Hello Essential Education Instructors,
Welcome to the Fall 2026 semester!
Thank you for teaching an Essential Education course this semester. Before classes begin, there are a few planning requirements to complete. The information, resources, and events below will help you prepare to implement Essential Ed in your course(s).
Essential Ed Planning & Reporting for Your Course
You have been enrolled in the Essential Ed Planning and Reporting Canvas course. This course will guide you through the planning and reporting process in PebblePad for the 2026–2029 Essential Ed improvement cycle. (List of Fall 2026 courses)
What to Expect
You will receive a separate Canvas assignment for each Essential Ed course you are teaching.
Note: Each Essential Ed course you teach has its own Planning and Reporting Workbook. If you teach multiple courses, you will see a separate Canvas assignment to access the workbook for each course.
For each Essential Ed course, complete the Planning Page by identifying the Essential Ability(ies) supported in your course and how students will develop them through assignments/practice, reflection, and a Husky Folio assignment documenting evidence of learning and growth.
Planning Pages are due on the first day of classes – August 31, 2026.
At the end of the semester, you will complete a report for one of your Essential Ed courses. Additional guidance and support materials are available in the Instructor Resources Hub (in particular the Course Setup Guide, Instructor EA Planning and Reporting, and Husky Folio Setup Guide.
Upcoming Events
Sign up for events here: Registration: Essential Ed Kick-Off & Husky Folio Implementation Lab
Essential Education Kick-Off
August 19 & 20 from 10:00 a.m.–12:00 p.m.
Rekhi G006
Join us for an overview of Essential Education requirements, planning and reporting expectations, Essential Ability requirements by course list, and a hands-on session to begin preparing your course. Please bring your laptop.
Husky Folio Implementation Lab
August 25 | 12:00–3:00 p.m.
Rekhi G006
Get support with PebblePad, Husky Folio implementation, and course planning and reporting. Time will be available to work on your course with assistance. Please bring your laptop. Light refreshments will be provided, and you are welcome to bring your lunch.
Updated Instructor Resources Hub
The Instructor Resources Hub has moved from Canvas to a Google Drive folder, making it easier to search, navigate, and keep current.
The Hub has also been substantially updated with new guidance, examples, FAQs, and resources for course planning, Essential Abilities, Husky Folio, and assessment and reporting. Even if you’ve used the resources before, we encourage you to explore the updated resources.
Later this semester, after testing is complete, the Hub will also include Eddie, an AI assistant that can answer questions and help you quickly find Essential Education resources throughout the semester.
We look forward to working with you this semester. For assistance, contact your in-unit liaison or essentialed@mtu.edu.
Best,
The Essential Ed Team
As noted in the October Tech Today article and the October 15 Essential Ed Newsblog, faculty support Michigan Tech’s Essential Education continuous improvement process by completing Planning Tools at the start of each semester and EA Reporting at the end, following a three-year cycle.
Why This Matters
By reflecting on and refining how their courses support the Essential Abilities, instructors help students engage with a clearer, more intentional course design. This reflection promotes deeper learning and helps students develop and demonstrate the skills essential for academic achievement and career success.
Submitted EA Reports are peer reviewed, allowing colleagues to share constructive feedback and identify trends that inform broader program improvements.
Planning Tool Updates
Thank you to all who are contributing to the rollout of Essential Education courses this year!
From faculty Planning Tool submissions, the Essential Education Course List Teams and Steering Committee responded to instructor requests for support and acted on suggestions to improve processes and available resources.
Instructors teaching in Spring 2026 will notice several updates already incorporated into the new Planning Tools.
Instructor EA Reporting – Soft Launch Expansion
The soft launch for Instructor Essential Abilities (EA) Reporting began last spring with a small number of courses and has now expanded to include three course lists this academic year: Foundations and lower-level Math and Science courses.
Feedback from this phase will guide refinements to both the process and support materials in preparation for the full launch of instructor reporting for all course lists in AY 2026–27, which marks the start of the full Essential Education three-year continuous improvement cycle.
Soft Launch Instructions for Fall 2025 Instructors
Faculty teaching Fall 2025 Essential Education Foundations or lower-level Math and Science courses received an email on October 25 with submission instructions.
When ready to report, instructors should:
- Upload their completed EA Report Template and two student work samples using the Submit Form.
- Use the Instructor EA Reporting Guide (Canvas) with step-by-step instructions and FAQs to assist with submission.
If there are multiple sections of the course (the same or multiple semesters), contact essentialed@mtu.edu for assistance.
Important Dates for Instructors
Fall 2025 Courses
- Monday, August 25 – Planning Tools due (all Essential Ed courses)
- Friday, January 16 – Instructor EA Reports due (Foundations and lower-level Math/Science only)
Spring 2026 Courses
- Monday, January 5 – Planning Tools due (all Essential Ed courses)
- Wednesday, April 29 – Instructor EA Reports due (Foundations and lower-level Math/Science only)
Summer 2026 Courses
- Planning Tools due the first day of instruction
- Instructor EA Reports due three days after the final exam period (Foundations and lower-level Math/Science only)
Support and Resources
Workshops are being scheduled upon request, and office-hour sign-ups will be available later in the semester.
For assistance, please contact:
- Essential Ed Steering Committee and Course List Team Members in your unit
- The Essential Ed support: essentialed@mtu.edu
- EA Reporting: Jeannie DeClerck, Assessment Manager
- HuskyFolio Support: AJ Hamlin, Director of Husky Folio
Thank you for your continued commitment to the Essential Education program. Your time, reflection, and participation are vital to strengthening our courses, supporting student learning, and sustaining meaningful program improvement.
Michigan Tech’s 2nd Annual Essential Education Symposium will take place on Wednesday, April 29, 2026, on campus, the week after Spring Semester Final Exams. The 1st Annual Essential Ed Symposium took place on Wednesday, April 30, 2025. It was highlighted by our special guest, Shane Sutherland, Founder/CEO/CMM of PebblePad, an internationally recognized higher-education ePortfolio platform. His lunchtime Keynote focused on how other academic institutions around the world are using ePortfolios to maximize student reflection, communicate skill acquisition and application, and document their academic accomplishments to future employers and academic programs.
The 2026 Essential Ed Symposium will feature highlights from the launch of each element of Essential Education. More exciting sessions relating to Essential Ed, its impact on students, faculty support resources, and best practices, skill needs of future employers, will be announced in early spring. These elements are highlighted in this short video, “What is Michigan Tech’s Essential Education?”
We encourage you to visit Michigan Tech Essential Ed YouTube channel . This is the home of the videos being created to promote Michigan Tech’s Essential Education program rollout, including outlining the value of this educational experience to current and future students. Videos of future Symposium presentations and materials serving as resources for instructors teaching Essential Education program courses will also be available on this channel.
Here are some quick links to a sample of the 2025 Symposium presentations, beginning with highlights of the full event.
- 2025 Essential Ed Symposium Highlights 2025 Essential Ed Symposium Highlights
- 2025 Michigan Tech Essential Education Symposium – Building Community Partnerships for EssEd Experiences 2025 Michigan Tech Essential Ed Symposium – Building Community Partnerships for EssEd Experiences
- 2025 Michigan Tech Essential Ed Symposium – Essential Abilities from a corporate perspective 2025 Michigan Tech Essential Ed Symposium – Essential Abilities: from a corporate perspective
- 2025 Essential Ed Symposium Keynote: Share Sutherland Founder of PebblePad – The Power of ePortfolio 2025 Essential Ed Symposium Keynote: Shane Sutherland Founder of PebblePad – The Power of ePortfolio
For more information on the rollout of Michigan Tech’s Tech Forward 1.0 initiative, Essential Education, review Michigan Tech’s Essential Education Newsblog.
Essential Education Experiences (E3) are 3-credit, upper-division courses, intended for students in their junior year (at the discretion of the course instructor). In E3 courses, students will actively apply their Essential Abilities through hands-on learning designed to increase their social awareness, global understanding, civic engagement or cultural competencies. E3 projects or activities engage with communities beyond the traditional classroom in the advancement of public good.
E3 courses should include a significant curricular component rooted in the SHAPE (Social Sciences, Humanities, and Arts for People and the Environment/Economy) disciplines that connects to the immersive or community engaged activity. Instructors can design their own projects for the course or connect courses to existing student activities (i.e. volunteering, student leadership roles, etc.). Engagement can happen at different locations, including on-campus, in our local community, abroad, or virtually.
Required Course Elements
All Experience courses must have the following course elements:
- Experiential Learning: The instructor should provide an academic framework, best practices, and space for reflection and discussion to strengthen student hands-on learning. At least half of academic work should be dedicated to a real-world project or activity (i.e. direct service, reflection, research, project work, immersion, etc).
- Best Practices and Ethical Standards: Faculty should ensure that best practices and ethical standards for community engagement are upheld throughout the project or activity and teach those standards to students in the course, drawing on disciplinary expertise.
- Critical Reflection: Assignments connected to the experience should be included regularly throughout the semester. Critical reflection assignments should promote, for example, self-awareness, continuous learning, and the integration of theory and practice.
- Applied SHAPE Approaches: Academic content should be based in SHAPE disciplines, emphasizing interdisciplinary and integrative approaches to knowledge and problem-solving.
- Husky Folio: Student work should be showcased in an individual-effort Husky Folio submission (a PebblePad workbook or portfolio). This should include reflection related to how the student applied at least one Essential Ability from the Contribute/Transform learning goal (described below) in their Experience. It might also include examples of student project work (done individually or as a member of a team), connections to previous learning, reflections on community impact, or how they will apply their Essential Abilities going forward.
- Substantial Support for ONE Essential Ability from the Contribute/Transform Learning Goal
– Select one Essential Ability from the Contribute/Transform Learning goal as noted as options in the table below:
| Learning Goals | Essential Abilities | Essential Ed Experience Courses |
| Think Critically | Question Assumptions | |
| Evaluate Information | ||
| Analyze Ethical Implications | ||
| Communicate | Communicate Quantitatively | |
| Communicate Contextually | ||
| Foster Collaboration | ||
| Adapt | Explore Diverse Perspectives | |
| Reflect | ||
| Welcome Challenge | ||
| Contribute/Transform | Engage in Civic Life | 1 required for this goal |
| Innovate Solutions | 1 required for this goal | |
| Create | 1 required for this goal |
- For the Essential Ability selected, include the following in the course:
- Instruction and assignment(s) to help students develop the EA.
- One assessment task that encourages students to demonstrate EA mastery at a level 3.
Michigan Tech’s Essential Education Experiences includes courses such as:
- ENG 4070 – Peer Mentoring Practicum
- FW 3114 – Reading the Forest
- FW 3760 – Human Dimensions in Natural Resources Stewardship
- HON 4070 – Leadership Practicum
- HU 3000 – Humanities Experience: Community-engaged learning
- HU 3289 – HU Experience: German Abroad
- HU 3370 – The Documentary Experience
- MUS 3700 – Visual and Performing Arts Tour
- PSY 3511 – Teaching Digital Newcomers
- SS 3541 – The Copper Country
- SS 3913 – Sustainable Living Practicum
- SS 4050 – Advanced GIS Methods
- SS 4700 – Communities and Research
- SS 4921 – Washington Experience Seminar
- THEA 4190 – Directing for Theatre
- UN 3013 – Interdisciplinary Experience
See the full list of Michigan Tech’s Essential Education Experiences here.
To learn more about Michigan Tech’s Essential Education Experience courses, check out our website which will have updates as classes are added when approved in Fall 2025.
Michigan Tech’s Essential Education Minors allow students to earn a credential completely within the structure of Essential Education. These are specific minors that are created to satisfy the spirit of Essential Education by introducing students to multiple disciplinary perspectives, as a complement to their major.
Explore three of the nine Essential Education Minors below. Which compliments your major and peaks your interests?
Human-Centered Design
The Human-Centered Design (HCD) minor at Michigan Tech prepares students to see the world through the lens of people – understanding not just how technologies and systems work, but how they truly impact the individuals and communities who use them. Rooted in internationally recognized design standards (ISO 9241-210:2019 and ANSI/HFES 400-2021), this minor emphasizes designing for usability, accessibility, and positive user experiences while also considering broader social and environmental impacts.
What makes this minor unique is its emphasis on ethical, sustainable, and community-focused approaches. Students will explore how design decisions shape daily life, from the interfaces we interact with to the systems we rely on. For example, you might work on designing a community space for inclusivity, creating safer and more intuitive healthcare technologies, or developing a digital tool that helps reduce energy use. Every project challenges you to think holistically – balancing technical feasibility, user needs, and long-term societal impact.
By completing the HCD minor, you’ll graduate with a versatile skill set that makes you stand out in todays job market. Industries from engineering to healthcare, computing to business, are seeking professionals who can integrate human-centered thinking into their work. This minor shows that you’re not just solving problems – you’re solving the right problems in what’s that make life easier.
Economics and Society
The Economics and Society Minor is designed for students who want to understand how economic forces shape communities, businesses, and public policy. Unlike a traditional economics minor, this program is deeply interdisciplinary – students explore core economics alongside courses in social sciences, humanities, communication, mathematics, and more. With 19 credits, the program integrates seamlessly with the Essential Education framework while giving students flexible pathways tailored to their own interests.
What makes this minor unique is the emphasis on real-world application. Students can pair foundational courses like Principals of Economics and Microeconomic theory with special topics such as Environmental Economics, Game Theory, or Energy Economics. Beyond economics, students dive into courses such as Environmental Communication, Indigenous Natural Resource Management, or Social Inequality. This combination ensures that graduates don’t just learn theory – they practice connecting economics to societies most pressing questions, whether climate change, financial decision-making, or cultural perspectives on development.
Sustainability Studies
This interdisciplinary minor allows students to:
- Build a foundational understanding of sustainability topics through multiple lenses
- Customize their learning with courses across departments and colleges
- Strengthen their ability to think crucially about sustainability issues in a global context
At Michigan Tech, we believe sustainability education should be:
- Accessible to students in all disciplines
- Rooted in real-world, experiential learning
- Inclusive of diverse perspectives and lived experiences
Whether through coursework, minors, living-learning communities, or hands-on projects, our sustainability programs are designed to meet students where they are – and help them grow into leaders ready to shape a sustainable future for all.
List of Michigan Tech’s Essential Education Minors
- AI Ethics
- Creativity and Expression
- Economics and Society
- Entrepreneurship
- Human-Centered Design
- Leadership
- Population Health
- Public Policy and Law
- Sustainability Studies
To learn more about these minors, visit Michigan Tech’s Essential Education Newsblog . In the coming weeks we will continue to provide highlights of these minors from the academic teams and departments/colleges that developed them.
To learn more about what course choices you have for each of Michigan Tech’s Essential Education Minors, follow this link. Take a moment to design your own Essential Education Minor within the available themes that compliments your own major and personal interests.
At the core of the Essential Education program is a commitment to continuous improvement of student learning through the Essential Abilities (EA) assessment process. This faculty-driven system provides both structure and flexibility, helping instructors intentionally design, assess, and enhance their courses each semester through two main components: the Planning Tool and EA-Assessment Reporting.
- The Planning Tool, completed at the start of each semester, helps instructors identify supported Essential Abilities, confirm course alignment, and request support or offer feedback.
- EA-Assessment Reporting, at the end of the semester, prompts instructors to reflect on how these abilities were integrated, evaluate student performance, and plan improvements for future courses.
To balance ongoing engagement with workload, Essential Ed faculty follow a 3-Year Improvement Cycle. Instructors complete the Planning Tool every semester throughout the cycle. Meanwhile, their end-of-semester responsibilities gradually shift—from detailed assessment reporting and improvement planning toward sharing updates and focusing more on professional development—supporting continuous improvement while managing workload.
Week 7: Mid-Semester Check-In: How’s Your Essential Abilities Plan Holding Up?
As we settle into the rhythm of the semester, it’s worth taking a moment to reflect on the work many of you did back at the start — completing the Essential Abilities (EA) Planning Tool.
Though it was brief (approximately 15 minutes), that step helped lay the groundwork for more intentional teaching by:
- Clarifying which Essential Abilities your course supports
- Encouraging alignment between assignments and Essential Abilities
- Creating a space to flag support needs or raise questions
Now, with classes in full swing, you may already be seeing the benefit of that early intentionality — whether it’s clearer assignment design, more focused student feedback, or simply a stronger sense of direction. A quick self-check now can help ensure that things stay on track—or give you space to course-correct, if needed.
Quick Check — Which best describes your experience so far?
- Students have submitted assignments showing Essential Abilities, and I’m satisfied with my plan, and I’m satisfied with how my plan is unfolding.
- Students haven’t submitted yet, but I’m confident in my plan.
- I’m beginning to think my original plan may not work as expected and might need revising.
If you relate to the third point or feel unsure, reach out to your Course List Team for help you revisiting your plan, realigning assignments, or troubleshooting challenges. Also, visit the Essential Ed Resource Hub for Instructors in Canvas, which offers updated tools to support you—whether you’re revising your plan mid-semester or preparing for reporting. It includes support contacts, editable rubrics, a setup guide with a growing number of examples from fellow instructors.
Why This Matters Now
This fall marks the soft launch of the Essential Abilities assessment process. Selected courses—typically those taken by first-year students—are participating in the phased launch of EA Reporting. Instructors teaching 1xxx- and 2xxx-level courses on the Foundations, Math, and Science lists are asked to complete an EA Report at semester’s end.
Early planning makes the process smoother and more meaningful because you will have already:
- Identified which Essential Abilities you’re focusing on
- Aligned those abilities with your assignments or activities
- Set clear expectations for how students demonstrate those abilities
If you’re not required to report this semester, it’s still a good time to reflect on how your EA goals are unfolding. Taking a few notes now will be especially helpful later, when EA Reporting is fully launched and you teach the course again.
The EA Report is essentially a check-in: Did things go as planned? What worked well? What might you adjust next time? We’ll share more about the reporting process next week—including who will need to complete a report this term.
By Jean Straw DeClerck, Office of Assessment for Curricular Effectiveness
As educators, it is our responsibility to ensure that our students are prepared to enter and succeed in this changing world – to have the skills to become culturally-responsive leaders who are civically engaged. This line of thinking is at the heart of Essential Education, a core component of the Tech Forward vision.
To make this vision become a reality, Essential Education will be guided by the Essential Education Steering Committee (EESC). The EESC will conduct the following activities:
- Planning of the annual Essential Education Symposium
- Review new Essential Education course proposals, suggesting any needed changes, approving changes
- Provide oversight of assessment and resulting actions to ensure continuous improvement and effectiveness of the Essential Ed curriculum
- Provide feedback to Essential Ed instructors and units regarding curricular needs and possible modifications
Steering Committee Membership: Representatives from staff and faculty, including 6 course-list leaders:
- Associate Provost for Undergraduate Education (chair)
- Essential Ed Project Manager
- Assessment Manager
- Director, Husky Folio
- Registrar’s Office representative
- Student Affairs representative
- 2-3 at-large members selected to ensure that there is faculty representation from each college of the university
- 6, course list team leaders (see below)
The Essential Ed oversight structure is intended to encourage and support a community of educators focused on student achievement of programmatic learning outcomes (which for Essential Ed are the Essential Abilities). Since the course-list types serve different functions within the curriculum and have different expectations, support is structured around groupings of course lists: course-list teams and leaders (who also sit on the Essential Ed Steering Committee). Note: This differs from the previous approach structured around undergraduate student learning goals (USLGs).
Role of Essential Educations Course List Teams
- 3-6 members who are from units teaching or supporting courses on the associated Essential Ed course lists
- Helps compile/disseminate findings and recommendations; develop online resources; help train faculty; make proposed-course recommendations to assist Steering Committee, plan/attend Essential Education Symposium
- Provides Essential Ed faculty support for their units — to provide assistance or referral on topics including pedagogy, Essential Ability evidence/assignment design, ePortfolio, as well as Essential Ed checklist completion and assessment reporting
- Participate in professional development, especially the summer assessment activities (strongly encouraged)hort description:
Different from previous goal committee structure:
- Not applicable to degree program outcome assessment.
- Considerable faculty support duties
- Fewer members but additional faculty can be recruited for specific tasks
- Reviews course proposals and makes recommendations to Steering Committee
To view who staffs the Essential Education Steering Committee and Course List Teams, visit Michigan Tech’s Essential Education News Blog. Next week, learn about the role of continuous improvement in the ongoing improvement and increased effectiveness of Michigan Tech’s Essential Education Tech Forward initiative.
Michigan Tech Essential Education Steering Committee
| Essential Education Steering Committee | |||
| Member | Department | Role | Course List Team |
| Marika Seigel | APUE | Chair | |
| Steve Patchin | APUE – Project Mgr | Member | |
| Jean DeClerck | APUE – Assessment Mgr | Member | |
| AJ Hamlin | Eng Fund, Director Husky Folio | Member | |
| Darren Bausano | Registrars Office | Member | |
| Cassandra Reed-Vandam | APUE – E3 Manager | Member | |
| Anna McClatchy | Student Affairs | Member | |
| Travis Wakeham | BL & APUE | Member | |
| Yu Cai | College of Computing | Member | |
| Valroiee Gagnon | CFRES | Member | |
| Audra Morse | CoE | Member | |
| Steven Holloway | CoB | Member | Foundations & SHAPE |
| Richelle Winkler | SS | Member | Experience & 1 credit minor portfolio Course |
| Holly Hassel | HU | Member | Composition & Communication Intensive |
| Crystal McLeod | Ctr Student Mental Health & Wellness | Member | Seminar + Activities for Wellbeing & Success |
| Mike Maxwell | VPA | Member | Arts & Culture + Intercultural Competencies |
| Mike Meyer | Physics | Member | Math + Science + STEM |
Michigan Tech Essential Education Course List Teams
| 2025-26 Essential Education Course List Teams | |||
| Course List Team | Member | Dept | Role |
| Foundations & Shape | Steven Holloway | CoB | Lead |
| Steve Walton | SS | Co-Lead | |
| Laura Fiss | Pavlis/HU | Member | |
| Experience + 1-credit minor portfolio course | Richelle Winkler | SS | Lead |
| Cassandra Reed-VanDam | APUE | Co-Lead | |
| Laura Rouleau | SS | Co-Lead | |
| Danielle Meirow | SLI | Member | |
| Estella Mira Barrenda | HU | Member | |
| Composition + Communication Intensive | Holly Hassel | HU | Lead |
| Jennifer Nish | HU | Co-Lead | |
| Paul Sanders | MAT | Member | |
| Jonathan Robins | SS | Member | |
| Nich Radcliffe | VPA | Member | |
| Seminar + Activities for Wellbeing & Success | Crystal McLeod | Ctr Student Mental Health/Wellbeing | Lead |
| AJ Hamlin | Eng Fund | Co-Lead | |
| Veronica Horning | SA | Member | |
| Melissa Michaelson | Career Services | Member | |
| Craig Pelizzaro | KIP | Member | |
| Christopher Plummer | VPA | Member | |
| Arts & Culture + Intercultural Compentency | Mike Maxwell | VPA | Lead |
| Destaney Sauls | PHF | Co-Lead | |
| Matt Seigel | HU | Member | |
| Math + Science + STEM | Mike Meyer | Physics | Lead |
| Teresa Woods | Math | Co-Lead | |
| Brigette Morin | BL,CSA | Member | |
| Tim VanWagner | CC | Member | |
| Andrew Galerneau | Chem | Member | |
| Chad Walber | MAE | Member | |
| Matt Laird | CEGE | Member |
Reminder of important Fall Essential Ed course proposal dates.
– Oct 15 (Wed): White binder course proposals complete & posted to department summary sheet
– Oct 17 (Fri): Proposals for Essential Ed courses due to Essential Ed Steering Committee via Google form
– Oct 27 (Mon): White binder proposals/changes reviewed by Deans & sent to Registrar’s Office for processing
– Nov 21 (Fri): Degree audit changes due to Registrar’s Office
– Dec 5 (Fri): Essential Education Steering Committee review of proposals complete; list of approved changes forwarded to Registrar.s Office
The Course Proposal Form is live for courses you would like to propose and submit before the deadline. Stay tuned for next Thursdays Tech Today article regarding the role of Essential Educations Steering Committee and Course List Teams. Did you miss a Thursday Michigan Tech Essential Ed Update? Find it at Michigan Techs Essential Ed Newsblog.
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.
Our new Essential Education minors, launching this fall, are built directly into the Essential Education curriculum. They offer a unique opportunity to explore a specific theme through a variety of disciplinary perspectives. By design, they are a seamless addition to a student’s degree, allowing them to broaden their perspective and complement their major without adding to their credit load.
Each Essential Ed minor allows students to engage with a variety of perspectives and disciplines, incorporating courses from specific categories in the curriculum. These include a communication-intensive course, an intercultural competency course, and a selection of courses from the humanities, arts, social sciences, and business (SHAPE). A key feature is the flexibility for students to customize their coursework within the minor’s theme, allowing them to align their learning with their personal and career goals. The Essential Education Curriculum page <https://www.mtu.edu/essential-ed/overview/curriculum/> includes more specific information about the requirements each minor must meet. As part of their minor pathway, students will create an ePortfolio through Husky Folio, allowing them to reflect on and integrate their learning journey.
We are excited to announce that the following Essential Ed minors are in the final stages of approval:
- AI Ethics
- Creativity & Expression
- Economics & Society
- Entrepreneurship
- Human-Centered Design
- Leadership
- Population Health
- Public Policy & Law
- Sustainability Studies
Stay tuned for a deeper dive into each of these themes in the coming weeks. In the meantime, get a sneak peek into the vision behind these minors by watching this video: <Michigan Tech’s Essential Education Minors – Launch 2025>.