EVENT ANNOUNCEMENT

DATE: April 30-May 4, 2012

EVENT: Michigan Road Scholars Tour 2012

Nearly three dozen University of Michigan faculty experts and senior staff will take to the road for the 13th annual traveling seminar known as the Michigan Road Scholars. For five days, they will travel the highways and back roads of Michigan with stops in Benton Harbor, Detroit, Grand Rapids, Lansing, Mackinaw City, Sault Ste. Marie and Traverse City.

The Michigan Road Scholars will learn directly from the people of Michigan about local and regional opportunities and challenges in industry and commerce, government, health care, education and philanthropy.

MRS was established by the U-M Office of the Vice President for Government Relations to increase knowledge and understanding between the university and the people and communities of Michigan; demonstrate the many ways the university is connected to the entire state; cultivate awareness among faculty of the state’s distinctive geographic, economic, cultural and political attributes; and encourage public service and research that ameliorate problems and advance solutions.

For more than a decade, MRS has sparked numerous academic-community collaborations that continue to enhance local assets and solve local issues, everything from new research initiatives that expand the body of knowledge and help guide local initiatives to expert consultations with industry and direct interactions in schools and communities across the state. Long-standing collaborations with urban, rural and Native American communities around the state—in issues of the environment, K-12 education and higher education preparedness, public health, community and economic development and more—continue years later to contribute to the well-being of the state of Michigan and its citizens.

SOCIAL MEDIA: The 2012 Michigan Road Scholars will share their experiences on Facebook at: www.facebook.com/pages/Michigan-Road-Scholars/157458094307891

TIMES/LOCATIONS FOR MEDIA AVAILABILITIES:

Monday, April 30, in Lansing and Mackinaw City

8:15 a.m. Breakfast with legislators, including Lt. Gov. Brian Calley, at Capitol Building

10 a.m. Site visit at MSU National Superconducting Cyclotron Laboratory

3:30 p.m. Mackinaw City, Straits State Harbor

6:30 p.m. Sault Ste. Marie community reception, dinner and panel on “The Economy in the Upper Peninsula”

Tuesday, May 1, in Sault Ste. Marie and Traverse City

8 a.m. Sault Locks boat tour

10 a.m. Sault Ste. Marie tribe of Chippewa Indians/Cultural Department Liaisons

3:30 p.m. Father Fred Foundation and secondary education discussion

Wednesday, May 2, in Traverse City and Grand Rapids

7 a.m. Traverse City Poverty Reduction Initiative at Cambria Suites Hotel

8:30 a.m. Traverse City Film Festival at Historic State Theater

12:30 p.m. Lunch and discussion with Grand Rapids School Interim Superintendent Teresa Weatherall Neal at the Dominican Center

2:30 p.m. Goodwill Industries site visit

6 p.m. Reception and dinner with Grand Rapids U-M Alumni Club and Scholarship recipients at the Van Andel Institute

Thursday, May 3, in Benton Harbor and Detroit

9:15 a.m. Champions for Change Community Leaders at Harbor Shores

12:30 p.m. MSU Southwest Michigan Research Center

6:30 p.m. Detroit Hispanic Development Corporation visit and dinner

Friday, May 4, in Detroit

8:30 a.m. Midtown Detroit discussion on economic development and bus tour

11:30 a.m. Southeast Michigan United Way for Early Education Program

12:50 p.m. Compuware Corporation headquarters

1:45 p.m. Michigan Economic Development Corporation’s LiveWorkDetroit!

3 p.m. Detroit Port Authority

4 p.m. Detroit Riverwalk tour