On March 21, the Michigan Department of Lifelong Education, Advancement, and Potential (MiLEAP) announced the formation of a new task force to better understand how insecurity with basic needs is affecting Michigan’s college students and what actions position students for success.
Congratulations to Meghan Schmidbauer, Senior Director of Detroit Drives Degrees at the Detroit Regional Chamber, who joins the task force’s Advisory Committee, as well as Wytrice Harris, Senior Director of Student Success and Partnerships at the Detroit Regional Chamber, on her appointment to the task force.
Learn more about MiLEAP and the new task force in the news release below.
March 21, 2024
LANSING, Mich. – Today, the Michigan Department of Lifelong Education, Advancement, and Potential (MiLEAP) announced that it has assembled a task force to better understand how insecurity with basic needs is affecting Michigan’s college students and what actions position students for success. The task force will look at how issues differ across regions and campuses, what interventions are helping, and identify policy change so that financial insecurity is not a barrier to student’s pursuit of educational goals, including completion of a degree or credential.
More than ever, postsecondary education is critical to economic mobility. Jobs requiring skilled employees today, as well as jobs on the horizon, demand greater education and training. Increasingly, the best jobs require more than a high school diploma.
MiLEAP partnered with the Michigan Community College Association and Temple University’s The Hope Center for Student Basic Needs to create the task force, with The Hope Center being hired, through funding from the Joyce Foundation, to be the research and facilitation partner.
Over the course of a year Task Force members are being asked to participate in four meetings where they will:
- Develop, review and recommend policies and actions in the areas of food insecurity, housing insecurities, health and wellness and digital equity.
- Review research on basic needs and ensure recommendations meet state needs in urban and rural settings and across different types of populations and identify gaps and solutions in the higher education ecosystem that the state can learn from.
- Review approaches taken in other states to dramatically reduce barriers for college students through enhanced supports for students in need and identify needed adaptions for Michigan.
- Contribute to a report for the state on recommendations for intervention and policy opportunities.
The leaders that have joined the Task Force are:
- Dr. Sara Abelson, Assistant Professor, Temple University School of Medicine and Senior Director of Education and Training, The Hope Center for Student Basic Needs
- Duane Bedell, President, Bay Mills Community College
- Lina Blair, Dean of Student Life, Ferris State University
- Lisa Brewer-Walraven, Director, Office of Child Development and Care, Michigan Department of Lifelong Education, Advancement, and Potential
- Dr. Charles Cotton, Associate Vice President for Enrollment Management, Western Michigan University
- Tracye Y. Davis, Executive Director of Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Belonging, Henry Ford College and Assistant Director Performance, Development, and Engagement (Human Resources)
- Sarah Desmarais, Senior Advisor of Economic Stability Operations and Programs, Michigan Department of Health and Human Services,
- Dr. Darryl Gardner, Assistant Vice President for Student Success, Wayne State University
- Wytrice Harris, Senior Director, College Success and Partnerships, Detroit Regional Chamber
- Dr. Charles Lepper, President, Grand Rapids Community College
- Jessica Robinson, Digital Inclusion Manager, Michigan High-Speed Internet Office
- Precious Miller, Director of Basic Needs and Belonging, Michigan Center for Student Success, Michigan Community College Association
- Coco Moulder, Executive Director, Pontiac Promise Zone
- Michelle Richard, Acting Director, Michigan Department of Lifelong Education, Advancement and Potential
- Joe Saur, Education Analyst, Michigan Veterans Affairs Agency, Michigan Department of Military and Veteran Affairs
- Jacob J. Schuler, Assistant Dean of Student Life & Residential Experience, The University of Olivet
- Bob Sheehan, Chief Executive Officer, Community Mental Health Association of Michigan
- Alejandra Solorzano, Michigan Engagement Manager, Benefits Data Trust
- Megan Spitz, Senior Community Development Specialist, Office of Housing Strategies, Michigan State Housing Development Authority (MSHDA)
- Sarah Szurpicki, Director, Office of Sixty by 30, Michigan Department of Lifelong Education, Advancement and Potential
Learn more about MiLEAP and the Office of Sixty by 30 at Michigan.gov/Sixtyby30.
###