Victors for UM-Dearborn

Mon, 10/13/2014 - 14:27

The Kochoff Pathway to Success Scholarship Program will support nearly 600 students with financial need in it first four years alone.

An advocate and mentor for engineering students

clmeeks — Wed, 26 Oct 2022 20:27:33 +0000

An advocate and mentor for engineering students clmeeks Wed, 10/26/2022 - 16:27

Janet Hall knows she has a can-do attitude, but she doesn’t see herself as a trailblazer.

“I was a girl who loved physics and was lucky to have parents who encouraged my interests. I wouldn’t say I’ve done anything particularly special.”

But the 1968 graduate’s actions and accomplishments say otherwise.

Hall, ‘68 B.S.E.E.E., was the first UM-Dearborn female College of Engineering and Computer Science graduate — she left her family dairy farm in upstate New York and moved to Dearborn, Michigan, when a Ford Motor Company recruiter visited Hall’s school and told her about a new college co-op program at the then named Dearborn Center of the University of Michigan.

She was among the first female electrical engineers to work at Ford Motor Company. During the ‘Space Race” and around the time of the Apollo 11 moon landing, Hall wrote computer programs for the Ford Philco Mission Control Center.

And when opportunities presented themselves for multiple promotions, Hall earned her M.B.A. and pivoted into management where she lived in Germany and oversaw a team of Ford engineers working on three continents.

“In my early days, I was aware colleagues were watching me — a woman engineer — so I focused on my work and doing it well. The skeptics became supporters and I started climbing the ladder,” said Hall, who retired from Ford Motor Company in 2001 as Manager of Powertrain Global Prototype Operations.

“But I recognize there are people who don’t change with the times and make things difficult. I once had a boss who was old school as the day is long. He didn’t value me. So I created what I call ‘the work around.’ I’d stay later than my immediate boss so I could get to know the big boss. I wanted the big boss to see what I could contribute to Ford. I was later promoted. My advice is: You can’t go through people, but you can go around them.”

Most recently, Hall created the first endowment to support students who are members of UM-Dearborn’s Society of Women Engineers (SWE) student organization through a $25,000 gift — the Janet Hall Society of Women Engineers Endowed Fund.

Hall said the purpose of the gift is to provide support for engineering students involved in SWE through scholarships and support for professional development experiences like SWE conferences.

Hall said she became involved with a Detroit SWE chapter during her nearly 35-year career at Ford. The organization introduced her to engineering recruiters, gave an opportunity for travel, and increased the size of her network.

“I know how valuable the experience of working with other women engineers can be and it is important to continue the support of the student chapter of SWE at my alma mater,” said Hall, who has been a frequent guest speaker at the UM-Dearborn SWE chapter events.

Hall said today’s graduates have a different experience than she did 50 years ago — but there are still challenges to overcome.

“Their world is different from what mine was. The barriers aren’t the same, but there are still pockets of old-school thinking. There are things I can share — like the workaround — that may help them navigate difficult situations so they can succeed,” Hall said. “I didn’t have a female mentor, so I want to be that for someone else. I’m here to give these women support in any way I can.”

Student Success

Mon, 07/13/2020 - 18:06

UM-Dearborn’s first female engineering graduate establishes an endowment for campus’ Society of Women Engineers student organization.

Alumna Janet Hall, center, attends a campus event in 2019. Hall speaks at Society of Women Engineers events and helped mentor UM-Dearborn students for decades.

UM-Dearborn announces inaugural Chancellor's Inclusive Excellence Fellows

lblouin — Mon, 03 Oct 2022 18:32:30 +0000

UM-Dearborn announces inaugural Chancellor's Inclusive Excellence Fellows lblouin Mon, 10/03/2022 - 14:32

As the campus community knows, our strategic planning effort has led to many new projects and initiatives relating to diversity, equity and inclusion, or DEI. The DEI working group came up with 60 recommendations in all, many of which have already been implemented. Now, add to the list a new faculty fellowship from the Office of the Chancellor. In late September, a selection committee named Associate Professor of African and African American Studies Terri Laws and Professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering Hafiz Malik as the first recipients of the new Chancellor’s Inclusive Excellence Fellowship.

Keisha Blevins, chief of staff in the chancellor’s office and UM-Dearborn’s chief diversity and inclusion officer, says one of the core goals of the new fellowship is to give faculty a more formal opportunity to use their expertise to improve and create DEI-focused campus initiatives. “We wanted to recognize the research or teaching that our faculty are already doing in this area,” Blevins says. “But we also wanted to provide them additional space and time to collaborate with administration in ways that they may not normally. Even though our faculty are engaged in a lot of this work already, I don’t think that, on an everyday basis, there was this kind of intentional, specific coordination between administration and faculty around DEI. We thought their individual expertise would be very helpful in carrying out our mission and making the university more inclusive for faculty, staff and students.”

Laws’ year-long fellowship zeroes in on the intersection of college preparedness, student retention and faculty satisfaction. As at many universities, students at UM-Dearborn come to campus with varying levels of classroom readiness. And we have a variety of support programs designed to help improve their skills so they can succeed in the classroom and persist in their programs. What Laws plans to investigate is whether we have a robust, evidence-based understanding of which supports are most effective at creating desired outcomes, like improved GPA, better retention rates or more desirable job opportunities. “I spent the longest part of my career in health care, and one of the things we rely on in health care is this idea of ‘critical pathways,’” Laws explains. “If someone is having a heart attack, there are dozens of possible treatments, but what you really want to know are the key interventions that create the best chance of the best outcome, so you can cut out the steps that aren’t necessary or don’t work so well.”

When it comes to academic interventions, Laws says faculty are often eager to help students who need extra support, but they don’t always have clarity about the “critical pathway” to deploy for a particular challenge, or whether the interventions they pursued ultimately had an impact. For example, Laws says the university’s Early Warning Program allows faculty to communicate with Academic Advising about students who are at risk so they can be connected to support services. “But it is often very complicated when a student is at risk of doing poorly in a class or leaving the university before degree completion,” Laws says. “After I submit an early warning request, I don’t know if that actually made a difference for the student, qualitatively, and across types of early warning interventions, collectively. I think that would help more faculty participate because they will see that reporting is easy — and that it is effective.” She’s hoping her work can help close loops like that, thereby boosting student outcomes and faculty satisfaction. Similarly, Laws will be working with UM-Dearborn Human Resources to evaluate new recruitment and hiring policies aimed at improving diversity in the faculty ranks. Blevins says Laws’ work will also dovetail with the university’s effort to establish Key Performance Indicators, or KPIs, that measure the effectiveness of DEI initiatives relating to representation, inclusion and experiences at work.

Malik’s fellowship is focused on the Summer Undergraduate Research Experience (SURE) program. Piloted just a few years ago to expand opportunities for undergraduate research, the program has been viewed as a big success. But Malik noticed that SURE’s ranks have tended to leave out one large segment of the UM-Dearborn community: students who have sizable work commitments outside of their studies. “I see it all the time — as soon as class ends, students rush off to work with no time to spare,” Malik says. “For them, how they’re going to put food on the table is their biggest concern, and that doesn’t leave a lot of room for things like working in a lab or doing an internship.” In a competitive work environment, not having those kinds of experiences on your resume can be consequential, so Malik came up with a straightforward solution: Do more outreach to working students so they’re aware that an on-campus job in a lab can actually be their job (or at least one of them). “Why wait tables, which is totally unrelated to their field of study, when they could come work in my lab, earn a wage and get an experience that’s going to help them in their career?” Malik says.

Malik’s fellowship year will focus, in part, on helping faculty understand what it takes to recruit working students, which is something he’s been doing successfully for years in his own lab. “Sometimes, we can’t pay as much as their off-campus jobs, so you have to help them understand that the experience has the potential to pay off big for them down the road, once they start their careers.” For now, he’ll be focused specifically on the SURE program, but he says the approach is applicable to grant-supported research in general, which often has funds earmarked for undergraduate students.

UM-Dearborn Chancellor Domenico Grasso, who helped launch a similar program when he was provost at the University of Delaware, says the close collaboration between administration and faculty can help ensure DEI initiatives are themselves rooted in diverse perspectives. “My view of this fellowship is that it’s a two-way enrichment,” Grasso says. “By teaming like-minded faculty and administration, they can see what we’re trying to do, help us see things differently, and maybe also understand what our limitations are. I’ve worked in administration now for a long time, and I understand that faculty evolve and often see things from a different perspective. So I want to learn from them, while they also learn from our perspectives.” Grasso has high hopes for both inaugural fellows and is looking forward to regular conversations with them in the months ahead. He says Laws’ data-driven approach and Malik’s focus on the unique circumstances of our students are both strong examples of how faculty perspectives can add rigor and creativity to our ongoing efforts to make the campus a more welcoming place.

###

Story by Lou Blouin

Inclusion or Diversity

Off

Mon, 10/03/2022 - 18:31

Professor Hafiz Malik and Associate Professor Terri Laws will work on two projects designed to make campus a more inclusive place to learn, teach and do research.

Associate Professor of African and African American Studies Terri Laws (left) and Professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering Hafiz Malik. Graphic by Violet Dashi

CASL Legacy Lecture Series gives today’s retiring faculty the opportunity to leave a reflective message for future learners

Anonymous — Thu, 29 Sep 2022 19:18:29 +0000

CASL Legacy Lecture Series gives today’s retiring faculty the opportunity to leave a reflective message for future learners Anonymous (not verified) Thu, 09/29/2022 - 15:18

This article was originally published on February 15, 2019.

Raehanna Ahmed has her sights set on medical school. And beyond that, a role in Doctors Without Borders. The biology senior attributes this chosen path to Associate Professor Emeritus Elias Baumgarten.

A UM-Dearborn philosophy professor for 46 years, Baumgarten — who retired in fall 2018 — was known for moderating lively debates in his bioethics courses, researching intercultural issues and their relationship to ethics, and working with underserved populations.

“Dr. Baumgarten exposed me to a variety of ethical conversations I hadn't considered before; he had no agenda other than conversation and exploration,” said Ahmed, who still keeps in contact with her former medical ethics professor. “Most importantly, he taught me about being a better human. At the time I took his course, he was planning a trip to India where he would teach Indian women of the lower caste system. I want to emulate his example and use my free time to help others.

“Anyone who hears him will understand why he’s the most influential professor I’ve ever had.”

And future UM-Dearborn students, faculty and staff will be able to do just that thanks to a new College of Arts, Sciences, and Letters initiative.

Baumgarten was the first participant for the CASL Legacy Lecture Series, which is an opportunity for retiring/recently retired faculty to deliver a valedictory talk reflecting on their time at UM-Dearborn.

The talk is recorded and will be placed on University of Michigan’s virtual research space Deep Blue, where anyone can access it. If faculty prefer, thoughts can be written rather than publicly spoken.

Baumgarten continues to connect with students like Raehanna Ahmed.

Political Science Professor Ron Stockton proposed the Legacy Lecture idea, which now is open to all retiring CASL faculty or CASL emeriti. Stockton, who has taught at UM-Dearborn since 1974, said it’s important to preserve the motivations and reflections of campus scholars. He thinks of former colleagues Larry Berkove, who retired in 2003, an internationally lauded Mark Twain expert; or Elaine Clark, who retired in 2011, a respected historian who excels in Latin and translates Medieval documents to gather insight from the Middle Ages.

“There are true scholars here, and Larry and Elaine were among them. These are the people who change the way you think about things after hearing what they have to say. Their students and colleagues know this, but memory can be short on a campus. People graduate, new people come in,” he said. “So instead of hearing about these top scholars in the fields from old timers like me, I wanted to have a way where the next generation could learn from — not just learn about — these faculty for years to come.”

CASL Dean Marty Hershock liked Stockton’s idea of an archive of retrospective lectures. In addition to preservation, he said the series is a way to recognize and honor the commitment and contributions of CASL faculty.

“When speaking to students and alumni — and when reflecting back on my own UM-Dearborn experience — the crucial importance of our faculty in the success of our mission is clear,” Hershock said. “When people talk about their CASL experience they don't talk about the CASL Building or our laboratory facilities. They talk about Professor X or Professor Y and about how important these people are to them.”

CASL Development Director Diane Gulyas said the lecture series is supported through a gift from an anonymous donor so the CASL Legacy Lecture Series can live in perpetuity. She said the CASL community is grateful for the donation, which funds the recording and information storage, as well as a light reception for the retiree to interact with past and current colleagues and students.

Baumgarten said he was honored to be the first speaker. With nearly five decades on campus, Baumgarten had many experiences to choose from. But he decided to leave a record of how his students, like Ahmed, helped shape him.

“I was recently asked if I’ve experienced meaning in life. Through my students and mentorships, I believe I have. Not because I helped them — although I hope that I did have a positive impact — but because of the experiences we’ve shared together and the various human perspectives I’ve gained from the class conversations and relationships built,” he said. “I’m grateful for 46 years in a career that I’ve loved and the opportunity to reflect on my time through the Legacy Lecture.”

Fri, 02/15/2019 - 06:00

The new initiative, which began in the fall with Associate Professor Emeritus Elias Baumgarten, offers a reception and valedictory talk, which is recorded to serve as an oral history.

Associate Professor Emeritus Elia Baumgarten delivered the first CASL Legacy Lecture Series presentation on how his students helped shape him.

Northern exposure

clmeeks — Thu, 12 May 2022 23:53:37 +0000

Northern exposure clmeeks Thu, 05/12/2022 - 19:53

This story was originally published on May 7, 2019

At age 19, CASL student Jordan Wohl got a deep dive into how government works, jumping into UM-Dearborn’s Ottawa Internship Program, writing speeches and talking to constituents – and that was just his first day on the job.

Since its creation more than 30 years ago, the Ottawa Internship Program has had more than 600 American students from the University of Michigan and other universities participate in the leadership-training experience. It gives sophomores, juniors and seniors a first-hand look into the Canadian government through placement with a member of Parliament or Senior in the nation’s capital.

Eric Nemeth on campus, 1984

Last fall, Wohl joined other Ottawa Internship alumni at the home of Eric Nemeth (’85 B.A.), who participated in the program in 1984, and his wife, Paula (’85 B.A.), to share their experiences and highlight how others can support this internship program. Wohl is a recipient of a scholarship for the internship that the Nemeths established to help UM-Dearborn students be able to participate in the program.

The enthusiasm of that night inspired the Nemeths to want to do more for the program. To ensure the long-term future of the Ottawa Internship Program, they established a $50,000 endowment for operational and program support. And they are issuing a challenge to program alumni, university graduates, and the community to match their gift.

Nemeth, a tax attorney and former IRS Attorney and Special Assistant U.S. Attorney, called his Ottawa experience transformational, especially for him as a young man of 21 from Southwest Detroit.

“It was a like a bootcamp,” Nemeth said fondly. “It was a short time, but it offered big lessons… The Canadian government and my host completely embraced the concept and the students – we were Americans and Canadians, both interested in learning more about each other and embracing the opportunity.”

Two decades later, Wohl’s experience was the same. The five-week program was an intensive, once-in-a-lifetime experience, said Wohl, and it taught him how to engage in the political process. Back home, it got him more deeply involved in campus life. These days, it informs what he wanted to do with his career, pushing him to become a community leader.

“I figured if I could manage a Parliament office in a foreign country, I could do anything when I got back,” Wohl said.

Nemeth said he and Paula want to support the Ottawa Internship with a challenge gift to engage donors with the Dearborn campus and its students. Support of this unique program (one of the only university-run Ottawa Internship Programs in the United States) not only provides for meaningful experiences but also shows students the community is invested in them, Nemeth said.

“It was important for Paula and I do to what we could to create a window for people,” Nemeth said, giving students like himself who otherwise could not afford a summer internship a chance to see another part of the world and political life there.

Wohl agrees. "If it wasn't for the unwavering support of my family and the Nemeth scholarship, Ottawa would have never happened for me,” he said. “I think about that often: had I not experienced the real life challenges that I overcame during my internship, there is no way that I would have had the confidence in my professional skills that has propelled so much of my work here on campus."

Wohl works as a marketing coordinator for the Union at Dearborn as well as in positions such as the Jewish Student Organization’s president and Civic Leadership Board as a community organizer. Having a scholarship for the Ottawa internship was another reason he could fully invest his time and talents there. In fact, Wohl was recognized in April as a ÿ�մ�� Distinguished Student Leader.

“Having an experience of being in such an intensive environment has been extremely helpful,” Wohl said. “I had to be ready for anything that came into the office… (As a result,) it is easier now to take on challenges, to talk to people and to lead groups on campus.”

Tue, 05/07/2019 - 14:00

Alumni gift supports Ottawa Political Internship Program

CECS alumnae honored by Ford Motor Company

stuxbury — Tue, 07 Apr 2020 15:56:00 +0000

CECS alumnae honored by Ford Motor Company stuxbury Tue, 04/07/2020 - 11:56

Ford Motor Company employees and College of Engineering and Computer Science alumnae Alexandra Alioto '17 B.S. (right), Mariana Doughan '15 B.S.E. (left), and Chelsey Revita '14 B.S.E. (center)

Ford Motor Company employees and College of Engineering and Computer Science alumnae Alexandra Alioto '17 B.S., Mariana Doughan '15 B.S.E., and Chelsey Revita '14 B.S.E., were recently honored by Ford Motor Company.

The women were recognized at "Celebrating the Women Behind the Blue Oval," an exhibit supporting International Women’s Day that debuted on Monday, March 9, at the Ford World Headquarters.

Careers or Internships

Inclusion or Diversity

Off

Tue, 04/07/2020 - 15:51

They were recognized at a Ford World Headquarters event.

Retired UM-Dearborn professor is still helping students with a big gift to the ELB

lblouin — Wed, 25 Sep 2019 20:59:11 +0000

Retired UM-Dearborn professor is still helping students with a big gift to the ELB lblouin Wed, 09/25/2019 - 16:59

Professor Emeritus Malayappan Shridhar standing in front of the new Engineering Lab Building

Malayappan Shridhar has only been retired from UM-Dearborn since January, but he’s already developing a bit of nostalgia for the place. When we talked with the laid-back Professor Emeritus of Electrical and Computer Engineering last week, he told us he misses the classroom most. That was the place, he says, where he got to be a “performer” as much as a teacher — frequently cracking jokes and gently teasing the back-row texters into paying attention when necessary.

Perhaps not surprisingly, Shridhar has students front of mind even in retirement. When his colleague Sridhar Lakshmanan recently suggested he think about making a gift to support the new Engineering Lab Building, he didn’t hesitate. Appropriately, the $50,000 gift he’s pledged will serve his favorite constituency — the students — who will get to enjoy an open collaboration and hangout space named in his honor.

Shridhar is not new to philanthropy. Over the years, he’s given to a number of UM-Dearborn causes, with donations to the Institute for Advanced Vehicle Systems, a continuing education initiative and CECS’s senior design program. He says he enjoys giving, in part, because others’ generosity has been critical to his own life. For example, when he was pursuing his graduate studies in the U.S., he unexpectedly received an urgent demand from the Indian government to return — within the week — to work in the country’s atomic energy program. “My advisor told me that if I gave up on my education, I’d regret it,” Shridhar remembers. So he defied the request, which entailed paying back the government stipends that had been supporting his education. He sold nearly everything he owned, and then turned to friends, who loaned or gave what they could so he could continue his education.

That decision proved to be a turning point in his life. After finishing his doctoral studies, he went on to land a professorship at the University of Windsor, where he taught for 16 years. UM-Dearborn then caught news of the dynamic professor across the river and recruited him for its growing engineering college. During his career here, he served in numerous roles, including chair of his department and associate provost.

His legacy can be felt all over UM-Dearborn. He hired most of the faculty working in ECE today, building it from a department of five to almost two dozen. Now, with his sponsorship of the space in the new ELB, his influence on UM-Dearborn’s engineering culture will extend for decades to come.

Engineering Lab Building

Off

Wed, 09/25/2019 - 20:49

A longtime favorite of students in the electrical and computer engineering department, Professor Emeritus Malayappan Shridhar is now sponsoring one of the ELB’s new student spaces.

Casandra Ulbrich leads Institutional Advancement as new vice chancellor

stuxbury — Fri, 17 May 2019 18:25:44 +0000

Casandra Ulbrich leads Institutional Advancement as new vice chancellor stuxbury Fri, 05/17/2019 - 14:25

Casandra Ulbrich, Institutional Advancement vice chancellor

Casandra Ulbrich calls education the great equalizer. The incoming Institutional Advancement vice chancellor believes that quality education can change lives — it’s an idea that resonates with her, in part, because she’s lived it.

Ulbrich grew up in a home where “the ends never met.” So after high school, she took a chance by enrolling in a close-to-home community college, becoming her family’s first person to pursue higher education. She says her view of the world and confidence grew. After taking that first step, she decided to apply to University of Michigan.

“I didn’t know much about going to a four-year school, but everyone knows the reputation of Michigan. I met with a U-M counselor and spoke about my situation, financially and otherwise,” says Ulbrich, who was connected to some financial support through applying for Pell Grants and scholarships. “I was accepted and became a Wolverine.”

“I’m humbled and excited that I’m going to work for a place I hold in such high esteem and respect for having such an amazing impact on my life,” says Ulbrich, who started May 15.

Prior to her work in higher education — which totals nearly 20 years — Ulbrich worked in politics. This included working for two years in Lansing before becoming a press secretary for former Congressman David Bonior when he was the House of Representatives’ minority whip.

Always interested in government relations and how legal decisions affect common people, Ulbrich studied a mix of communications and political science at U-M. “This taught me so much about the world, the country, the state and myself,” says Ulbrich, who’s the current Michigan State Board of Education president. “I learned the importance of getting involved in what you believe in.”

Wanting to give back and help others gain access to higher education, Ulbrich shifted career focus and accepted a position at WSU in development. But she still kept her eye on Washington — during the Obama Administration, she served as the Michigan Board of Education's representative on the National Association of State Boards of Education government affairs committee, a committee charged with making recommendations to Congress on federal education policies. Recently, she has been appointed by the Governor to serve as a commissioner on the Midwest Higher Education Compact and as a board member for the Education Commission of the States.

At WSU, Ulbrich worked as a senior director of development and later as WSU’s director of corporate and foundational relations. She also led the University’s multi-million dollar "Aim Higher for Students" campaign that raised money for need- and merit-based scholarships.

After WSU, she headed to Macomb Community College (MCC) — one of the nation’s largest community colleges — where she served as the Vice President for College Advancement and Community Relations.

While at MCC, she launched the school’s first comprehensive capital campaign, which exceeded its overall goal by seven percent. She also helped implement a scholarship program that lead to full-ride scholarships awarded to a student in each of the Macomb County public high schools.

And now she’s looking forward to how she can best assist UM-Dearborn’s students, initiatives and partners in her new role.

“I’ve seen the impact of mentorships, scholarships and community partnerships — every new opportunity, every scholarship dollar opens the door for a student,” she says. “My education has shown me the power a degree holds. And I’m looking forward to providing further support in helping UM-Dearborn students reach their dreams.”

Ulbrich is a 1996 graduate of the University of Michigan-Ann Arbor (A.B.). She’s also earned an associate degree from St. Clair County Community College, and a master’s degree and Ph.D. in communication from Wayne State University (WSU), where her dissertation was on media framing of the 1967 Detroit uprising.

Off

Fri, 05/17/2019 - 18:09

Ulbrich, who started May 15, brings nearly 20 years of higher education development experience to the role.

Casandra Ulbrich named vice chancellor for institutional advancement

admin — Thu, 28 Mar 2019 11:53:13 +0000

Casandra Ulbrich named vice chancellor for institutional advancement admin Thu, 03/28/2019 - 07:53

Casandra Ulbrich

Casandra Ulbrich has been named vice chancellor for institutional advancement at UM-Dearborn. The appointment, effective May 15, 2019, was approved Thursday by the U-M Board of Regents.

Ulbrich has served as vice president for college advancement and community relations at Macomb Community College (MCC) — one of the nation’s largest community colleges — since 2011.

“Casandra brings to this position both a proven history of success in higher education development and a personal connection to our mission, each critical as we prepare to significantly increase philanthropic support on campus,” said UM-Dearborn Chancellor Domenico Grasso.

As vice chancellor for institutional advancement, Ulbrich will establish a high-performing development enterprise, shape and guide the future of philanthropy at UM-Dearborn. She will oversee the development and implementation of an integrated strategy for development, alumni engagement, business and foundation engagement, and annual giving, and will be responsible for increasing the university’s overall philanthropic revenue.

Ulbrich, who is a first-generation college graduate and former Pell recipient, said she understands the challenges that today’s university students face.

“I have focused my professional career and public service on ensuring that all Michigan students have the resources, opportunities and support that will allow them to reach their full potential,” she said. “I am honored to continue this work at a highly mission-driven institution that focuses on student success and community impact.”

In her role at MCC, Ulbrich launched the college’s first comprehensive capital campaign, which exceeded its overall goal by 7 percent. She revamped the MCC Foundation, adding new staff and tripling the number of board members, which led to a fundraising increase of 20 percent in the first year and 300 percent by year four. The MCC Foundation earned the CASE Overall Foundation Improvement award in 2017 for its efforts.

She also led the development of the college’s Innovation Fund, which supported start-ups and emerging companies that also provided learning opportunities for students. To date, the fund has awarded more than $1.7 million to 33 companies and has resulted in enhanced learning experiences for more than 500 students.

Prior to MCC, Ulbrich served in a number of development roles at Wayne State University.

Ulbrich, who also currently serves on the State Board of Education, is a 1996 graduate of the University of Michigan-Ann Arbor (A.B.). She earned an associate degree from St. Clair County Community College and both a master’s degree and Ph.D. in communication from Wayne State University.

Off

Thu, 03/28/2019 - 11:46

Ulbrich has served as vice president for college advancement and community relations at Macomb Community College since 2011. Her appointment, which was approved by the Board of Regents Thursday, begins May 15.

Building a bridge between LGBTQ+ and STEAM

admin — Mon, 10 Dec 2018 13:49:57 +0000

Building a bridge between LGBTQ+ and STEAM admin Mon, 12/10/2018 - 08:49

Blank Canvas project

These days, there’s no shortage of innovative projects aimed at getting students interested in STEAM fields. But as more programs come online, there’s also increasing awareness among educators and researchers that STEAM opportunities aren’t evenly distributed. In particular, women and people of color continue to be underrepresented in many STEAM educational spaces — and subsequently in corresponding job settings.

This semester, Lecturer Truman Hudson Jr.’s EDA 515 class set their sights on another acute STEAM opportunity gap: the one faced by black LGBTQ+ students.

“Over the past 12 years, I’ve been working with the LGBTQ+ community to develop programming that helps increase access to educational, employment, social and emotional supports and services,” said Hudson, who holds a Doctor of Education degree in metropolitan education. “Consistently, what we’ve found is that beyond gaps in services and supports, LGBTQ+ voices are even more marginalized and underrepresented when it comes to the STEAM fields. A cursory review of the leadership ranks in those areas further highlights the absence of LGBTQ+ voices in STEAM professions.”

With support from a Ford Community Corps award and Ford GLOBE — Ford Motor Co.’s LGBT employee resource group — Hudson’s roster of master’s and doctoral students set to work designing a STEAM curriculum specifically focused on LGBTQ+ high school students. The team launched their “Blank Canvas” project by first reaching out to students, teachers and community partners (most notably LGBT Detroit), in order to gather some on-the-ground perspectives about the needs and opportunities for LGBTQ+ students. Then, based on those ideas, they built programming designed to be used in either a classroom or student club setting.

But what Hudson’s students came up with isn’t necessarily your typical approach to STEAM education. In this space, the learning opportunities are often anchored by hands-on design or engineering projects. But a good part of the Blank Canvas programming is quite philosophical — taking cues from International Baccalaureate curriculum, which emphasizes interdisciplinary approaches, critical thinking and culturally responsive materials.

A case in point is the first of two units, which focuses on a reading and discussion of Alice Walker’s short story Everyday Use. The topic, on its face, is far from the STEAM realm: The characters in the story are wrestling with the complexity and diversity of African American identities. But given Blank Canvas’ target audience, UM-Dearborn master’s student and high school language arts teacher Chandrika Williams says the text makes a perfect leaping off point for discussing the identity challenges black LGBTQ+ students often face.

“What we heard from our partners — and what we know as educators — is that without students embracing their own agency and feeling like their voice is valuable, learning can often hit an impasse,” Williams said. “So while the historical context of the story might be a little different from their own, the themes set a tone and space for conversation. This is a great way for students to explore how they can find their voice and develop their identity.”

Having worked through that humanities unit, the students then move on to a second science-driven challenge. Here the students explore inequities around nutrition and food access in Detroit, exploring both the science and politics that shape those issues. As part of that work, students conduct surveys of friends, families and neighbors to map challenges faced by their own communities. They’ll then use that data to design a project that promotes food justice.

If building a curriculum like this sounds like an ambitious project to complete in just one semester, it is. In fact, doctoral student and middle school science teacher Ashley Mastroianni said creating such a complex, nuanced and flexible program from scratch has been one of the biggest challenges of her academic career.

“This is not a project where there is a right or wrong answer,” Mastroianni said. “You simply have a challenge, and then you have to use your creativity and experience to create something meaningful. You also have to do it with a bunch of people you’ve never met, and for students who have experiences that are really different from your own. The conversations are very deep and eye opening. But if you’re willing to let yourself be pushed, your growth as an educator can be pretty incredible.”

Mastroianni and the rest of the team will get to see the curriculum in action in 2019 when LGBT Detroit uses it as part of its summer programming. From there, Hudson said they’ll assess that pilot and make some improvements, before deploying the Blank Canvas project with schools and nonprofits throughout metro Detroit.

Are you interested in learning more about the Blank Canvas project? Hudson and his team will be sharing more details about the curriculum on December 18, 2018, at 6 p.m. in the Michigan Room, Fairlane Center South.

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Mon, 12/10/2018 - 13:48

These UM-Dearborn graduate students are working to close an important opportunity gap in STEAM education.