively in diverse environments.
  • Broadened Worldviews: Living and studying abroad exposes students to different ways of thinking and problem-solving. This broadened worldview can make them more innovative and adaptable—a highly sought-after trait in any professional setting.
  • Better Contributors to Diverse Teams: The modern workplace often involves collaboration across international borders. Students who have studied abroad tend to excel in diverse teams, bringing unique insights and demonstrating cultural sensitivity.
  • Stronger Qualifications for Future Employment: Many employers actively look for candidates with international experience, as it signifies independence, initiative, and resilience. 
  • A Broader Range of Career Opportunities: Students who study abroad often find that their career options expand. They might build networks across different countries or discover new fields of interest through their international studies.

 

Myth: Studying abroad extends a student’s time to degree, preventing them from graduating on time.

Fact: Study abroad is considered a high-impact practice closely linked to student success. 

Both national and institutional studies suggest that studying abroad does not extend a student’s time to degree.

In fact, at the University of Michigan, undergraduate students who participated in an educational opportunity abroad experienced the following:

  • Higher Graduation Rate: U-M undergraduate students who participated in educational opportunities abroad graduated at a higher rate than their peers who did not study abroad.
  • Same or Slightly Less Time to Degree Completion: U-M undergraduate students who studied abroad took the same amount of time, or even slightly less, to obtain their bachelor’s degree than students who did not opt for an international experience. 

These trends persisted for underrepresented minorities, Pell grant recipients, first-generation students, and STEM students.

 

Myth: Studying abroad takes students away from their home campuses, negatively impacting their sense of belonging.

Fact: Study abroad programs are designed to foster community and ensure that students build valuable connections both during and after their international experience.

Some outcomes of study abroad which positively impact students’ sense of belonging include:

  • Building Communities with Diverse Peers: Far from being isolated, students who study abroad often form strong bonds with peers from their home institution and from other countries. These connections can last a lifetime and are instrumental in fostering global citizenship.
  • Increased Self-Awareness and Understanding of Intersecting Identities: Living in a different cultural context encourages students to reflect on their own identities and how they intersect with the world around them. This self-awareness is enriching and enlightening.
  • Deeper Relationships with Faculty: Many study abroad programs are led by faculty members. This close interaction can deepen academic relationships and mentorship, contributing to students’ personal and academic growth.
  • Continued Engagement with the Campus Community: Upon their return, students often find they have much to contribute to the campus community, bringing back new perspectives and experiences that enrich classroom discussions and social dynamics.

From the Desk of the Provost: October

Provost Laurie McCauley standing in front of the Michigan Union.

One perk of working in the Ruthven Building is that you can walk outside and find yourself suddenly immersed in a sea of third-graders. Our proximity to the Museum of Natural History means that busloads of fieldtripping gradeschoolers are a regular feature of the administration neighborhood. These students radiate enthusiasm and curiosity. When you encounter them in all their wide-eyed excitement, it is a potent reminder that what we do on this campus can inspire that rarest of human emotions: awe.

This is why we are here: to give people of every age and background the chance to nurture their curiosity, dive into the world’s mysteries, and experience lasting epiphanies. As Shalanda Baker, our inaugural vice provost for sustainability and climate action, says, “Universities are amazing places to create paradigm shifts.” Whether you are faculty, staff, or a student, we are all part of a community that is charged with teaching and learning the mechanisms of critical thinking, doing groundbreaking research, and shifting paradigms, including our own. None of this is easy. Simply put, campus exists so that we can do these difficult things – together. 

I am heartened to see how much is happening on campus to honor that purpose. As we wade into election season during an already tense time in society, there are more opportunities than ever for us all to be inspired, involved, and informed. 

As we enter the final stretch of the U.S. presidential election season, you have many ways to engage with the democratic process. The new UMICH Votes website is a comprehensive resource where you can learn about voter registration, when and where to vote on campus, ballot proposals, and more.

UMICH Votes dovetails with our recently-launched presidential initiative, the Year of Democracy, Civic Empowerment, and Global Engagement. The initiative includes dozens of events, from public talks to workshops, from art exhibitions to dinners with strangers. 

Journalists Bret Stephens, Lydia Polgreen, María Elena Salinas and Stephen Henderson will be in discussion in the Wallace House Center for Journalists’ event, “One Nation, Divergent Views: Journalists’ Take On the Eve of the Election.” Former Governors John Kasich and Steve Bullock will have a conversation across the aisle about ways in which to have civil and civic discourse in an era of political divisiveness at an event next week. 

Faculty have opportunities to hone their skills for framing and facilitating high stakes discussions and making the most of “hot moments” in the classroom with training from CRLT and the Ginsberg Center. 

At the University of Michigan Museum of Art, an exhibition dedicated to human flourishing and art-driven dialogues, entitled Hey, We Need to Talk, brings a mosaic of approaches to the art of dialogue into one stunning location. One of these approaches is as old and traditional as civilization itself: an honest conversation over a great meal…but with strangers. 

You will notice a theme at the heart of all these varied activities, performances, and even policies: respectful, authentic interactions with friends, colleagues, and especially those we do not agree with, are central to accomplishing our mission. The opportunity to enjoy and learn from the amazing tapestry of humanity on our campus is immense when we can step, however briefly, outside our own experiences. This year, I am inspired by everything our community is doing to help us learn, listen, and create connections across boundaries of every sort. 

With the debut of Vision 2034, we are asking the world to Look to Michigan. In doing so, I hope we can look to one another – to find encouragement, inspiration, and even awe at what we can discover and create together. 

Warm regards,
Laurie

Making AI Work for Educators: a U-M Generative AI Update

by Bob Jones, Assistant Vice President of Support Services and Emerging Technologies for Information and Technology Services

Since the fall of 2023, U-M has aimed to democratize access to a transformative tool-set to enable innovation in a secure, private, and uniquely Michigan fashion.

Our GenAI platform is designed to meet the needs of most users with three distinct offerings. While these tools have received a lot of use and attention, many in our community are still waiting to explore whether these options might offer a supplement to their own teaching or coursework. To understand what is next, a brief review of our current offerings is in order.

The first is U-M GPT, our accessible natural language and text-to-image web-app. U-M GPT currently hosts the latest GPT Omni model, DALL-E 3, and an open-source alternative called Llama 3.

Our AI service with perhaps the most appeal to our educators is Maizey, a revolutionary tool based on an AI framework called retrieval-augmented generation (RAG). Maizey is an environment designed to be an expert in almost any topic you desire, while also enabling you to define the behavior of the environment. Think of Maizey as a play of your own choosing, with the system prompt being the script for each character’s behavior. 

Lastly, we provide application program interface (API) access to our AI environment – we call this our GPT Toolkit. This is a great option for those wishing to create deep connections within applications, web, and data. Those using the API environment may be building novel applications, making new discoveries, or connecting systems to optimize and enhance data flow and outputs.

What’s New?

One of the most common pieces of feedback we received since our AI platform’s release came from faculty members seeking to use Maizey for Teaching and Learning who did not have a shortcode. This fall, we are proud to announce that every academic course in Canvas now has a $1,000 per course per term allocation without the requirement of a shortcode. In addition, every faculty member can quickly create a Maizey from their course context using the native Canvas workflow you have come to expect. To date, the U-M community has created over 3,000 Maizeys, and we believe, this semester, U-M will again lead the world in the responsible and ethical use of GenAI in the Teaching and Learning domain.

Maizey can now also see within multiple data sources, and creators of Maizeys can even reschedule indexing of information from each data source. Why is this significant? Because Maizey can be pointed to Dropbox, Google Drive, Canvas, and the web, all at the same time. Imagine the power of a GenAI environment that can grow as your data grows and be automated without human intervention. Maizey will serve as a librarian to ensure you always have the exact information you desire at your fingertips.

MiMaizey: A New Assistant for Students

We are very excited to have recently released the world’s first GenAI assistant for students at U-M. This assistant, MiMaizey, is a new technology launched in beta, which means it is a preliminary version made available to gather user feedback and identify areas for improvement. Since its launch, we have received amazing feedback that highlights where students want GenAI to operate, balancing the need for real-time information with generative feedback.

MiMaizey serves as an interactive environment where students can ask questions, benefiting from its extensive knowledge of U-M-specific information. Students can inquire about dining hall menus, course materials, study guides, campus resource locations, and more. If faculty members create a Maizey for their courses, students enrolled in those courses can ask detailed questions via MiMaizey. This new tool provides personalized responses and assistance, offering a unique and supportive experience for each student.

What’s Coming?

We envision a U-M where everyone has a GenAI assistant, unique to them, which can see, hear, and provide a contextual experience appropriate for their role. We believe in equal access and innovation. We believe that you will change the world by harnessing the power of GenAI and influencing the world around you.

As we look ahead, our vision of a personalized AI assistant for every individual at U-M is not just an aspiration but a commitment to providing an inclusive, supportive, and dynamic environment. We believe that every student, faculty, and staff member possesses the potential to drive innovation. By granting everyone the power to interact with and shape AI tools, we nurture an ecosystem where creativity can thrive.

Summer Photo Scrapbook

In the last edition of the Office of the Provost Newsletter, we asked our readers to help us build a scrapbook commemorating summertime, and you delivered! As we bid the season farewell and welcome fall, we hope you’ll enjoy this look back to trips abroad, weddings, and even a glimpse of the northern lights.

Q+A with Vice Provost Shalanda Baker

Shalanda Baker, vice provost for sustainability and climate action.

Shalanda Baker, vice provost for sustainability and climate action.

Shalanda Baker, vice provost for sustainability and climate action and professor of environment and sustainability in the School of Environment and Sustainability, began her tenure on Sept. 1, 2024. In this role, she will lead interdisciplinary engagement on environmental topics, explore opportunities to integrate sustainability within core curricula and support critical research that addresses the climate crisis.

The VPSCA also will advance U-M’s role as a living-learning lab toward climate solutions, in collaboration with Business & Finance, the Office of Campus Sustainability, Student Life Sustainability, the Graham Sustainability Institute, Michigan Medicine, and schools, colleges and units.

What drew you to this role?

SB: I’ve just had the privilege of serving in the Biden-Harris Administration, first as the country’s first-ever Deputy Director for Energy Justice in the Department of Energy, and then as the Senate-confirmed director of the Office of Energy Justice and Equity. My job was to ensure that the nation’s energy transition was just and equitable by rewiring the entire architecture of grantmaking and program design within the department. Throughout the course of my time in the department, I realized that the only pathway to a just and equitable energy transition was to actually contend with the various interlocking systems that produce inequity and injustice. In essence, the problem of an unjust energy system connects to multiple systems, and those systems have to communicate with each other in an interdisciplinary manner.

Universities are amazing places to create paradigm shifts, and everything I knew about the University of Michigan led me to believe that the University of Michigan was better positioned than any university in the country to accelerate just and equitable climate action at scale. Its history of environmental and racial justice, as well as the hundreds of researchers and students already looking at issues of climate and sustainability through various disciplinary lenses make it an excellent springboard from which to think about structural change across our systems of health, energy, food, water, built environment, and economy. The exciting part of this job will be to create platforms and pathways for all of these elements to connect. 

How are universities uniquely positioned to move the needle on climate change?

SB: Universities are idea incubators. As a law professor, I got to witness students trying on and experimenting with new ideas. Nearly every day, I saw the proverbial “light bulb” turn on for students synthesizing information. Once that happened, our classroom became a site for collaboration and pushing the envelope. Students are ready to innovate on climate change and, more importantly, they’re ready to act on climate, which makes universities a great place to do this work. Universities are also excellent conveners and can establish relationships at the local, state, regional, and international levels. Of course, universities also house some of the best scholars and researchers across multiple disciplines who can be brought together to grapple with thorny, system-level problems, like climate change. 

Why was your role created and how is it positioned within the broader climate and sustainability leadership structure at the university? 

SB: The University has made climate change, sustainability, environmental justice and issues of the environment central to its vision and goals. You can see that through actual documents and commitments, such as the Vision 2034. You can also see that in places like SEAS, the School for Environment and Sustainability, which has served as a national leader in sustainability for years. About a year ago, the University further demonstrated its commitment to sustainability by hiring an inaugural Associate Vice President for Campus Sustainability within the Office of the Chief Financial Officer, Shana Weber. Last year Tony Denton assumed the role of Senior Vice President and Chief Environmental, Social and Governance Officer at Michigan Medicine.  My role was created to accelerate activity in the curricular and research spaces and to collaborate closely with Shana and Tony to advance our shared goals. It’s an exciting structure that allows us to touch upon every aspect of the university enterprise. My role will also help to amplify the excellent work already happening across campus and to help weave together the various threads of scholarship, teaching, and community-facing efforts into a beautiful tapestry of sustainability, climate action, and justice. It’s such an exciting time to be at UMich doing this work!

What is your strategy to get the university’s colleges, schools, institutes, and centers to collaborate on climate action and sustainability research and teaching?

SB: This is the hardest question! But it’s always top of mind. There’s already so much amazing collaboration already happening across the diverse research portfolios. I’m excited to roll up my sleeves to create a platform and structure within my new office to facilitate greater ease of access to teaching resources, curricular offerings for students, and research opportunities. I’m also thinking through ways to incentivize collaboration on teaching, research, and place-based community efforts, so stay tuned! To start, this year I’m leaning into the convening opportunities within the office, hosting town hall sessions with students, faculty, directors, and deans to really understand the barriers to collaboration, and get their best ideas on the ways this office can facilitate high-impact, transformative teaching, research, and community engagement. I also have the great fortune of working with the excellent Graham Institute for Sustainability, Matthaei Botanical Gardens, and Campus Farms teams as a part of my portfolio, and I’ll be leaning into their expertise as I launch a campus-wide effort. Finally, I’m really excited about the Capital Campaign! I think it will serve as a forcing mechanism to unify our sustainability community around shared principles and values to accelerate sustainability and climate action on campus.

To close out, what’s one fun fact about you?

SB: I’m not sure how fun this is, but not many people know that I was a four-year All American rugby player at the Air Force Academy and a member of the US Women’s National Team for about a decade. That was a long time ago, but it pops up here and there when people Google me to find my bio. It always catches me off guard at professional events or before a speaking engagement when someone asks me, “You played rugby?!” I still get a kick out of it. My current hobbies are more tame. On rainy days I’m likely to be found reading a book cover to cover or cooking something for friends from my collection of cookbooks!

From the Desk of the Provost: July 2024

In academia, summer is about performing the rituals of relaxation, reflection, and resolution that, for most others, define the end of the year. 

This feels appropriate, since summer is often a time of transition for our colleagues on campus, and we bid farewell to old friends and welcome newcomers all at once. My longtime colleague Dr. Lori Pierce concluded her 19-year tenure as vice provost for academic and faculty affairs this summer to focus on her work as a renowned radiation oncologist. Her departure makes it clear that we can never replace anyone; we can only build on what they have accomplished and meet the challenges of the next era. Fortunately, I believe Chris Friese, our new vice provost for academic and faculty affairs, is ready to do just that. He is an accomplished and extraordinarily active scholar, a nationally-recognized expert on nursing, and passionate about improving the experience of faculty at the University of Michigan. I hope you have the opportunity to learn about him in this month’s Vice Provost Q+A. 

Even in the relatively relaxed atmosphere of campus in July, it is no secret that tensions are running high across our society right now. One of the most common sentiments I hear from faculty, staff, and students is the hope that our campus culture could be an exception to the climate of polarization pervading the nation. I believe we have the will and the tools to make it so. A culture is built from ten thousand small acts every day; when we, as individuals, choose empathy over indifference, when we make genuine efforts to understand our colleagues and even those radically different from ourselves, we are building the culture I believe we all, deep down, want to experience. 

We are fortunate to have many efforts across campus in place to do that as we enter the Year of Democracy and Global and Civic Engagement. In this newsletter, you can learn more about U-M’s efforts to get students to the polls from Jenna Bednar, faculty director of the UMICH Votes program. Professor Bednar is an expert on resilient democracies, and is deeply engaged in related work on campus. 

There is much work being done in the name of dialogue, democracy, and constructive disagreement, and faculty and staff have many opportunities to engage. Spots are still open for the Program for Intergroup Relations’ Intergroup Dialogue Basics Seminar; as the fall semester begins, you may want to visit Hey, We Need to Talk at the Art Museum, an exhibition exploring flourishing through art and conversation, from Philippa Pham Hughes, Visiting Artist for Arts & Civic Engagement; and faculty won’t want to miss the Promoting Democracy Teaching Series, sponsored by the Edward Ginsberg Center and CRLT. 

From all of us in the Office of the Provost, we hope you are finding time this summer for what relaxes or reinvigorates you. We would like to feature pictures of the various adventures faculty and staff experienced over the summer in our fall newsletter. If you would like to send pictures of your intriguing discovery, unique locale, or passion project, please do so here – we would love to learn more about how our community spends their summers. 

Warm regards,
Laurie

Mythbreaking: Adaptive Sports

Adaptive Sports practice for Track and Field. Photo by Marc-Gregor Campredon

Sport can be a unifying language, institutionally, regionally, nationally, and internationally. The epitome of this is the way that the Olympics and Paralympics quite literally bridge the world together in celebration of sport. However, sport is not always equitably accessible to everyone, like in the case of disabled athletes. People assume “disabled-athlete” is an oxymoron and can’t exist in unison. The mission of University of Michigan Adaptive Sports & Fitness is to increase awareness, knowledge, access, and participation in adaptive sports among people with and without disabilities so that all people understand that disability is not inability.

As adaptive sports begin to receive more recognition within the University of Michigan and in the collegiate landscape, especially with Paris 2024 on the horizon, it is important to discern myth and fact in our discovery process that adaptive sports are truly for everyone. Below, the Adaptive Sports & Fitness team addresses some of the most common myths about adaptive sport.

Myth: “The Paralympics are for people that suffer from paraplegia.”

Fact: The term “Paralympic” originates from the Greek “para” (beside or alongside) and “Olympic,” signifying that the Paralympics run parallel to the Olympics. This epitomizes the coexistence and similarities of the two events. This principle guides UM’s Adaptive Sports & Fitness department (ASF), which aims to enrich student life through inclusive sports programs, both recreationally and competitively, catering to all individuals’ highest athletic aspirations at the University of Michigan.

Adaptive tennis practice. Photo by Marc-Gregor Campredon

The term “Paralympic” is often misunderstood, with many assuming “Para” comes from ones disability status. References like “Para-Olympics” or “Regular Olympics,” although not intentional, carry significant implications to the Paralympic movement. Some of these implications are a hierarchical structure within the games that assume the Olympics are at the top. Similarly, people often confuse the Paralympics with the Special Olympics, which is a separate – though no less important – movement that also serves the disability community, but is unique in its mission and goals. 

The notion that one “suffers” from an injury or resulting disability can be very reductive within the disability community. Disability is not inability and we do not need to “cure” disability, rather we need to relook at how we can change structures and values that allow all people to have equitable access. This concept comes from the “social model of disability” and is a unit wide methodology that does not just guide UM Adaptive Sports & Fitness, but the entire unit of Student Accessibility and Accommodation Services (SAAS).

Myth: “Adaptive Sports are for people with disabilities.”

Fact: Adaptive sports (also known as para sports) and inclusive recreation are competitive or recreational sports for people with and without disabilities. Adaptive sports use modifications of rules or equipment that allow for equitable participation in sport by people with disabilities. Some adaptive sports are variations of existing able-bodied sports that run parallel to those sport activities (e.g. wheelchair basketball and wheelchair tennis). Some adaptive sports have been specifically designed for persons with a disability and do not have able-bodied equivalent activities (e.g. goalball). 

Wheelchair Basketball with UM Adaptive Sport in Port Huron, Michigan. Photo by Marc-Gregor Campredon

Sport should be a universal language, but often people with disabilities are relegated to the sidelines due to limited access. By having inclusive adaptive sports, athletes of all abilities are given more opportunities to participate. The modification of equipment and rules in adaptive sports allow for everyone to play together; friends, family, peers, colleagues, or people in the community. 

Sometimes people without disabilities are concerned that by participating in adaptive sports they are simulating disability or displacing the disabled athletes. ASF believes that through adaptive sport we can dismantle those pre-existing concerns and demonstrate that adaptive sport is a unifying experience. Simply put, adaptive sports are sports. The same way one plays pick-up basketball at the NCRB or IMSB, all are welcome to join us for drop-in wheelchair basketball. We are fortunate to have support from the University of Michigan and Student Life such that we have adaptive sports equipment for everyone to play. We have a sports chair waiting for you!

Myth: “Adaptive Sports & Fitness is a novel department at the University of Michigan.”

Fact: Adaptive Sports & Fitness officially became part of Student Life at University of Michigan in 2020 and is a relatively new movement within UM. Since its inception ASF has grown rapidly to meet the needs that exist within the UM and larger adaptive sports community. 

While adaptive sports are new at University of Michigan, they are not new to the collegiate landscape. The first wheelchair basketball team (and adaptive sports program) was started in 1948 at the University of Illinois. Since then, many other institutions, approximately 20, have joined the growing collegiate adaptive sports landscape. 

ASF has tried to learn from our predecessors by developing a program that includes competitive and recreational adaptive sports opportunities, community based initiatives like RX to Play, the Adaptive Sports and Inclusive Recreational Initiative, and research. 

2024 was a significant landmark year in collegiate adaptive sports history with the following accomplishments resulting from the work of the institutions mentioned above, many governing bodies, and sponsor organizations like Guardian and their Adaptive Student Athlete Program.

  • Wheelchair Basketball: Inclusion of a collegiate wheelchair basketball showcase at Women’s NCAA March Madness
  • Wheelchair Tennis: The Intercollegiate Tennis Association formally includes collegiate wheelchair tennis as part of the governing body and includes wheelchair tennis for the first time in NCAA history at the NCAA National Championships
  • Wheelchair Track: The NCAA, in partnership with with the United States Olympic and Paralympic Committee, includes wheelchair track at the outdoor national championships for this first time in history as part of the 2024 Track & Field National Championships

Q+A with Christopher Friese, Vice Provost for Academic and Faculty Affairs

Christopher R. Friese, the Elizabeth Tone Hosmer Professor of Nursing and Professor of Health Management and Policy, began his 5-year term as Vice Provost for Academic and Faculty Affairs on June 1, 2024. In partnership with Vice Provost Sara Blair, he is responsible for overseeing core faculty-centered processes, including the promotion and tenure process, as well as the Provost Office’s funding programs in support of recruiting, hiring, retaining, and promoting faculty. Friese will have oversight of the seven health science schools and the Life Sciences Institute, as well as the Ross School of Business, the Marsal School of Education, the College of Engineering, the School for Environment and Sustainability, the Law School, and the Ford School of Public Policy.

What are your initial and long-term goals for the position?

I was attracted to this position because I have benefited greatly from various faculty-focused initiatives that have been led from this office. I’m excited to pay forward the tremendous support I’ve received over my 16 years at Michigan and develop initiatives and policies that allow Michigan faculty to learn, grow, and thrive. 

My predecessor Dr. Lori Pierce served in the Provost’s Office for 19 years and accumulated exceptional wisdom and acumen in this multifaceted role. In my first three months, I will focus on connecting – across schools and units – with our various partners across the University to better understand our core functions and generate aspirational goals. Following this, the team and I are poised to examine existing practices and propose new efforts that align with both the Vision 2034 framework and mission of the Provost’s Office. My long-term goal is for Michigan to be recognized among its peers as providing exceptional support to our faculty community. 

The University faces a unique fulcrum with regard to faculty support: the higher education climate writ large poses challenges for successful faculty recruitment and retention. So what can we do here at Michigan to better support faculty we are hoping to attract and make Michigan their career destination? We are well-positioned to foster an exceptional climate for faculty creativity, scholarship, and teaching excellence, and that’s incredibly exciting work to be doing right now.

What are some of the key areas of focus for the next year?

I won’t be doing this work alone. We have an exceptional team in the office, as well as partners across the Schools and Colleges. It’s an honor to work with them to ensure our policies and processes are sound. As time demands continue to increase, we’ll be monitoring ways in which the promotions and tenure process can be managed efficiently, while maintaining rigorous standards and ensuring equitable treatment. The diversity of scholarship and creative activities across our campus is a wonderful challenge to have: we want to be sure we recognize all the many ways our faculty contribute to the community.

I am also interested in examining ways in which we can make working at Michigan easier for faculty, especially those among our community with a disability or who have caregiving responsibilities. Both of those resonate for me as I was a remote caregiver as a newly-appointed Assistant Professor. The faculty are the engine of this academic enterprise. By identifying ways in which we can align policies, resources, and partnerships to support faculty in their individual endeavors, the University will stand to gain as well.

Chris with his Schnauzer, Dunkel, in Dusseldorf, Germany.

How do you plan to approach this work?

People who know me would tell you I’m a pretty informal person. On multiple leadership style inventories, I’ve been termed a “connector.” I get excited about connecting ideas and people and it’s not unusual for me to hear one idea at a meeting and bring it to another colleague. This fall, I’m looking forward to a listening tour with my colleagues in schools who lead faculty affairs efforts to better understand and address their needs. It’s also incredibly humbling to review casebooks from our faculty and those who wish to join our campus. The work our faculty do is inspiring. Whenever and wherever I can, I will be celebrating – virtually or in person – the accomplishments of our faculty and asking them, “What more can we do?,” and integrating their feedback into our future work. I also want to publicly thank the many members of our community who contribute to this work, by serving as reviewers, committee members, volunteers for ad hoc working groups, and the like. This team effort is essential to the university.

What are some of your favorite events on campus?

I have sung with the UMS Choral Union for many years. I always enjoy our concerts in Hill Auditorium, including the complete Handel’s Messiah every December. I am a fan of Michigan football and basketball, in good times and bad. Because I was on sabbatical during the national title game, I streamed the game on German sports television at around 1 a.m., while listening to the Ann Arbor radio broadcast (thanks, technology). A favorite day of the year is the May Regents’ meeting when all faculty promotions are announced. I’m thrilled to get to support that effort in the years ahead in this new role.

UMICH Votes and the Year of Democracy and Global and Civic Engagement with Jenna Bednar

Ford School professor and political scientist Jenna Bednar recently joined the Office of the Provost as the faculty director of UMICH Votes and Democratic Engagement. Her academic work concerns federalism and democratic structures and norms. Her recent focus investigates how to encourage human flourishing within democratic systems.

In addition to her position as UMICH Votes faculty director, she is working in many related arenas: in collaboration with Dean Celeste Watkins-Hayes and academic leadership from the College of Literature, Science, and the Arts on the university’s Year of Democracy and Global and Civic Engagement initiative; on the Democracy, Civic and Global Engagement pillar of Vision 2034; and at the Ford School on projects studying resilient democracies. Professor Bednar also serves as a subcommittee chair on the Committee on the University of Michigan Principles on Diversity of Thought and Freedom of Expression.

Given the theme of her work, we began this interview with what might be the era’s defining question.

Provost’s Office: You study the success and failure of democracy – a weighty topic, especially as we approach November. With so much at stake, what gives you hope right now? 

Jenna Bednar: Can I pick two things?

PO: We’ll allow it. 

JB: The first is our students. They are enthusiastic about changing the world, and a lot of them are undaunted. Some of the circumstances we have watched evolve in our lifetimes are all these students have ever experienced. They’re ready to get into the world and make it better. Their energy is contagious and wonderful. 

PO: What’s the second thing?

JB: This might sound odd, but…anger. When I talk to colleagues, students, or other political scientists, I hear a lot of frustration with the state of the country, and with electoral politics specifically. Anger isn’t always a productive reaction, but in this case, it comes from a good place. People are angry that we find ourselves grappling with the political situation we do because they have such a deep love for the potential of this country. That’s the kind of patriotism and sense of agency that gets people to the polls as well as working every day to create real change. 

PO: Getting students to the polls is the focus of UMICH Votes. What can you tell us about this project?

JB: UMICH Votes is a coalition of groups with different functions but the same mission: to help our community vote. The process begins with our student organization, Turn Up Turnout (TUT); this is a peer-to-peer effort, where students register other students at orientation and throughout the fall. They also organize walks to the polls with students from as many departments as possible.  The Ginsberg Center supports our efforts at civic engagement and building our relationships with other Big 10 campuses.  UMMA and the Duderstadt Center provide gorgeous, well-placed spaces. And the Creative Campus Voting Project, led by Stamps professors Hannah Smotrich and Stephanie Rowden, uses their formidable design skills to create welcoming and informative polling sites and helpful language for registration. None of this would be possible without the Ann Arbor City Clerk, Jackie Beaudry, who has been 100% supportive, agreeing to open two satellite city clerk offices on our campus. 

People from all of these organizations meet multiple times weekly to coordinate and collaborate. One exciting new project is a system of messaging. Students don’t have a shortage of voting information; instead, they are bombarded with too much. Our UMICH Votes team has tackled this problem of information abundance with straightforward, just-in-time messaging to help students get access to the information they need to participate fully in elections.

PO: Are these efforts directed only toward students voting in Ann Arbor?

JB: No. First, we serve all students, in-state and out-of-state. The law allows students to choose whether to vote in their college town or hometown. We help students to find accurate information about registration and voting whether they plan to vote in Ann Arbor or in their hometowns. In addition, our goal is to serve all three campuses. TUT has built relationships with student organizations at UM-Flint and UM-Dearborn, and we share best practices, our system of messaging, access to accurate sources of voting information, and generally support one another’s efforts.

PO: What can you tell us about the Year of Democracy and Global and Civic Engagement?

JB: Planning is underway for the campus-wide theme year of Democracy and Global and Civic Engagement. Look for a calendar packed with events and programming to inspire and inform. In the fall we’ll focus on Get Out The Vote, in alignment with the great work of UMICH Votes. In the winter semester we’ll turn our focus both outward and inward: outward, to the global experience with democracy, and inward, to examine the health of our own. Our aim is to lift up the expertise that currently exists in our democracy-related research community as well as to build up the knowledge and skills of our students, who as Michigan alumni will become the generation of democracy leaders. You’ll have to invite me back to talk more about it!

PO: Consider it done! We’re looking forward to another update in September.

From the Desk of the Provost: March 2024

 

Campus is brimming with fascinating work and inspiring stories. That is a testament to the vibrancy of our community. 

In the Office of the Provost, one crucial means of supporting our academic mission is connecting people, especially across departments and disciplines. Early in his tenure, President Ono said that he was struck and encouraged by the low barriers to collaboration at our university. This may not always feel accurate across our famously decentralized institution, but plentiful evidence exists in every sector of campus; collective efforts like the Arts Initiative, the Center for RNA Biomedicine, and the ASSET Research Group working on our student success initiatives demonstrate that worthy goals have the power to unite people. By focusing a wide lens on campus in this newsletter, I hope to promote collaboration across this vast landscape. 

Another key part of our office’s mission is keeping the impact and ingenuity of our faculty and staff front and center. This includes everything from aligning budgetary resources to facilitating the promotion and tenure process. It also includes shining a light on opportunities like CEW+’s Financial Empowerment Initiative or Global Michigan’s new education abroad grant program. 

Speaking with people about their jobs across our enterprise through the years, I have noticed two prevalent themes: 1) We are curious about the professional lives of others on campus. 2) Most people feel their area/discipline is not well-understood. In this newsletter, we have an opportunity to better explore, in people’s own words, how our faculty and staff transform our mission into action. 

In this issue, the inaugural vice provost for undergraduate education, Angela Dillard, walks us through what it’s like to take on a colossal imperative in a new position. In our first podcast, CEW+ Director Tiffany Marra and financial therapist Lindsay Bryan-Podvin talk about how assembling strangers to discuss financial anxiety has created surprising bonds across age, background, and economic status. And in a feature called “Mythbreaking,” experts from the U-M budget team dispel common misconceptions about the university’s financial ecosystem. 

On behalf of the many who contributed to its contents,  we hope you enjoy the newsletter. 

If you have questions or feedback, please share it with me at: [email protected]. 

Sincerely,

Laurie K. McCauley, DDS, MS, PhD
Provost and Executive Vice President for Academic Affairs
William K. and Mary Anne Najjar Professor

The letter above appeared in the March 2024 Office of the Provost newsletter.