Faculty and Staff
As the main facilitators of engaged learning opportunities for students, this page is dedicated to helping all faculty and staff members who are interested in offering students the ability to get involved in varying engaged learning experiences. The office of the Vice Provost for Engaged Learning is here to offer assistance in the creation of these experiences, identifying resources that can aid in your engaged learning experience, or sharing out to the University the incredible work in the engaged learning space that is being done.
Helpful Resources
Engaged Opportunities
Get the support you want — and the funding you need — for an upcoming interdisciplinary endeavor that creates community engagement.
Research Funding
- The Graham Sustainability Institute catalyzes and facilitates sustainability-focused collaborations and engagement involving faculty, students, and external stakeholders. To support these efforts — which range from one-time meetings and workshops to multi-year projects — Graham offers a variety of regular funding opportunities for U-M faculty, including:
- Fast Track Grants up to $2,500
- Catalyst Grants up to $10,000
- Transformation Grants up to $100,000 per year for 1-2 years
- Poverty Solutions and the Detroit Community-Academic Urban Research Center (URC) co-sponsor the Collaborative Community-Academic Research Awards for faculty. Up to four awards of up to $30,000 each are awarded annually. The Detroit URC also runs a Small Planning Grants Program to support the establishment of new community-academic partnerships and new collaborative health research efforts in Detroit. Grants of up to $5,000 are awarded, with a grant duration period of one year. In both programs, the Detroit URC also provides valuable capacity building support and mentoring.
- The Undergraduate Research Opportunity Program provides small research grants to mentors to cover the expense of equipment and materials needed to support UROP student research activity, up to $500 per student.
- The Arts Integrative Interdisciplinary Faculty Research Grant offered by ArtsEngine provides faculty with up to $3,000 for research that blends art and design with other disciplines, especially science and engineering.
- Engagement Grants up to $5,000 support academic partners to develop and apply best practices to community-engaged teaching and research through smaller-scale projects. Funded by the Vice Provost for Engaged Learning, the Office of Research, and Poverty Solutions.
- Community Engagement Grants for Interprofessional Education provides up to $5,000 to support interprofessional health science research focused on advancing equity within Michigan. Supported by the Center for Interprofessional Education (CIE), faculty work in teams across at least two different health science schools to decrease racial and economic disparities in local communities.
- The Faculty Structured Outreach Support Fellowship Program (S.O.S.) through the Center for Educational Outreach (CEO) provides financial resources to faculty initiated outreach efforts. Funds are typically used to support graduate student participation in outreach and the involvement of K-12 students in faculty initiatives.
Engaged Teaching
- Arts at Michigan Course Connections Grants provide up to $500 to support course-related arts learning activities. These funds may be used for admissions to museums and performances, workshops by visiting artists, and course projects, such as theatrical performances, exhibitions, etc. For projects that are integrated into more than one course, funding of up to $800 will be considered.
- The Center for Research on Learning and Teaching administers several grants ranging from $500 – $10,000 that promote improvements in teaching and learning, including engaged learning and innovative activities.
- The ArtsEngine Interdisciplinary Visiting Scholar Grant is designed to encourage the inclusion of guest artists, instructors, or practitioners from outside the primary course discipline. Arts or design must be represented, either in the primary course discipline or in the discipline of the visiting scholar. Grants up to $1,000 are available to any faculty member or instructor appointed in one of the four North Campus schools and colleges.
- University Musical Society Course Development Grants support opportunities for integrating the arts and arts-based learning strategies across the University curriculum. Supported by the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, UMS funds 5-8 courses per semester. Faculty fellows receive $1,000 in salary supplement and $500 in course development funds. Grantees will also receive curricular support from UMS Education and Community Engagement Staff, as well as special consideration for interactions with UMS visiting and teaching artists (subject to artist availability).
- LSA Community-Engaged Course Development Grants offer up to $1,500 for new and ongoing community-engaged courses. These grants are funded by the College of Literature, Science, and the Arts and administered by the Ginsberg Center.
Resources
The University of Michigan’s commitment to teaching excellence extends beyond the classroom, as Michigan faculty are continually innovating to offer challenging, sustainable, and ethical engaged learning opportunities for students — collaborating with real community stakeholders, traveling to authentic settings in Michigan and around the world, and helping students develop into reflective practitioners who can integrate their knowledge and learn from their mistakes.
In addition to innovative teaching approaches, the richness and transformative impact of engaged learning experiences often cannot be measured using traditional assessment methods. From electronic portfolios to rubrics to scales and inventories, faculty are using a range of instruments and assessments to capture student growth and development around the engaged learning goals.
There are many resources available on campus to support faculty, academic program staff, and graduate student instructors who would like to develop a new course or adapt an existing course to incorporate engaged learning elements and follow best practices.
Center for Research on Learning and Teaching (CRLT)
CRLT provides many helpful teaching resources, including several specifically for faculty who are leveraging the engaged learning goals and practices in their curricula. In collaboration with the Provost’s Office, CRLT developed a growing resource on teaching approaches and assessment methods for engaged learning, including:
- white papers on the five engaged learning goals
- examples of high quality engaged learning courses at Michigan
- instruments and measures for planning and implementing an engaged learning assessment
FAQs
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Featured
David Porter, Professor of English and Comparative Literature
David Porter has seen a shift in his research interests over the years. He is now particularly fascinated by the work meaningful stories do in the world and the ways communities use stories to build a sense of connection with a place. With 27 years of service at the university, Porter has been instrumental in establishing the Detroit River Story Lab, an interdisciplinary research and education initiative that harnesses university resources to support community-based narrative infrastructure projects along the river. The Lab’s faculty and student team has been helping to catalyze the work of a growing coalition of local educators, youth group organizers, and nonprofit leaders who recognize the potential of the Detroit River as a living classroom and as a shared source of inspiration, empowerment, and healing.


Faculty & Staff Spotlight: Leia Stirling
Leia Stirling is a faculty member in Industrial and Operations Engineering (IOE) and Robotics at the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor. Stirling has been living in Ann Arbor for 5 years and joined U-M in Fall 2019. Stirling's research focuses on characterizing human physical and cognitive interactions to design technology and operational decision-making aids. Stirling is excited about her workshop "Engineering Detroit's Future: Empowering Detroit's Next Generation through Engineering Exploration", which aims to introduce high school students to the disciplines of Industrial and Operations Engineering and Robotics.

Faculty & Staff Spotlight: Craig Regester
Craig Regester, an alum of U of M and former Residential College Student, developed a relationship with Detroit through Professor Charlie Bright's class 30 years ago. Regester has worked at the university for 22 years and been involved with Semester In Detroit (SID) since 2008. SID, which was started by undergraduate students and supported by Professor Ward, provides an opportunity for students to engage with the Detroit community and learn from community partners. One of the projects associated with SID is the Engaged Detroit Project, a minicourse where students can immerse themselves in Detroit for 1-2 weeks and focus on a specific topic such as education justice.

Faculty & Staff Spotlight: Trina Shanks
Trina Shanks, a faculty member at the University for 20 years, has dedicated her career to researching and advocating for policies that aim to improve educational attainment and wealth-building opportunities for low-income families and young children. Her research in child savings accounts began with an idea, evolved into evidence, and has now become a policy implemented in seven states. Shanks is currently working on a project called "Navigating Technology to Help Detroit Youth Prepare for College and Careers" alongside Kim Lijana (CEO), Sonia Harb (SSW), and a host of Detroit community partners representing Connect Detroit, DPSCD, UNI, and the Urban Alliance. This project aims to increase Detroit youth's awareness of and use of Xello, a state-funded platform that helps students plan for their future. Through this project, Shanks hopes to improve college and career readiness among Detroit youth.
Contact Us
Curious about a community initiative or research opportunity? Want to learn more about travel programs? We are ready to help.