The University Record, January 28, 1997
Mott Foundation grants $410,000 to U-M-Flint for outreach
The U-M-Flint has received three one-year grants totaling $410,450 from the Charles Stewart Mott Foundation to support regional outreach activities.
The largest of the grants, $300,000, will provide partial funding for new outreach activities including evaluation, assessment and technical assistance for non-profit and community-based organizations and development of an “incubator” support program for emerging community-based organizations. A second grant for $60,450 provides partial support for planning the Technical Resource Center, a joint project of U-M-Flint and Mott College with automotive industry partners. A $50,000 grant will help fund an Expert-in-Residence Program to bring nationally recognized experts to campus to share their successful outreach programs.
“I am convinced that we have the required critical mass of faculty, staff and students to engage in sustainable activities that better link the expertise of the University with the needs of the community,” U-M-Flint Chancellor Charlie Nelms told the foundation’s board members when seeking the grant.
University Outreach, directed by Kristen Skivington, executive assistant to the chancellor, operates the Business Plan Development Program and the Service Learning Program linking students with area businesses and service organizations for academically-related experiences.
“We are proud of the number of faculty, staff, students and alumni who are already involved in outreach projects,” Skivington says. She estimates that nearly 50 faculty members have been or are now involved in community outreach programs. Some 600 students and 42 community agencies have expressed interest in service learning projects since the program began less than one year ago.
U-M Flint’s University Outreach has received more than $3 million in grant support this year, including one of only 15 U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) grants awarded nationally.
