Earlier this month I was fortunate to participate in the second Spartan Bus Tour to Detroit. MSU does a lot of great work in Detroit, and I am proud that the Undergrad Student Success team is engaged in some of that work, partnering to make education and learning more accessible.
One area of work for the Undergrad Student Success team includes our long-standing Detroit M.A.D.E. program led by Dr. Joy Hannibal. Detroit M.A.D.E. programming continues to see increases in participation each year and produce some of the highest success metrics of all our cohort programs on campus. Students who participate in Detroit M.A.D.E. have higher success metrics than students from Detroit who do not participate. Our Undergrad Student Success team is also active participants in the Detroit Regional Chamber’s Credit Mobility campaign. Several folks across campus including Laura Wise, Dr. Charles Jackson III, Dr. Portia Watkins, Dr. Sarah Gretter, and myself have been participating over the last year in two different workstreams focused on transfer student success and increasing credit transfer in high demand fields.
Even though I have been engaged in this great work, and made several trips to Detroit both for work and for fun/family, I realized early on in the bus tour how little I knew about the city of Detroit! The organizers had us take a quiz about Detroit, and I am embarrassed to admit I would have gotten a C+ if it was a test. Luckily throughout the two days I learned so much about the history, culture, and people of Detroit. We learned how MSU partners with various entities to improve health, promote the arts, empower identities, lead technological advancements, honor history, engage in innovative teaching, promote community agriculture and sustainability, and enhance economic development. I was inspired to think of so many possibilities for how we can continue to partner with Detroit businesses, non-profits, and cultural centers.
But after all I learned and saw about Detroit, my favorite part of the bus tour was connecting with my fellow Spartans on the tour. I got to have deep conversations with colleagues I had never met before and heard about amazing student success work happening on campus and fantastic and intriguing research. Every conversation I had with a colleague reminded me how extremely talented our faculty and staff are on campus, and I left even more inspired and energized to collaborate with new friends.
On a fun note, we also had to give a fun fact when introducing ourselves on the bus, and I learned that many of my bus tour colleagues had incredible hidden talents beyond their brilliance in teaching, research, administration, or service. We had several Iron Man completers, so much musical talent we joked about starting a Spartan Bus Tour Band (which I would love to see actually happen!), folks who were fluent in numerous languages, and many who had met presidents, Nobel Prize winners, and celebrities. It truly was an inspiring group that I was humbled to be a part of.
I cannot write a post about the bus tour without giving an amazing shout out to the leads of the Spartan Bus Tour: Dave Brewer and Natalie Moser. They led an amazing operational team who (along with a group of alumni from the first bus tour) planned an amazingly detailed and well-organized experience. Every moment had intentionality; there was the perfect mix of seriousness and learning with laughter and relaxation. They kept us on time, raised spirits on a cold rainy day, and regularly checked in on participants. Thank you, Dave, Natalie and team, for the countless hours that went into planning an amazing two days!
If you want to learn more about the stops and what we learned about, read more on MSUToday.