How MSU’s Outreach Helps Michigan Communities Thrive

Thanks to Michigan State University, southeastern Michigan resident Jacob Best is pursuing once-distant possibilities.

In the summer of 2024, Best completed the 10-month Apple Developer Academy. A partnership between MSU and Apple, the free Detroit-based program teaches aspiring technologists the essentials of coding, design and business. Best parlayed his academy experience into an internship developing virtual reality technology as well as an opportunity with a local digital technology startup.

“Being in an environment with people interested in driving change in the world through technology made all the difference,” the 26-year-old Best says.

MSU and its world-class faculty and staff have been partnering with Michigan’s residents, businesses and community leaders for over a century. Through thoughtful, inventive community outreach initiatives like the Apple Developer Academy, which has seen more than 1,000 students ranging in age from 18 to nearly 80 complete the program since its 2021 debut, MSU has democratized education, provided valuable resources and served the state’s needs.

In every one of Michigan’s 83 counties, MSU and its people pursue the institution’s mission as a leading global public research university to impact the state and its residents in tangible ways. No other university in Michigan can match MSU’s statewide presence and depth of outreach initiatives to enhance life for residents. From educational programs to civic partnerships to business support and more, MSU strengthens communities, enlivens the region and empowers Michiganders to enjoy healthier, more successful lives.

Sharing knowledge with Michigan’s residents

The first institution of higher learning in the U.S. to teach scientific agriculture and the prototype for land-grant universities across the nation, MSU tirelessly persists in its mandate to develop, apply and share knowledge to serve the public good. MSU Extension, which helps translate research-based knowledge and resources into practical education for residents, is central to fulfilling that mission.

MSU Extension meets people where they are by offering in-person and online classes, events and workshops as well as informational articles and videos on agriculture, entrepreneurship, nutritious eating, youth development and more. Between January 2023 and June 2024, MSU Extension — powered by more than 700 faculty and staff members — provided programming to more than 432,000 residents across the state.

Since hiring its first livestock agent in 1907, MSU Extension has partnered with Michigan farmers to bolster the agricultural ecosystem, sharing insights and the latest MSU research to increase farmer success, including methods to boost crop yields and access new markets.

The impact doesn’t stop there. Extension also supports youth and families. The popular Adulting 101 program teaches youth valuable life skills, such as financial literacy, leadership and multicultural collaboration. Extension also helps operate all of Michigan’s 4-H clubs. The state’s largest youth development organization, 4-H provides experiential learning opportunities in areas like leadership, robotics, wildlife and cooking to more than 200,000 young Michiganders each year with the help of more than 16,000 trained volunteers.

On the health and nutrition front, Extension staff empower Michigan residents to take control of their physical and mental well-being. They help families get the most for the food dollar by teaching those receiving Supplemental Nutrition Assistance, or SNAP, how to create healthy meals as well as direct a food safety hotline to reduce the spread of food-borne illnesses. Extension’s health and nutrition professionals also provide classes for aging adults on topics such as improving sleep and preventing falls, in addition to training on how to offer mental health support to loved ones.

For just over two decades, the MSU Product Center has helped aspiring Michigan-based entrepreneurs launch businesses generating total investments of $537 million and more than 3,500 jobs. Take Sticky Spoons Jam, which produces spreads made from family-owned Michigan fruit farms. The center helped Aiye Akhigbe transform an idea to a 10-employee business operating out of a licensed commercial kitchen.

“The Product Center’s support has been invaluable to me, helping me navigate issues like nutrition labels, finding an attorney, launching a website and preparing for pitch competitions,” Akhigbe says.

Government officials also benefit from Extension’s training opportunities, from the New Commissioner School to inspiring citizen scientists with research-based information at the Michigan Water School.

“We’re doing purpose-driven work to help families improve their lives, do their jobs better and help communities thrive,” MSU Extension Director Quentin Tyler says. “For every person that we work with, we see the benefits increase by tenfold throughout their community.”

Partnering for the common good

 

MSU faculty, staff and students are a familiar sight, regularly interacting and collaborating with partners and residents across Michigan, connecting university expertise with community-based knowledge to create positive change. The Office of University Outreach and Engagement, or UOE, supports the engaged activities of Spartans and fosters public access to the university and its resources.

“Rather than waiting for people to come to us, we go to them and create partnerships that prove mutually beneficial,” says Kwesi Brookins, vice provost for UOE.

For example, the MSU EDA University Center for Regional Economic Innovation stimulates entrepreneurship and job creation through education, training and technical assistance with a particular focus on some of Michigan’s most economically vulnerable communities. Meanwhile, UOE’s Community Evaluation Programs conduct research to strengthen the efficacy and impact of early childhood educational policies and out-of-school programming for Michigan youth.

MSU’s statewide outreach spans academic departments across campus, touching areas such as the arts, education, and clinical care for humans as well as animals.

• MSU’s Community Music Schools in East Lansing and Detroit provide accessible and affordable music instruction, music therapy services, and performance opportunities to thousands. The inclusive program, led by the College of Music, transforms lives by giving voice and confidence to youth, igniting professional endeavors for young adults, and fostering a sense of belonging in seniors.
• In 2017, social justice-minded students from the College of Osteopathic Medicine started a street medicine program in Detroit, expanding it to Lansing, Flint, and Macomb County. These student-led programs, founded on empathy and driven by community partnerships, provide treatment and follow-up care to unhoused people. The College of Human Medicine conducts similar programs in Grand Rapids and Traverse City.
• The MSU Veterinary Medical Center provides advanced specialty care, including surgery and diagnostics, for large and small animals. Partnered with the Michigan Department of Agriculture and Rural Development, the center will launch a mobile veterinary unit to serve “veterinary deserts” and support animal welfare groups. Staffed by MSU veterinarians and veterinary nurses, the unit focuses on routine surgeries and hands-on student experience, expanding essential care access.

Indeed, students are vital to MSU’s impact and contributed to MSU being named the nation’s top-ranked public university for service learning, according to U.S. News & World Report. Last year, the Center for Community Engaged Learning reported more than 24,000 students participated in activities with local organizations, boosting their own capacity to be agents of change in communities around the state. For example, students organized literacy projects and book events with local libraries, volunteered as crisis advocates and investigated judicial sentencing data to ensure fairness in Michigan courtrooms.

“As a land-grant university, we’re dedicated to the entire state,” Brookins says. “Working with many underrepresented communities, our commitment is to provide the necessary resources and support to drive progress.”

Creating what Michigan needs — together

Uplifting Michigan is part of the Spartan DNA. For more than a century, MSU has been working side by side with residents, businesses and community leaders across the state to transform realities and improve lives.

Spartans share knowledge and passion to fuel economic development, community well-being and personal progress. They do this — whether faculty, staff or students — through their profound care for the people of this state and their uncommon will to make a better world.