Dear Wayne State University community,
Wayne State has a proud history of collaboration with community partners, including businesses, nonprofits and governmental organizations. Building on those efforts, we aim to increase service to our partners through deepening and broadening meaningful and holistic connections with our university.
We are excited to announce the launch of WSU OPEN (Opportunity, Partnership, Engagement and Network), a new, best-practice approach to engaging with external partners. WSU is fortunate to enjoy such talented students and faculty, whose ideas and capabilities can be further harnessed and deployed to benefit our community. This initiative will integrate the process of connecting Wayne State’s capabilities with partner needs, creating mutually beneficial opportunities for our students, faculty and external partners. Simply put, WSU OPEN signals that Wayne State is “open for business.”
As we previewed in the spring, this concierge-style service will deepen connections between the business and nonprofit sectors and our university resources. This work will enhance partnerships that drive internships and other workforce connections, research and service-learning collaborations, and additional resources for our university community.
WSU OPEN is a new initiative aligned with the third pillar of our Prosperity Agenda, fueling innovation and competitiveness. Through new and extended partnerships, we’ll address urban challenges and contribute to boosting economic growth to advance our community.
After months of preparation, including the realignment of our Corporate Engagement team under the Division of Entrepreneurship and Economic Development announced last May, WSU OPEN is ready to make an impact. We are also proud to announce our first partner: Michigan Central, a global hub for mobility innovation.
Together, we’ve identified 29 areas for collaboration, including the creation of a college-to-career pipeline to establish experiential learning programs with businesses, both established and emerging. Our effort marks Michigan Central’s first partnership with a university and will include Wayne State collocating on the Michigan Central campus to anchor our mutual collaboration and fully realize this opportunity.
Key initiatives include the Michigan Mobility Fellows Program, which embeds a WSU staff member within Michigan Central’s team. We will further expand opportunities in mobility careers, enhance ties with community colleges, and develop curricula supported by industry input and real-world learning experiences through the James and Patricia Anderson Ventures Institute in Wayne State’s College of Engineering and the Belinsky Entrepreneurship Learning Lab in the Mike Ilitch School of Business. We will also explore joint faculty research initiatives, facility development and use, industry workshops, and collaborative grant opportunities to drive innovation in Southeast Michigan.
When you encounter anyone interested in collaborating with Wayne State, please point them to the WSU OPEN website to initiate contact, which also showcases the full range of engagement opportunities. If you are interested in partnering externally, please contact open@wayne.edu so that the WSU OPEN team can learn more about your interests and capabilities.
Thank you for all you do in helping us make a lasting impact on our community.
Sincerely,
Dr. Kimberly Andrews Espy
President
Ned Staebler
Vice President of Entrepreneurship and Economic Development, President and CEO of TechTown Detroit
