Category: News

Building Bridges: Michigan Tech & Keweenaw Community Foundation Collaborate on Essential Ed Experiences

Beginning early in 2025, Michigan Tech University and the Keweenaw Community Foundation (KCF) co-hosted a series of community focus groups, bringing together more than 50 local organizations to explore how MTU students and faculty can engage meaningfully with the local community. The discussions, centered around the university’s new Essential Education Experiences (E3) program, highlighted ways to connect classroom learning with hands-on service opportunities while ensuring that collaborations are mutually beneficial for both students and community partners.

Michigan Tech Essential Education Experiences are a new type of course, launching this Fall 2025, designed to provide students with a transformative education that integrates civic engagement, interdisciplinary learning, and real-world problem-solving. Through hands-on learning projects outside of the traditional classroom, these courses will equip students with the skills needed to navigate a rapidly changing world while fostering meaningful partnerships with local organizations. 

Leading the effort is Cassandra Reed-VanDam, the E3 manager at Michigan Tech, who emphasized the importance of fostering long-term relationships between the university and the local community.

“These focus groups allowed us to hear directly from community partners about their priorities and how Michigan Tech can collaborate in meaningful ways,” said Reed-VanDam. “We want to ensure that these projects are valuable not only for student learning, but also for the organizations and constituents they serve.”

A Collaborative Approach to Community-Engaged Learning

Held at the KCF office Community Room located in the Hancock Community Hub, with one session taking place in Keweenaw County, each focus group centered on different themes, including education, arts and culture, government and social services, and environmental stewardship. Participants engaged in thoughtful conversations about how students could support local initiatives through coursework, research, and volunteerism.

“When we learned more about the MTU E3 program, we saw an excellent opportunity to help provide capacity and support to our community partners while helping students and faculty at MTU engage locally. The ‘mutual benefit’ value alignment drew us in to partner with MTU, and we are looking forward to the future of this new initiative,” stated Robin Meneguzzo, KCF Executive Director.

The sessions allowed community leaders, nonprofit organizations, and faculty members to identify key areas where student involvement could make a difference. Ideas ranged from helping local museums develop digital content and improving nonprofit social media strategies to tackling environmental challenges and mentoring local youth.

Additionally, discussions explored ways to enhance student engagement, align project timelines with academic calendars, and improve logistical support such as transportation and funding. Many organizations shared insights on fostering structured communication channels with the university and developing effective long-term planning for student projects to ensure successful collaborations.

Looking Ahead: Next Steps for Collaboration

As Michigan Tech continues to refine the Essential Education Experiences program, the insights gained from these focus groups will help shape its structure. Potential next steps include developing a formalized project matching system to pair faculty and students with community needs more effectively, strengthening communication platforms to ensure that expectations and responsibilities are clear on both sides and establishing long-term partnerships between faculty and local organizations to create sustainable, impactful projects.

These conversations mark the beginning of an evolving collaboration between Michigan Tech, the Keweenaw Community Foundation, and the broader community. By working together, students can gain real-world experience while making a meaningful difference in our local community.

For community partners, this initiative represents an opportunity to gain actionable insights, develop creative solutions, and receive valuable support from Michigan Tech. As the program develops, local organizations are encouraged to stay involved and continue shaping the future of community engagement at MTU. 

If you would like to join the E3 Community of Practice here on campus, please contact Cassandra Reed-VanDam (cmvandam@mtu.edu), the Essential Education Experience Manager at Michigan Tech.

Essential Education is here! Your guide to the new curriculum

This fall marks the official launch of Essential Education, a new general education program that began as a part of Tech Forward 1.0 conversations seven years ago. Essential Ed represents a strategic evolution of our curriculum, and we’re dedicated to helping you navigate it.

Every Thursday this academic year, we’ll use Tech Today to highlight the many components of Essential Education. You’ll get a closer look at the key elements, and we’ll share the accompanying programs and resources designed to assist instructors, community partners, and in navigating this new curriculum.

For a deeper dive into any topic, visit the Essential Education News Blog . We’ve already developed a number of resources to get you started:

  • What is Michigan Tech’s Essential Education? The Essential Ed website provides a comprehensive overview of the program’s core elements.
  • Introducing HuskyFolio powered by PebblePad. Learn about the value of Folio Thinking and how the new HuskyFolio platform will be gradually integrated into the curriculum at the HuskyFolio website .
  • Essential Education Minors – Find the current list of minors. Degree audits will be linked here once they are finalized.
  • Essential Education Experiences – Get all the details on the new Essential Education Experiences website.
  • Essential Education Resource Hub for Instructors – If you are teaching an Essential Ed course, this Resource Hub is your one-stop-shop in Canvas. It offers step-by-step guidance—including a Course Setup Guide, instructions for Instructor EA reporting and HuskyFolio—as well as specialized tools and support for course lists, Essential Abilities, large-class teaching, and more.
  • Essential Education YouTube Channel – Our new channel features videos you can use in the classroom or just to learn more about Essential Ed, featuring corporate partners discussing the value of Essential Abilities, highlights from our first symposium, and more. We’ll be adding new content all year to showcase how Essential – Education prepares our students for success.

If you ever miss a Thursday Update, just check the Essential Education News Blog to catch up and continue exploring this signature program.

Join Us for the Essential Education Symposium

Calling all faculty, staff, academic advisors, and campus partners—don’t miss the upcoming Essential Education Symposium on Wednesday, April 30, from 8 a.m. to 3:15 p.m. in the Memorial Union Building (MUB).

This full-day event is your opportunity to dive deeper into Michigan Tech’s Essential Education program, ask questions, explore best practices, and build meaningful connections across campus and beyond.

Why Attend?

Whether you’re directly involved in teaching Essential Education (EssEd) courses or simply want to better understand how this initiative impacts our university community, this symposium was designed for you. With training sessions, panel discussions, and collaborative working sessions, there’s something for everyone—from seasoned faculty to new advisors to campus partners and staff.

Featuring Keynote Speaker: Shane Sutherland

We’re excited to welcome Shane Sutherland, Founder, CEO, and Chief Mischief Maker of PebblePad, as our keynote speaker. Shane brings a global perspective to reflective learning and will share insights on: “How are other higher education institutions around the world using this powerful reflective tool?” Don’t miss this chance to hear from a leader in the field of e-portfolios and learning design.

Agenda Overview

  • Registration and Breakfast – 8:00 am
  • Opening Presentation – 9:00 am
    • “Why Essential Education”
  • Block 1 – 9:30 am
    • “Question Assumptions, Communicate Quantitatively – Strategies For Teaching And Assessment”
    • “Profiles Of Incoming Students And Current Graduates” 
    • “Coaching Students To Success In Essential Education” 
  • Block 2 – 10:30 am
    • “Getting Started With Pebblepad”
    • “Panel: Building Community Partnerships For Essential Education Experiences”
    • “Don’t Panic, It’s Organic! Strategies For Embedding Essential Ed Minor Themes In Your Course”
  • Block 3 – 11:30 am
    • “Engage, Reflect, Storytell”
    • “Welcoming Challenge: talking about failure”
    • “Community Partner & Faculty Mixer”
  • Lunch – Keynote – 12:30 pm
    • Shane Sutherland, Founder, CEO, and Chief Mischief Maker of PebblePad
      • “The Power of ePortfolios Around the World”
  • Block 4 – 1:30 pm
    • “The Success Toolkit: Developing Practical Activities For MTU’s First-Year Seminars”
    • “What Is An Eportfolio?”
    • “Build-A-Minor Workshop: Centering The U.P. In An Essential Ed Minor” 
  • Closing Panel – 2:30 pm
    • Industry Representatives & Deans
      • “What Is The Value Of Essential Education To Future Students/Employers?”
  • Wrap-Up – Awards & Recognitions – 3:00 pm

Ready to Join Us? Register by April 25

We’re excited to host a day of learning, reflection, and community-building. Whether you’re new to Essential Education or already involved, your voice matters—and your presence will help shape the future of teaching and learning at Michigan Tech.

Questions? Reach out to us at essential-ed-l@mtu.edu.

Let’s shape what’s essential—together.

Registration Now Open for Michigan Tech Essential Education Symposium

Registration is now open for the Michigan Tech Essential Education Symposium, which will be held on April 30 in the Memorial Union Building. This free event is open to all Michigan Tech faculty and staff, as well as guests from local community organizations.

Check-in and breakfast begin at 8 a.m. with the opening welcome address starting at 9 a.m. Lunch will feature a keynote address from Shane Sutherland, founder, CEO and “chief mischief maker” of PebblePad, Michigan Tech’s ePortfolio platform.

The symposium will offer 12 sessions throughout the day with themes such as:

  • Industry and student generational experts discussing trends in student attributes and industry talent needs.
  • Reflection as storytelling.
  • Using Husky Folio to connect student experiences to development of Essential Abilities.
  • Embedding Essential Education minor themes into existing classes.
  • Building partnerships between faculty and community organizations to develop Essential Education Experiences.
  • What students can learn from us when we get comfortable talking about failure.
  • Question assumptions and communicate quantitatively — strategies for teaching, Husky Folio, and assessment.
  • Resources for academic advisors — coaching students to success in Essential Education.
  • Building a U.P.-themed Essential Ed minor.

The symposium will conclude at 3:15 p.m. A panel of industry representatives and deans will conclude the event by discussing the value of Essential Education to our future graduates and their future careers, followed by an awards and recognition ceremony.

Session titles, more defined session content, and presenters will be communicated as the event progresses. Please contact the Essential Education Implementation Leadership Team at essential-ed-l@mtu.edu with any questions.

CTL and Essential Education Lunch and Learn

Make plans to attend a Lunch and Learn hosted by the William G. Jackson Center for Teaching and Learning (CTL) and Essential Education at Michigan Tech.

The Lunch and Learn is titled “Building an Essential Ed Experience: (Re)Designing Your Course to Become an E3.”

When: Tuesday, March 4, from 12-1 p.m.
Where: MUB Ballroom A
Registration: Register to Attend the Lunch and Learn (registration is required).
Interested in designing and teaching an Essential Education Experience (E3)? Join E3 leadership and fellow instructors for a course redesign workshop. E3 courses should prepare students for an ever-changing, dynamic and diverse world by increasing social awareness, global understandings and/or cultural competencies through hands-on learning. Students will apply their learning toward a project or activity that engages with community beyond the traditional classroom.

This workshop will cover the basics of E3 requirements and provide participants time to workshop with others an existing or proposed Essential Education Experience course, while learning more about practical tools for transforming their own courses into E3s. Faculty who are interested in E3 courses but don’t have a specific course in mind yet are welcome to attend and can expect to gain insights that will aid in future course development.

Lunch will be provided to those who register.

For questions or to request accommodations, including dietary, please feel free to contact the CTL at ctl@mtu.edu or 906-487-3000.

New Essential Education Steering Committee Announced

by Office of the Associate Provost for Undergraduate Education

In light of the fall 2025 launch of Michigan Tech’s Essential Education program, Provost Andrew Storer has charged a new standing committee, the Essential Education Steering Committee, with overseeing and administering this new program.

The committee launched this fall and replaces the previous General Education Council. Storer and Associate Provost for Undergraduate Education Marika Seigel sincerely thank the outgoing members of the General Education Council for their service to the University and dedication to providing the best educational experience possible to undergraduate students at Michigan Tech.

The Essential Education Steering Committee is charged with “oversight of Essential Education curriculum development, assessment, and continuous improvement.” Activities include developing and implementing a course review and approval process and timeline, providing input and oversight regarding assessment and continuous improvement of the Essential Education curriculum, giving feedback to Essential Education instructors and units regarding curricular needs and possible modifications, and assisting in planning an annual Essential Education Symposium.

Membership of the new Essential Education Steering Committee includes:

  • Marika Seigel (APUE/PHC), chair
  • Steve Patchin (APUE)
  • Jean DeClerck (APUE)
  • Nancy Barr (APUE)
  • Cassandra Reed-VanDam (APUE)
  • Darren Bausano (Registrar’s Office)
  • Anna McClatchy (DOS)
  • Steven Holloway (COB)
  • Laura Rouleau (SS)
  • Holly Hassel (HU)
  • AJ Hamlin (EF)
  • Valoree Gagnon (CFRES)
  • Mike Maxwell (VPA)
  • Mike Meyer (Physics)
  • Yu Cai (CC)
  • Leonard Bohmann (COE)

The committee began meeting on Sept. 18 and has completed its first item of business: creating a proposal process to include new courses on the Essential Education course lists and to switch courses between lists. The Essential Education Proposal & List Change Form is now available online. The committee has also developed a Requirements for Course Lists document that provides a list of required and desirable elements for each Essential Ed course list.

“Thank you to all those who have agreed to serve on the new Essential Education Steering Committee,” said Storer. “Their contributions to our new general education program and its successful launch will positively impact thousands of students’ lives in the years to come.”

Essential Education Employment Task Force Holds First Meeting Focusing on Essential Abilities

The newly established Essential Education Employment Task Force, composed of organizations that have been long-standing recruiters at Michigan Tech, recently held its first meeting. Many of these recruiters are Michigan Tech alumni, united by a shared passion for helping shape programming that equips our students for success—not only in their first jobs post-graduation but throughout their entire careers.

This task force will play a critical role in ensuring that we clearly communicate the value, accomplishments, and learning outcomes tied to Essential Education. Their input will help us continue developing programs that foster the Essential Abilities our students need to thrive in today’s workforce.

We would like to extend our thanks to the Essential Education Employer Task Force members for collaborating with our faculty and staff to refine and strengthen the components of Michigan Tech’s Essential Education initiative. The task force includes representatives from Stellantis, Gerdau, Michigan Scientific, Kimberly-Clark, Greenheck, Nexteer, Caterpillar, Plexus, General Motors, and Security Vitals.

The task force’s mission is to help us establish effective communication channels with recruiting organizations, ensuring they understand the Essential Abilities our students are developing through these experiences. As the task force continues its work, we will focus on building engaging learning opportunities that align with the skills and attributes these employers seek in their future employees.

What are the Essential Abilities developed throughout the Essential Education programming?

Michigan Tech’s current General Education program has 8 undergraduate student learning goals, of which 6 are used in the assessment of General Education. These 6 USLGs include 41 performance criteria. Our new Essential Education program reduces these to 4 undergraduate student learning goals with 12 performance criteria that we call Essential Abilities. This reduction aligns us with the number of learning goals and performance criteria at peer institutions and simplifies assessment within essential education. Below are the 4 learning goals and associated Essential Abilities defined.

Learning Goal: Think Critically

Question Assumptions Icon

Question Assumptions: Students identify and evaluate stated and unstated assumptions underlying an experience, question, problem, or statement.

Evaluate Information Icon

Evaluate Information: Students identify and evaluate relevant information to address an experience, question, problem, or statement.

Analyze Ethical Implications Icon

Analyze Ethical Implications: Students recognize and analyze ethical, questions, and problems.

Learning Goal: Communicate

Communicate Quantitatively Icon

Communicate Quantitatively: Students interpret quantitative data and choose appropriate methods and formulas to communicate findings.

Communicate Contextually Icon

Communicate Contextually: Students choose communication formats and methods appropriate for the context, purpose and audience.

Foster Collaboration Icon

Foster Collaboration: Students communicate with others to develop, distribute, and complete tasks; seek and incorporate the perspectives of others; and communicate main ideas and results in team settings.

Learning Goal: Adapt

Reflect Icon

Reflect: students review prior learning (and experiences) to consider significance of experiences inside and outside the classroom as well as plan next steps for learning and growth.

Welcome Challenge Icon

Welcome Challenge: students demonstrate willingness to try new things, persevere in the face of obstacles, learn from mistakes, and appreciate learning and growth in addition to achievement.

Explore Diverse Perspectives Icon

Explore Diverse Perspectives: students demonstrate awareness of their own norms and biases as well as existing diversity within and beyond their own social and cultural group(s).

Learning Goal: Contribute/Transform

Engage in Civic Life icon

Engage in Civic Life: students develop the knowledge, skills, and motivation to make a difference in the civic life of their communities.

Innovate Solutions Icon

Innovate Solutions: students apply an appropriate process to design, evaluate, and/or implement a strategy to answer an open-ended question or achieve a desired goal.

Create Icon

Create: students compose novel (or unique variations of existing) works, ideas, questions, formats, or products and synthesize their ideas with those of others.

So why make the change to these four goals and their aligned essential abilities?

The shift to the Essential Abilities in Michigan Tech’s new Essential Education program was driven by the need for a more streamlined, impactful approach to student learning. This move allows us to focus more effectively on the skills and competencies that matter most to employers and help students thrive not only in their first jobs but throughout their careers. The Essential Abilities emphasize critical thinking, communication, global awareness, and lifelong learning—key competencies for navigating an increasingly complex and interconnected world.

Think Critically
The ability to think critically about complex issues is vital for all students. While the disciplinary context and subject matter will vary, the ability to carefully consider assumptions, available information, and the ethical dimensions of problems and proposed solutions are key skills. Collectively, these skills help students make sense of large amounts of information, detect and avoid fallacies, facilitate dialogue, attend to diverse perspectives, and cultivate a deeper awareness of how to connect and synthesize culture, social, economic, and scientific ideas.

Communicate
The challenges of the 21st Century require the ability to communicate information and ideas intentionally, strategically, and responsibly – across a range of audiences, disciplines, and media – using a variety of modes (written, spoken, quantitative). Such communication required attention to the diversity of contexts (global, local, intercultural). Skillfulness in this area involves the ability to connect with others through interpersonal and group communication skills.

Adapt
Working and living in a diverse and rapidly changing technological society requires skills and mindsets that support lifelong learning, personal and professional growth, agility, and resilience. It is important that students are able and willing to take appropriate personal and intellectual risks, reflect on their own performance (successes and failures), and consider diverse perspectives that may evolve over time.

Contribute/Transform
A new frontier is emerging where the solutions to social problems will be found in a rapidly changing world where science, technology, humanities, arts, and social sciences intersect. In this environment, those who seek to make significant contributions to society must engage with multiple perspectives and use well-developed creative thinking skills to form new ideas that form their actions. It is essential for students to develop, share, and inspire creativity – such as pursuing opportunities in the creative arts, collaborating to find innovative and ethical solutions, and contributing to their communities and the broader world.

Michigan Technological University’s Essential Education Initiative will be fully implemented in Fall 2025. This forward-thinking curriculum will prepare our students for careers that don’t exist today. Michigan Tech’s Essential Ed further aligns our undergraduate curriculum with business workforce needs, further enhancing career opportunities for our students.

Essential Education Announces Office Hours for Fall Semester

The Essential Ed Leadership Team is setting up weekly “Office Hours” to support our campus community as we implement the new Essential Education curriculum. Individuals, department committees, and other working groups are welcome to attend for consultations, including (but not limited to) the following topics:

  • Revising degree audits and flowcharts to make the most of Essential Ed requirements
  • Tips for Building an Essential Ed Minor
  • How to Build an Essential Education Experience Course
  • What are in Essential Ed Seminar Modules
  • How is Essential Education Assessed
  • How have Wellbeing and Success Courses changed
  • What is Folio Thinking, and how do ePortfolios support Folio Thinking

The first two Essential Ed Office Hours will be in Library Conference Room 103 from 12:00 – 1:00 pm on Wednesday, September 4, and Thursday, September 12. The complete calendar of Office Hour Dates for the Fall Semester can be found below. Note the Special Guests and Topics noted on the calendar. For further information or questions, contact Steve Patchin – Project Manager for Essential Ed Implementation, at shpatchi@mtu.edu.

Library Conference Room 103 – Noon to 1 pm
Date Day Special Guest & Topic
September 4 Wednesday
September 12 Thursday
September 18 Wednesday
September 26 Thursday Nancy Barr – Folio Thinking & PebblePad
October 2 Wednesday Jeannie DeClerck – Assessment & Essentail Ed
October 10 Thursday
October 16 Wednesday
October 24 Thursday
October 30 Wednesday
November 7 Thursday
November 13 Wednesday Jeannie DeClerck – Assessment & Essential Ed
November 21 Thursday Nancy Barr – Folio Thinking & PebblePad
November 27 Wednesday
December 5 Thursday
December 11 Wednesday

Essential Education Soft Launches Seminar Courses – Fall 2024

Michigan Tech Essential Education will be soft-launching the Michigan Tech Seminar shared modules beginning this Fall, 2024. These modules are embedded in Intro to the Major seminars or included in existing large-format courses (ENG 1101). Several units are in the process of developing new courses that will use the shared modules and fulfill the seminar requirement. Those majors not offering their own seminar course will have their students take a university-wide seminar beginning in Fall 2025.

Required assignments are expected to require no more than ⅓ of a 1 credit course, with expectations of about 15 hours total of combined in and out of class work. Eight of the nine modules in the list below are now available in Canvas Commons for seminar instructors to access and use. We anticipate that the remaining module will be available in Commons by September 6. Anyone from Michigan Tech can view the modules, but we ask that only Michigan Tech Seminar courses use them with students (to avoid unnecessary repetition of materials).

Modules include:

  • Welcome to College — Reviews key policies and resources and helps students understand the differences between high school and college.
  • Husky Points — Students select activities to help them connect to the community, University, and resources.
  • Career Preparation — Students create an About Me page in the PebblePad ePortfolio platform and draft a resume (optional).
  • Time Management — Students track their time use and discuss strategies for time management.
  • Academic Planning — Students explore personal and academic goals and make a four-year plan.
  • Stress Management — Students learn how stress impacts them physically and mentally and explore strategies and resources for managing stress.
  • Loneliness — Students learn to recognize signs of loneliness (in themselves and others) and develop strategies for managing feelings of disconnection and accessing resources.
  • Reflection — Students learn more about how reflection supports learning and personal growth and receive instruction and feedback in effective reflective writing.
  • Introduction to the Essential Abilities — Students use a structured PebblePad workbook to reflect on the Essential Abilities and identify their own strengths and opportunities for growth.

A special thanks to those instructors who participated in the Seminar Training, which took place on Thursday, August 15. We appreciate the efforts of the summer team that constructed the content and Canvas Modules:

  • AJ Hamlin – Engineering Fundamentals
  • Maria Bergstrom – Humanities/CSA
  • Linda Wanless – Center for Teaching and Learning
  • Anna McClatchy – Wahtera Center for Student Success
  • Dawn Corwin – Wahtera Center for Student Success
  • Nancy Barr – Assessment and Writing Support Specialist/APUE
  • Heather Simpson – Exploring Majors/CSA
  • Susan Liebau – Chemistry
  • Jenn Sams – Library
  • Kailee Laplander – Electrical and Computer Engineering

Below is the list of courses that will be launching the Essential Education Seminar components, including new Canvas Modules and associated activities in the Fall of 2024

Participating in Soft Launch Fall 2024
(57 sections, 1125 students)

BL 1580 First Year Exp in Bio Sci
BL 1590 First year exp in pre-health
BL 1600 First Year Exp in Med Lab Sci
CH 1130 PDC1 (prof dev chem)
CS 1000 Explorations in Computing
ENG1101 Engineering Problem Solving and Analysis
HF 1999 Intro to the HF major
HU 1000 Intro to Humanities
KIP 1000 Intro to Exercise Sci
KIP 1010 Intro to Sports and Fit Mgmt
MA 1910 Exploring Symmetry Groups
PSY 1999 Intro to the Psych major
SA1000 – Exploring Majors
SS 1001 Orientation to Soc Sci

Courses in development for Fall of 2025
Nursing
Physics
VPA – Sound Design, Theatre
University-Wide Course
College of Computing
Forestry


Questions? Contact the Essential Education Implementation Leadership Team: essential-ed-l@mtu.edu or reach out to Steve Patchin: shpatchi@mtu.edu

Michigan Tech Essential Education launches website

Michigan Tech’s Essential Education initiative was developed to prepare students to be leaders in the Fourth Industrial Revolution. Essential Education signals that the skills, abilities, and mindsets facilitated by a broad education in the foundational disciplinary areas of the sciences, math, social sciences, arts, and humanities are essential to students’ educational and professional development. This forward-thinking curriculum prepares students for careers students for careers that don’t exist today.

Michigan Tech’s Essential Education website has just gone live. You can visit the new website here: https://www.mtu.edu/essential-ed/. This public-facing site provides more information on the why and how of Michigan Tech’s Essential Education program, which formally launches in the Fall of 2025 for our first-year students and scales to capacity by the 2027-28 academic year.

Special thanks to Michigan Tech’s University Marketing and Communications team, as well as Michigan Tech’s Essential Education Marketing and Communication Advisory Board, and the Essential Education Implementation Leadership Team for their work on constructing this website.