Contact: Russ White, University Relations: (517) 432-0923, cell (517) 256-8021, whiterus@msu.edu

Sept. 5, 2007

EAST LANSING, Mich. – Michigan State University is expanding its presence in Southeast Michigan with MSU-Detroit Partnerships, an effort to develop new university-community relationships and accelerate the pace of community-based research that focuses on economic, social and educational challenges.

MSU will host a formal welcome at the YouthVille Detroit facility, where MSU-Detroit Partnerships is based. The event will be held from 9:30 to 11:30 a.m. Thursday, Sept. 6, at 7375 Woodward Ave., Suite 1520, in Detroit’s New Center area near the Fisher Building.

“The research we conduct in these offices will encompass many different disciplines – nursing, computer science, education, business, criminal justice, psychology, and many others – providing valuable data and insight for both our faculty and our local partners,” said MSU President Lou Anna K. Simon. “Our activity also can provide insight to local business leaders as they work to strengthen the regional economy and create jobs for local residents.”

MSU rents a 3,000-square-foot suite in the same facility as YouthVille Detroit, a multiservice youth development program. The facility will serve as a central hub in the area to support research and outreach by MSU faculty and staff from any discipline and enable collaboration and partnerships to address community-identified needs in Detroit.

The YouthVille facility, located around the corner from the MSU Outreach Admissions office, is an ideal location for collaboration, networking, and research for MSU faculty, students and the residents of Detroit.

“MSU’s space in the facility is a great benefit to any faculty member interested in large urban communities,” said Linda Jackson, whose research with children and technology has involved some members of YouthVille. “I think the revitalization of the Detroit area relies on the education of its youth.”

Several programs started by MSU’s 4-H Youth Development in Detroit have expanded into the YouthVille facility. “With the economy we have in Michigan, it’s critical that students learn how to create jobs in their own communities,” said Rukeia Dasza Draw, extension educator for 4-H Youth Development in Detroit. “The financial and entrepreneurship programs being taught at YouthVille use a research-based curriculum and give young people experiential learning opportunities.”

Activities include:

• Study of how use of information technology affects children’s cognitive, social, psychological and moral development.
• MSU faculty collaborating with coaches from Think Detroit PAL, an inner city sports league, to improve coaching skills.
• Financial and entrepreneurship education program for youth ages 11-19.
• Service-learning opportunities for MSU students.
• MSU Outreach Admissions college preparation workshops and seminars with YouthVille members.

The 73,000-square-foot facility also houses tenants like United Way, Henry Ford Health Systems, Detroit Parent Network and Big Brothers Big Sisters of Metropolitan Detroit.

YouthVille Detroit is the signature project of the Detroit Youth Foundation and is designed to be the most comprehensive neighborhood youth development center in the city of Detroit, with some 1,600 members. In addition to tutoring and academic mentoring, members have access to art studios, music production studios, gym spaces, basketball courts and computer labs.

For more information on MSU-Detroit Partnerships, visit http://youthville.msu.edu/

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Michigan State University has been advancing knowledge and transforming lives through innovative teaching, research and outreach for more than 150 years. MSU is known internationally as a major public university with global reach and extraordinary impact. Its 17 degree-granting colleges attract scholars worldwide who are interested in combining education with practical problem solving.