New Academic Year Welcome

Sept. 2, 2026

Dear MSU faculty and academic staff,

I am delighted to welcome you to the start of the 2026-27 academic year! Last August, I was just beginning in my role as provost. My first year here has been enriched by so many forward-thinking opportunities and university-wide accomplishments, all of which have created amazing momentum here at MSU. Coordinated collaboration continues to advance us across our shared mission, with each of you playing a role in making that progress and innovation possible. All of you, the people of MSU, are truly our greatest strength.

The first week of classes is a busy time with many competing demands, but I want to start the year by sharing a few resources to support all you do as faculty and academic staff, along with several updates on significant initiatives that advance our academic mission. There is so much good work underway! If you don’t have time to read this entire email now, please save the message and refer to it later in the week and throughout the semester.

Resources

MSU Policies for Faculty and Academic Staff

The Important University Policies for Faculty and Academic Staff document provides information regarding university policies related to teaching, research, and employment at MSU. It is a helpful document pertaining to the ongoing work of faculty and academic staff and a useful resource to reference throughout the academic year.

MSU is home to a vibrant and multicultural community of students, faculty, and staff. We value and actively support observing days set aside by their chosen religious faith, as reflected in our Religious Observance Policy. Please make every effort to avoid scheduling exams and presentations during the major religious holidays, and to familiarize yourself with the accommodation options outlined in the policy, so you can support our students observing these major holidays.

Be sure to adhere to the full scope of MSU’s Final Examination Policy. Any deviation from the final examination schedule must be approved by the Office of the Registrar based on the recommendation of the appropriate assistant/associate dean of the college responsible for the course offering.

Educator Resources

To support teaching and learning throughout the coming year, be sure to bookmark the Center for Teaching and Learning Innovation (CTLI) Educator Resources page, featuring 18 categories of information, templates, and guidance. CTLI also recently launched the Academy for Teaching. This online, self-paced educator development program equips MSU instructors with evidence-based pedagogical practices that support effective teaching and student success at scale. The Academy is designed for instructors at every career stage, whether they are new to teaching at MSU or looking to develop and improve their teaching practice. It will be updated over time based on user feedback, with revisions to the current content and the addition of new pathways.

Updates

Modernization of General Education

I am enthusiastic to share the General Education Council’s initial design for a new general education program. The Spartan Impact Framework, a draft of a proposed model for MSU’s core curriculum, is now available on the MGE Resources SharePoint site and linked from the public Modernization of General Education website at “MGE Resources.” The framework is being developed as a coherent educational experience, distinct from the university’s other graduation requirements. The proposed model gives students meaningful agency to shape their educational experience while ensuring that their learning contributes to MSU’s revised Undergraduate Learning Goals. As the Higher Learning Commission’s 2024 peer review team observed, a revised general education program “is an important opportunity for curricular innovation.”

The model remains a draft, and many important choices have yet to be made. The General Education Council shared the initial design with the campus community on Aug. 17, which will be followed by faculty and staff feedback sessions during the week of Sept. 14. The model and an accompanying feedback form will identify the specific elements on which the Council is seeking guidance. I encourage you to review the proposal, participate in a session, and share your feedback. What we learn from the campus community this fall will directly inform the next iteration of the program before it advances through academic governance.

One Team, One Health

Michigan State is uniquely positioned to lead and shape the future of health sciences through integration and collaboration. One Team, One Health (OTOH), a university-wide platform connecting human, animal, and environmental health, is grounded in our land-grant mission to deliver real-world impact. It will harness our R1 research excellence, enhance cross-college collaboration, focus on sustainable and integrated initiatives, and position MSU as a national leader in advancing health solutions.

Coordinated work in support of our OTOH initiative, which provides a unique opportunity to think boldly about the future of health sciences at MSU, continues across all three areas: the One Health Research Network, MSU Medicine, and the College of Health Sciences. We are at different points in each of these efforts. The Research Network is moving into implementation; MSU Medicine is moving into its formal planning and engagement phase, and the College of Health Sciences is at a point where we need to make sure we have the right information before we move forward.

As I shared in yesterday’s Steering Committee meeting, a new position is being created to support the OTOH strategy. The new vice provost and assistant vice president will report jointly to the president and provost and will lead the creation of MSU Medicine and the new College of Health Sciences. This role will be instrumental in advancing a sustained OTOH strategy and strengthening collaboration across the university’s health sciences enterprise, providing institutional strategy, unification, and collaborative leadership that spans the university. The position is separate from the executive dean of MSU Medicine and does not replace, supervise, or duplicate the executive dean’s academic authority. This distinction is essential to effective governance and to preserving the integrity of MSU’s separately accredited MD and DO programs.

One Health Research Network

The work of the One Health Research Network began with the One Health Task Force, which delivered its recommendations in December 2025. This March, President Guskiewicz communicated MSU’s commitment to creating a One Health Research Network. From March through May, we moved into a focused research sprint – a time-limited process designed to surface faculty expertise, ideas, and opportunities across the university related to One Health. That included theme-mapping workshops and subsequent work to refine those themes. That process culminated in the June Research Summit, where faculty and research leaders came together and identified five research pathways that can serve as the Network’s foundation. We have now moved from defining the concept of the Network to beginning to operationalize it.

Several important next steps are underway. First, the national search for an Associate Vice President for Health Sciences is in its final stages. That leadership role will be important to the continued development of the Network and our broader health sciences strategy. Second, we are working to secure seed funding to support projects within each of the five thematic areas. The intent is to move these ideas from identified opportunities into actual collaborative research activity. And finally, we want to make sure we continue communicating with faculty about where this work is headed.

MSU Medicine

The work to unify the College of Human Medicine and the College of Osteopathic Medicine into MSU Medicine continues, empowering our medical enterprise to expand impact across education, research, and patient care. In April, the Board of Trustees approved the creation of MSU Medicine, bringing us from a concept that had been under discussion to an approved institutional initiative. In May, we established the MSU Medicine Implementation Committee to provide strategic oversight and help guide the transition. And just this month, we launched the self-nomination process for the working groups that will do much of the detailed work associated with implementation. We are thankful for the 350 individuals who self-nominated.

We are now moving from establishing the structure to engaging the people who will help shape the work. In September, we will formally kick off the work with the Implementation Committee and the working groups. That will be an important milestone, moving us into the substantive implementation phase.

First, we want to partner closely with Academic Governance to co-create a roadmap for stakeholder engagement. We want to ensure that faculty, staff, students, and other stakeholders have meaningful opportunities to understand the work, provide input, and help shape the future of MSU Medicine. Second, we want to engage faculty directly to understand the most effective ways for the working groups and the Implementation Committee to interact, communicate, and share information. Given the scope and complexity of this work, establishing the right communication and engagement model early will be important. Our goal is to create a process that is transparent, inclusive, and productive – one that allows us to move the work forward while ensuring the right voices are at the table.

College of Health Sciences

This work also grew out of the Health Sciences Task Force, which delivered its recommendations in December 2025. In March 2026, President Guskiewicz communicated MSU’s intent to create the College of Health Sciences (CHS). At that time, we also communicated that the College of Nursing would continue to be evaluated for potential inclusion in the new college, and that additional information and analysis would be needed before determining the appropriate structure and scope.

Work in support of creating CHS was intentionally paused over the summer, while most faculty members were away from campus. The intent remains to develop a College of Health Sciences, ensuring the next phase is informed by the right information and that we are thoughtful about the implications for the colleges and programs involved. As we think about restarting this work, one of the questions we are considering is what information we need to collect and what conversations need to happen before we can move into a more defined planning process.

The vision is for the new CHS to reflect the growing alignment of core competencies and the interdisciplinary collaboration that prepares our graduates for critical health science roles in today’s health care environment. By reimagining our structure and expanding learning opportunities, we can better position the university to meet high-demand workforce needs and offer new educational pathways for students.

Our next step is to build out an inclusive team to begin planning for continued conversations around the college. That team will help us identify the questions to answer, the information we need to gather, and the stakeholders to engage as we move into the next phase. At this point, we are intentionally not jumping ahead to a defined structure. We want the continued planning and conversations to help inform what the college should look like and how it can best support MSU’s broader health sciences strategy.

AI-Ready Spartans

One of several recent initiatives supporting MSU’s broader AI educational efforts, the AI-Ready Spartans: Education Innovation Grants Challenge, invited faculty and academic partners to design transformative learning experiences to prepare every Spartan to lead confidently in an AI-driven world. A total of 38 proposals were submitted across three funding categories. Eighteen projects were awarded and are currently in the design and implementation phase.

The strategic impact of these projects spans three areas: AI Literacy, expanding opportunities for Spartans to graduate with the confidence and fundamental understanding to work responsibly and effectively with AI; Workforce Readiness, enabling students to gain in-demand, hands-on AI skills; and Disciplinary Innovation, with faculty transforming teaching, learning, and research across every discipline and field. Visit the MSU AI website to explore the full list of awarded projects.

Career-Connected Spartans

Career-Connected Spartans aims to provide 100% of undergraduates with meaningful opportunities to explore careers and gain practical experience while developing the skills, confidence, and clarity needed to launch successfully into the workforce. A career readiness survey of MSU students, faculty, staff, and leadership – as well as a review of data – have been completed. Results confirm that while we are operating from a position of strength, there are opportunities to improve access and coherence. We are now looking to build a stronger foundation across our academic and co-curricular systems, to help increase access and foster greater coherence.

Summer and fall milestones for this initiative include the first large-scale instructor and student pilot of digital experiential learning tools in the classroom, the launch of an enhanced in-person New Student Orientation pilot, the kick-off of Work+ Pilot supervisor training, and the initial rollout of the Spartan Experience Record 2.0.

Budget Model Redesign

The Budget Model Redesign (BMR) project, a key effort in assuring responsible and sustainable financial stewardship, continues to move forward, with the new budget model’s “shadow year” launched on July 1, 2026. While we are not expecting units to maintain the shadow budget, each college is being provided with a tool that outlines how the new model would have impacted FY27 funding, for use in forward-facing analysis and understanding. We have met individually with deans and MAU fiscal officers to discuss these impacts. Questions raised and feedback provided throughout these meetings have been valuable in identifying areas for refinement in the model.

Throughout our work on this project, what has stood out to me most is the process, more than the model itself. The process’ deliberate attention to inclusion, shared governance, engagement with key partners, and cross-unit collaboration continues to impress me – and to inspire confidence in this consequential work. We will continue to provide updates and information on the BMR project website as we navigate the FY27 shadow year, prepare for implementation in FY28, and look toward future phases.

Credit for Prior Learning

As part of MSU’s MiLEAP Transfer Student Success Initiative, we are implementing a new Undergraduate Credit for Prior Learning policy. MSU has long recognized and awarded many forms of credit for prior learning. The new policy provides a consistent framework for colleges and departments to review, develop, and approve additional opportunities for students, while maintaining faculty and academic staff’s central role in the process. The policy supports our commitment to student success by helping students reduce costs, accelerate degree completion, and access new pathways to academic achievement.

Jenison Fund

The Office of the President, in partnership with the Office of the Provost and the Office of Research and Innovation, is again inviting proposals for graduate student and faculty research continuity support. The Jenison Fund Career and Research Continuity Support initiative, now in its second year, is designed to help offset specific funding disruptions due to executive orders, grant cancellations, stop-work orders, and grant review delays resulting from a government shutdown. It provides strategic, targeted, time-limited assistance to graduate students nearing degree completion and to faculty experiencing disruptions in research funding.

A total of up to $5 million annually is available through the Jenison Fund to support eligible requests across four funding categories: 1) Graduate Student Completion Grants, 2) Pre-Tenure Faculty Retooling Grants, 3) Project Pause/Completion Grants, and 4) Bridge Funding for Sustained Research Programs. Call for proposal details, criteria, and submission instructions are available at msu.smapply.io/prog/jenison-fund. The next application deadline is Nov. 9, and funding decisions will be announced in early December.

Undergraduate Course Scheduling Reform

The Undergraduate Course Scheduling Reform initiative is a university-wide effort to strengthen one of MSU’s most important academic and operational processes. Because course scheduling influences classroom utilization, advising, faculty workload, student success, and resource planning, the project is working to create a more consistent, data-informed, and sustainable approach across the institution. Teams have begun refining scheduling policies, improving access to scheduling data, and evaluating opportunities to strengthen the frameworks that guide course planning and management. This work will help ensure that MSU’s academic resources are used effectively in support of our strategic priorities and the success of our students, faculty, and staff. MSU faculty and staff may already notice changes to scheduling processes this fall.

Spartan Success Center

The Spartan Success Center will be a hub of student support, bringing together resources from across campus to improve access and drive student success. In April 2026, the MSU Board of Trustees approved the project coming to Suite 150 in the Hannah Administration Building, with plans to welcome students into the space in January 2027. The redesigned, first-floor space will support meaningful student engagement and house a wide range of academic, belonging, and well-being services, including advising, strategic retention, success coaching, career services, tutoring, academic success workshops, and more, all in one central campus location. The Spartan Success Center is being designed to support the whole student – academically, personally, and professionally – while fostering a sense of belonging and community that contributes to retention and graduation.

Moving Our Momentum Forward

During my first year as provost, I’ve seen MSU embrace opportunities and challenges with confidence and optimism. Together, with coordinated collaboration across the entire Spartan community, we are working to position Michigan State University for continued success, growth, and innovation across our mission. As we sustain the momentum of these forward-thinking initiatives – and of many additional initiatives at various stages in their progress – I am constantly reminded that all of you, our outstanding faculty and academic staff, sustain our mission and propel our aspirations.

I am grateful for all you do to advance academic excellence and student success here at MSU, and I look forward to continuing to work alongside you in support of our great university. Best wishes for a productive and rewarding semester, and a wonderful academic year ahead.

Warmly,

Laura Lee McIntyre, Ph.D.
Provost and Executive Vice President for Academic Affairs
MSU Research Foundation Distinguished Professor
Department of Counseling, Educational Psychology, and Special Education