When Assistant Professor of Mechanical Engineering Lei Chen wanted to explore pursuing a National Science Foundation funding opportunity with the nonprofit Code 313, UM-Dearborn’s Office of Community-Engaged Learning helped him establish a relationship with the Detroit-based STEAM education organization.
When Associate Professor of Mechanical Engineering Amanda Esquivel drafted a proposal to the National Science Foundation Research Experience for Teachers, OCEL helped her secure letters of support from local schools.
And when Assistant Professor of Human Services Finn Bell was planning a practice-based learning course on program planning, implementation and evaluation, OCEL staff helped him connect to community partners, including ACCESS and the City of Dearborn Public Health Department. OCEL then met with Bell and the partners over the summer and also led a discussion with Bell’s class on best practices for working in local communities and assuring mutual benefit.
If you feel like you’ve just started hearing about the Office of Community Engaged Learning, you’re right. Until recently, it was known as the Office of Metropolitan Impact. The new name reflects a decade of evolution and a refined focus, says Molly Manley, OCEL’s outreach and engagement specialist.
“When we were founded, our charge was to figure out how to engage in and with the community – what are the best practices and what should we be focusing on? And it was kind of up to us to figure it out,” says Manley, a UM-Dearborn alum who has worked in the office since it formed in 2011, beginning as an AmeriCorps staff member. The first few years were spent streamlining community outreach efforts across the university, working to develop a common perspective on UM-Dearborn’s approach to community work, and securing the Carnegie Foundation’s Community Engagement classification, which is regarded by many as the highest form of recognition for community engagement among colleges and universities in the U.S. UM-Dearborn was awarded the classification in 2015 and is currently preparing for reclassification in 2026.
Historically, both in metro Detroit and nationwide, many community members working with their local universities have raised concerns that research and community-based projects were not developed in concert with residents or have tangible benefits for them, Manley explains. “We’re there to make sure when we have a project we want to do, it’s in partnership with the community and we’re willing to make adjustments and compromises to make sure not only are community needs being met, but our students and our faculty are also able to meet their needs,” she says.
OCEL had to try different things in order to land on the approach to community-engaged work that was right for the UM-Dearborn campus, Manley explains. In January 2022, OCEL was moved to the Provost’s Office. After a summer of strategic planning, Manley and Elspeth Muzzin, OCEL’s engagement strategist, workshopped the office’s new name and identified focus areas for their work. One of those involves supporting student success by increasing the number of PBL courses and engaged-research opportunities, as well as continuing to support internships and student employment. Another is supporting faculty research and service. This includes working closely with faculty who are doing community-based work and providing professional development on community-engaged practices. OCEL’s goal is to ease the burden on faculty and make it easier for them to focus on the “learning” portion of practice-based learning.
“Our philosophy is that we can go into the classroom, and we can help show the students how to engage with partners in the best way and help ensure they learn about how to begin and maintain relationships, reflect on community perspective and recognize that community members and organizations are experts in understanding their communities and their neighborhoods’ needs best. Then the faculty can trust the students to manage that relationship,” Manley explains.
The end goal is making projects and coursework even more meaningful. “Instead of just managing logistics and managing projects, faculty can actually help students with their content, and the expertise area that they're teaching them,” Manley explains.
Manley and Muzzin are also in the process of developing online tools. They are working on a Canvas-based toolkit with helpful resources. “It's set up like a professional development course,” Manley explains. “There's modules with different topics. And it's all focused on community engagement, engaging for research, engaging for coursework. We have things in here to help faculty with troubleshooting, to help them with planning.” They are also building out a robust database, known as Collaboratory, for tracking community-engaged projects, with the goal to enhance knowledge of what is happening across campus and spur greater collaboration within and across disciplines.
OCEL will continue to work closely with other units on campus as well, including helping all departments and units with the community engagement sections of grant proposals. They will be deepening their partnership with the Environmental Interpretive Center, which is now also housed in the Provost’s Office. At the same time, OCEL is handing over some previous responsibilities in the interest of not duplicating efforts. For example, Enrollment Management will now be the go-to unit for K-12 partnerships. For business and industry connections, that’s Institutional Advancement.
Even with all these resources, Manley and Muzzin recognize sometimes faculty will just need some face time. Faculty are welcome to set up an appointment with either one of the staff or attend one of their office hours. “Every situation is different,” Manley acknowledges. “We're always available for one-on-one consulting.”
Article by Kristin Palm
