Michigan Road Scholars tour gets in gear for 2002

Thirty-two U-M faculty members, including a chancellor and three deans, are hitting the road. The group will visit 13 cities as participants in this year’s Michigan Road Scholars tour, April 29–May 3.

The five-day bus tour exposes the faculty, many of whom come to the University from other states and abroad, to Michigan’s economy, government and politics, culture, educational systems, health and social issues, history, and geography. Designed to increase mutual knowledge and understanding between the University and the people and communities of the state, the tour introduces the participants to the places the majority of U-M students call home. The tour encourages university service to the public, suggesting ways faculty can help address state and community issues through research, scholarship and creative activities.

The 2002 participants include faculty from 16 schools and colleges on the Ann Arbor campus, as well as representatives from the Flint and Dearborn campuses. There were 65 applicants. “It was another outstanding field of applicants,” said Earl Lewis, dean of the Horace H. Rackham Graduate School and chair of the selection committee. “It’s encouraging that such a variety of disciplines are represented on the tour each year. It reflects the University’s widespread commitment to serving the state. It also is a unique opportunity for faculty interaction that might not otherwise occur at such a large institution as ours.”

The tour is organized by state outreach staff in the Office of the Vice President for Government Relations. “The Road Scholars program has exposed faculty to many areas of this state where citizens face interesting challenges and issues on a daily basis, from economic development strategies to education reform to better health care and preservation of the environment,” said Cynthia H. Wilbanks, vice president for government relations. “In this way, it is helping to heighten the University’s awareness of the role it can play in the state as a knowledge resource and strengthen its connections from Detroit to Grand Rapids and from Kalamazoo to the Upper Peninsula.”

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