Priority two: Engage communities

Priority two

Engage Communities — Cultivate and enrich reciprocal partnerships with university stakeholders to ensure a lasting impact in the communities we serve.

Objectives

• Champion the interests of rural and under-resourced populations through collaborations. 
• Embrace and enhance the historic connection between the university and the Saginaw Chippewa Indian Tribe through active listening, cooperative partnering, and reciprocal learning to build on longstanding local connections and establish networks for broader collaboration with tribes across the Great Lakes region. 
  
• Engage alumni, donors, community and business leaders, among others, to provide mutually beneficial real-world and hands-on experiences for students through curricular and co-curricular partnerships. 
  
• Leverage and develop strengths of CMU with the needs and interests of our communities to build and sustain dynamic relationships. 
• Engage with local leaders to further a welcoming community on- and off-campus for all students, faculty and staff.

2025-2026 SMART goals

Updated and approved by the CMU Board of Trustees September 18, 2025

• Develop strategies to identify and enhance relationships to meet community needs, beginning with healthcare and wellbeing in the mid-Michigan area, Great Lakes Bay Region, western and northern Michigan. 
  • Measure: Develop the plan with annual goals by January 2026 and create an internal university structure to respond to community needs by April 2026.
  • Measure: The Community Relations Committee will assess the “Paint the Town Maroon” initiative, develop and measure progress on annual goals (including specific community-centered projects that broaden opportunity), and complete identified signature events for the year by June 2026.
• Increase the number of students engaging in curricular and co-curricular real-world experiences with external stakeholders to achieve a long-term goal of 80% of undergraduate students.
  • Measure: Identify an initial list of the experiences, partners for engagement, a transcript-based tracking mechanism, and communication plan to students and faculty by December 2025 for a Fall 2026 rollout. 
  • Measure: Complete a data look back for the past two years, based on data available, to measure baseline information and to develop goals for annual increases by August 2026.

Update on 2024-2025 Progress

• Lambert, an external public relations firm, conducted in-depth stakeholder surveys and focus groups in four key Michigan regions: mid-Michigan, northern Michigan, western Michigan and the Great Lakes Bay Region. Their findings provided a baseline assessment of current relationships and regional needs.
• Collaborative efforts university-wide advanced the development of a shared definition of “real-world learning experience” and a pilot program to track these experiences in a comprehensive learner record platform.