Global and Community Engagement

The Global and Community Engagement’s working group’s charge is to grow powerful learning opportunities in global and community-based programs at Michigan Tech, building on traditional study abroad as well as existing (but scattered) community-based courses and programs at Michigan Tech.

During the fall 2019 semester, the Global and Community Engagement team developed a proposal to grow  study away, or off-campus experiential programming, The proposal was presented in response to a request from the President to develop a 5-year strategy and budget for study away now that it has been moved from IPS to the Pavlis Honors College. Throughout the semester, the team consulted with a wide-variety of faculty and staff leading programs for students from traditional faculty-led study abroad and community research to  alternative spring break to international choir tours. Additionally, the team met with financial aid, general counsel, advisors, and students to understand the motivation and barriers to participating in study away programs. The proposal was submitted to the President in December.

Why encourage global and community learning?

  1. Help students build transferable skills, such as holistic and interdisciplinary learning and problem solving
  2. Develop big thinkers about public and global issues students will engage with for the long term (e.g., climate change, democracy, social justice)
  3. Retention and recruitment: improve numbers and attract more diverse students

Moving Forward

  • Grow scholarships and external support for students to study away and engage in community-based learning
  • Increase to 300 students studying abroad each year
  • Offer a diverse, affordable, and high quality suite of short and long term programs for global and community-engaged learning in the US and abroad connected to general education and majors
  • Enable half of Michigan Tech students to complete a global or community-engaged learning experience as part of their degree program. Options will be clearly mapped for any students in any major to participate
  • Establish a Center for Global and Community Engagement in Pavlis College to serve all of Campus
    Work with administrators to communicate the value of global learning and community engagement
  • Support excellence in health, safety, and risk management for study away programming

Global and Community Engagement prototypes for the 2020-2021 school year include...

  • Study Away student ambassador program
  • GivePulse platform for community engagement connections
  • Humanities in the Disciplines (HID)
  • Information literacy modules
  • Living laboratory for sustainability and resilience
  • Reflection protocol for Gen Ed courses
  • Local literacy teaching and learning at Michigan Tech
  • Critical ethics for Enterprise

[Learn more about our prototypes]

Team Roster

Team Leaders

Kari Henquinet

  • Teaching Professor, Social Sciences Undergraduate Studies Director
  • Peace Corps Prep Program Director
  • Sustainability Science and Society Program Advisor
Darnishia Morris

Darnishia Morris

  • Instructor and Manager of Global Engagement Programs, Pavlis Honors College

Global and Community Engagement Team

Name Department
Carlos Amador Humanities
Carl Blair Social Sciences
Vienna Leonarduzzi Pavlis Honors College
Elise Cheney-Makens Recent alum, civil/environmental engineering
Val Gagnon Great Lakes Research Center
Casey Huckins Biological Sciences
Danise Jarvey Manufacturing and Mechanical Engineering Technology
Carsten Kuelheim College of Forest Resources and Environmental Sciences Student Activities
Jessie Stapleton Student Leadership and Involvement
Madi Vachon Student
Dave Watkins Civil, Environmental, and Geospatial Engineering
Richelle Winkler Social Sciences

Global and Community Engagement inspirations include:

  • Rensselaer Polytechnic University - the Arch International Opportunities Program
  • Colorado College Black Plan
  • Worcester Polytechnic Institute (WPI)