National Center for the Study of University Engagement - People - Veterans and Alumni

Emeriti

• Robert L. Church
• Vice Provost Emeritus, University Outreach
• Professor Emeritus, Department of Educational Administration
• E-Mail: rchurch@msu.edu
• Robert L. Church, Ph.D., is a University Outreach and Engagement senior fellow, professor emeritus of educational administration, and vice provost emeritus for university outreach. He continues his participation on the team that is developing, testing, and implementing a series of strategies for measuring and assessing the university's success in sharing its knowledge resources with off-campus organizations in ways that benefit the citizens of Michigan. He is particularly interested in advancing our understanding of how scholars from various academic traditions understand their outreach responsibilities and integrate that outreach work with their on-campus research and teaching responsibilities. This work is part of UOE's effort to encourage greater faculty involvement with communities in Michigan. Church holds a Ph.D. from Harvard University in the history of American civilization.
• Diane L. Zimmerman
• Director Emeritus, National Center for the Study of University Engagement
• E-Mail: zimmerdl@msu.edu
• Diane L. Zimmerman, Ph.D., is the director emeritus of the National Center for the Study of University Engagement. Her primary interest areas are higher education policy and administration, communication strategies, and outreach and engagement evaluation and measurement. Zimmerman has participated with the decade-long conversations and presentations on evaluating and measuring scholarly outreach. She served as a team member and editor of Points of Distinction: A Guidebook for Planning & Evaluating Quality Outreach; co-authored, with Robert L. Church and Burton A. Bargerstock, "Measuring Scholarly Outreach at Michigan State University--Definition, Challenges, Tools"; and wrote, with Peter McPherson, Robert Church, and Nancy Pogel, a chapter entitled, "Real-World, Practical Learning: Developing a Comprehensive Model in the Land-Grant Tradition, Michigan State University," in Learning to Serve (2002). She leads the initiative that is developing and implementing the Outreach & Engagement Measurement Instrument to collect information on faculty-based outreach activity. She is co-principal investigator of the evaluation of a K-12 philanthropy curriculum. In the past two years, she has given direction to the development of the MSU Usability & Accessibility Center, and she gives overall leadership to various Web development initiatives. Prior to coming to MSU in 1991, Zimmerman held administrative and faculty positions in small private colleges and editorial positions in publishing. She holds a Ph.D. in higher education administration from Michigan State University.

Staff

• Vivek Joshi
• Data Resource Analyst
• Kirk S. Riley
• Academic Specialist, Outreach Administration
• Executive Director, Information Technology Empowerment Center
• E-Mail: rileyki@msu.edu | Vita
• Kirk S. Riley is an academic specialist at University Outreach and Engagement (UOE) and the Executive Director of the Information Technology Empowerment Center (ITEC), Lansing, MI. The center—a non-profit that operates under a Board of Directors composed of academic, governmental, school district, and private sector partners—seeks to strengthen K-12 learning in science, technology, engineering, and math. ITEC operates in the former Holmes Street Elementary School in Lansing. At UOE, Riley's primary interests are formulating and applying methods for the study of university engagement, promoting scholarly approaches to the practice of engagement, and engaging university faculty in outreach. He participates as a member of the National Center for the Study of University Engagement and began employment in UOE in January 2006. Riley is a Fellow in the Center for Water Sciences at MSU and Member of the Outreach Advisory Board for the Great Lakes Environmental and Molecular Science Center, at Western Michigan University. He lectures on risk communication and public involvement in environmental decision making at MSU. Riley has a master's degree in resource development from Michigan State University.

Students

• Angela Allen
• Graduate Research Assistant