How College Advisers Impact the Next Generation of Students | Diversity, Equity & Inclusion

“We have hundreds of kids that wouldn’t have gone to college, wouldn’t have reached their fullest potential without [MCAC],” says Bob Zwiers, a teacher at Holland High School.

For the 2023-2024 school year, the Michigan College Advising Corps (MCAC)—a college outreach program—placed 17 recent University of Michigan graduates as full-time, paid college advisers at 17 under-resourced high schools across the state, serving more than 2,200 students.

The program’s mission is clear: inform students of their options for post-secondary education, actively engage families as they navigate the college application and financial aid processes, and inspire communities to continue fortifying their college-bound ethos.

An **MCAC adviser gives a tour of U-M to high school students.**

This work is needed now more than ever.

“Fewer students are going to college. It’s not a good thing for the economy or the state,” says Celina Flegal, LSA ‘15, a former MCAC adviser and current admissions and enrollment coordinator & international admissions recruiter at Grand Rapids Community College.

Flegal is not exaggerating. Today, the state’s Sixty by 30 goal—that 60% of working-age adults will have a college degree or skill certificate by 2030—is not attainable. Michigan ranks 41st in college enrollment, with only 53% of high school graduates attending college, down from 66% just 10 years ago, mirroring a nationwide trend. Meanwhile, the workforce needs college-educated workers more than ever. According to the Detroit Regional Chamber and the U.S. Department of Education, by 2027, 70% of jobs will require education beyond high school. To help navigate complex college applications and secure scholarships and financial aid, schools and families rely on their MCAC adviser.

What is MCAC?

In 2009, the Michigan College Advising Corps began as a direct-service program at the Center for Educational Outreach. In 2010, it launched in eight schools with eight advisers. Since its inception, more than 115 advisers have served more than 25,000 students.

**MCAC advisers, including Greta Kruse, during a training at U-M.**

Part of AmeriCorps, MCAC advisers make a one- to two-year commitment to work at underserved schools across the state—from Ypsilanti to Southfield, Southwest Detroit to Pontiac, Flint to Battle Creek, Grand Rapids to Jackson—often as the only college or guidance counselor in the building. In addition to a mandatory four-week training on the U-M Ann Arbor campus prior to the start of the school year, advisors have weekly remote training sessions, professional development, and an opportunity to attend national conferences with fellow outreach professionals. Upon completing 1,700 hours of service—one year as an adviser—they also receive a Segal AmeriCorps Education Award of $7,395 to help pay for college, graduate school, vocational training, or to repay student loans.

By operating on a near-peer model, advisers share their recent experiences as college students with high school students who may not come from a community with a strong college-going culture, encouraging students to consider the myriad educational options available after high school.

“One of the core elements of the college advising corps program that makes this program unique is that our advisers are tasked with developing and executing an individualized post-secondary plan with each high school senior enrolled at their high school site placement. This provides an opportunity for our college advising team to provide the necessary information and access to these pathways while also centering the student’s and family’s voice throughout the process,” describes Michael Turner, CEO’s associate director of K-12 partnerships and MCAC program director.

Adviser Impact

“There didn’t seem to be much conversation or focus around what happened after high school,” recalls former adviser Alexa Lynch, and current project manager for U-M’s Intend to Attend, when she arrived at Lansing’s J.W. Sexton High School in 2015.

During her second year as an adviser, every member of Sexton’s senior class applied to college, which, she recounts, “hadn’t really been a thing at Sexton before.” The class also received nearly $2 million in institutional aid scholarships.

Lynch describes much of her work as “demystifying” the preconceptions around what college was. “A lot of students only viewed college as a four-year [option]…sharing knowledge about community college, vocational, tech and trade [schools], in addition to four-year colleges, [and] financial support,” occupied much of the initial conversations between advisers and students.

The near-peer model has additional benefits, says Amber Williams, LSA ‘10, MSW ’16, PhD candidate School of Education, who worked as an MCAC adviser at Benton Harbor High School from 2010-2012, a school that she says was “committed to black student college access.”

As a recent U-M grad with a background similar to many Benton Harbor students, “I was able to communicate in an [authentic] way, beyond the material, tangible things, the real benefits of college. And I can share that from a place of experience, leadership, connecting with others, and having a variety of experiences that add to my life. That felt like the real message: ‘Who do you want to be?’”

“I was able to communicate in an [authentic] way, beyond the material, tangible things, the real benefits of college.

Amber Williams

Within the school setting, MCAC advisers complement professional counseling staff, serving as students’ advocates, mentors and liaisons. Advisers facilitate programming throughout the year to guide students through college-going processes—such as college applications, FAFSA submission, and scholarships—and one-on-one meetings with students and families to ensure that post-secondary decisions are made with all parties in mind.

“A student can go into your office and fill out forms to appease you, but if you take the time to get to know them and cultivate a genuine relationship, they’ll come to you for help and [you’ll] be someone the students can turn to,” says Greta Kruse, LSA ‘22, who was an adviser at J.W. Sexton High School from 2022-2024.

Success Rates

The model is clearly working. At MCAC schools, 92% of students met with an advisor, 81% submitted at least one college application, and 59% completed their FAFSA, far outpacing national College Advising Corps averages (32%, 27%, and 13%, respectively). Each of these successes represents a student who may not have considered college as an option but now has the guidance and resources to pursue it. Since 2017, students at MCAC schools have earned approximately 10,000 college acceptances.

“The work we embarked upon was simple yet groundbreaking in Michigan. The recipe was simple—give counselors the support they need to help students plan for their future. Over the 14 years that the program has existed, U-M graduates have helped thousands of high school students go to college and pursue great careers,” says MCAC inaugural director Christopher Rutherford.

This is Michigan | Inspiring College Plans

Integrity. Respect. Inclusion. Equity. Diversity. Innovation.

These six words represent the values that the University of Michigan adopted in 2023 as the foundation of its culture. These values are more than just words—they are a commitment to creating an environment of trust, where everyone can strive toward their fullest potential. As highlighted on the Culture Journey website, these core values define who we are, shape our purpose, and serve as our guide for decisions, actions and relationships within the University.

What is perhaps most notable about those six guiding values is that three of them overlap with pivotal work that the University has prioritized since 2016, when it created the Office of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion and implemented the DEI Strategic Plan.

Diversity, equity and inclusion are intrinsically linked to the University of Michigan’s core values, and it has never been more apparent than in how it aligns with the Culture Journey.

“We wanted to make sure the values reflected what the community thought as a whole,” says Krista Stelmaszek, a performance consultant for Organizational Learning (OL) and a member of the Culture Journey team. “[They utilized] polling, town halls, community forums and focus groups to gauge what people felt U-M should be valuing. Diversity, equity and inclusion rose to the top.”

“DEI kept coming up. Should DEI be a single value, or should they be separate entities?” notes Lynn Carruthers, senior marketing communications specialist for Organizational Learning and the Culture Journey. “The response was they should be separated and looked at individually.”

Both Carruthers and Stelmaszek credit the foundation and infrastructure from the first DEI Strategic Plan—DEI 1.0 (which ran from 2016-2022)—as creating the groundwork upon which these values can live.

DEI 1.0 gives us this roadmap—we’ve created an infrastructure for change…I think it says a lot about the organization’s commitment that [DEI] showed up as our values.

Krista Stelmaszek

“Would people have been so insistent about having those three words as our values? I think it says a lot about the organization’s commitment [to DEI] that those showed up as our values,” says Stelmaszek. “DEI 1.0 gives us this roadmap—we’ve created an infrastructure for change. How can we either model that or partner with that to make this culture change effort stick?”

Like the commitment to diversity, equity and inclusion, the Culture Journey began as a presidential initiative (with presidents Schlissel and Ono, respectively), signaling a long-term commitment to imbuing the entire U-M ecosystem with these values. Additionally, Vision 2034, another presidential initiative, uses these values in its framing, and Student Life has had a set of values in place that are closely related. Culture Journey has since been absorbed by Organizational Living, “weaving it into the fabric of everything we do here,” says Carruthers.

Currently in the socialization phase, the team recognizes that ingraining these values across the vast U-M network will take time. This effort is about more than just awareness—it’s about fostering a deep, shared understanding that transforms the university culture over time. Lightpole banners across campus that list the Culture Journey values on one side and DEI 2.0’s goals on the other are one example and one that continues to show the interconnectedness and synergy of DEI initiatives and the Culture Journey. These banners serve as a daily reminder of the university’s commitment to these principles, ensuring they remain at the forefront of the community’s minds.

Additional tools include educational resources on the Organizational Learning website, leadership development programs, a series of regular podcasts, a Culture Journey listserv, and the upcoming implementation of quarterly values, which is scheduled to begin in early 2025.

Reflects Stelmaszek about the work ahead, “a vision is somewhere you want to be. The values are the compass to get you there.”

To learn more about the impact of U-M’s culture journey, visit culturejourney.umich.edu.

The University of Michigan has launched a new program designed to establish equitable, sustainable and mutually beneficial research collaborations with minority-serving institutions.

The program aims to enhance faculty research capabilities while reinforcing the university’s role as a leader in fostering equity and excellence through strategic partnerships.

In an effort to engage with the evolving priorities of federal funders, who are increasingly emphasizing collaborations with MSIs, the initiative is committed to help faculty build meaningful relationships with MSI partners.

The program, inspired by President Santa J. Ono’s Strategy to Amplify Research and Scholarship, creates new opportunities for U-M researchers to pursue groundbreaking research.

“At the University of Michigan, we believe in the power of collaboration to propel innovative research,” said Arthur Lupia, interim vice president for research and innovation. “With the establishment of the MSI Partnerships team, we are cultivating a community that amplifies diverse perspectives and fortifies the societal impact of our research.”

A critical component of the strategy is the formation of a specialized team dedicated to serving researchers at U-M’s Dearborn, Flint and Ann Arbor campuses. This team will facilitate essential support functions, including matchmaking, responsive team building, proposal assistance and community empowerment.

“This initiative lies at the core of our vision for inclusive excellence at U-M,” said Trachette Jackson, University Diversity and Social Transformation Professor, professor of mathematics in LSA and associate vice president for research-DEI initiatives.

“Through strong ties with MSIs, we are expanding the scope of research opportunities and creating a fertile environment where diversity underpins the very essence of groundbreaking research, scholarship and creative practice.”

Employing a “triple helix” approach with three strands of action — cultivate, activate and advocate — the MSI Partnerships initiative aims to invigorate research collaborations.

The cultivation phase focuses on establishing MSI relationships centered on equity in research partnerships. The activation phase leverages institutional data to spark new connections among researchers. Success will be measured by the quantity and quality of partnerships, their influence on research funding and the depth of relationships established.

“As this ambitious program nears its rollout, U-M aspires to set a standard that prioritizes opportunity creation and equitable partnerships at every stage of the research enterprise. In doing so, U-M continues to position itself at the forefront of academic innovation,” Lupia said.