It’s a big leap from a university classroom to a professional workspace.
With support from InvestUP — a regional economic development organization based in Marquette — Northern Michigan University is launching a new leadership and career development program to help students make that transition successfully. Its goal is to help more students finish school and find good jobs in the U.P. after they graduate, bolstering the region's population and prosperity.
When InvestUP board member Bob Mahaney, who also serves on the NMU Board of Trustees, met Shawnrece Butler, the university’s new assistant vice president for diversity and inclusion, he was impressed with her vision for retaining students and preparing them to remain in the U.P. after graduation. So he arranged for her to meet with InvestUP’s CEO, Marty Fittante, to discuss ways they could collaborate.
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InvestUPMarty Fittante“I met with Shawnrece and was equally impressed with her, as well as with the programming she wanted to implement,” Fittante says. “We shared a common interest in trying to find ways to anchor students in the region, especially expanding internship opportunities. It seemed like a win-win-win — for NMU, for the region and for the students.”
InvestUP gave Butler a $50,000 grant to launch the program, called the Wildcat Collective Leaders of Honor and Ambition. The university is recruiting the first cohort of students while Fittante works on finding businesses in the area to become program mentors. Butler is looking for an additional $1.5 million in funding to sustain the program, which will cost $110,000 a year after its start-up year.
Leaders of Honor and Ambition is a four-year program. Each year, 10 second-semester freshmen will be chosen to participate. They will start with workshops led by NMU alumni who work in local businesses. They will also participate in service projects.
Each student will be paired with a business mentor. They will meet with their mentor twice the first semester and serve a summer internship at that firm. Their summer housing and food costs will be covered. The program will also buy them professional work attire, removing any financial roadblocks to dressing appropriately for a business setting.
The students will attend workshops that will help them learn to communicate well, plan and execute projects, and work in teams. They’ll learn business etiquette and continue to meet with their mentors. Participating students will also have the opportunity to attend two live, online Dale Carnegie seminars, providing them with practical, useful tips for professional success.
Each student will continue working with their mentor until they graduate, when Butler hopes they will receive a job offer from the mentor’s firm. Those who want to do so will also have acquired the skills and established the network to start their own businesses here.
MOCHA, WOCHA
Leaders of Honor and Ambition is based on a program called Men of Color, Honor and Ambition (MOCHA), developed at the Rochester Institute of Technology by Kevin McDonald, who is now vice president for diversity, equity, inclusion and community partnerships at the University of Virginia. It was designed to help men of color succeed at the university and then in professional careers. MOCHA soon expanded to include women in WOCHA (Women of Color, Honor and Ambition). It now operates on campuses nationwide.
Butler first heard McDonald speak at a National Association of Diversity Officers in Higher Education conference.
“I was impressed that top 100 companies were flying him to their headquarters to learn about his program,” she explains. “After seeing all he's achieved at universities across the country, I knew this program would be ideally suited to the hard-working students we have at Northern who want to excel and need help closing opportunity gaps that are barriers to success.”
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Northern Michigan UniversityShawnrece ButlerSo, she approached him with her own vision for NMU students, and he helped her develop her plan for the Wildcat Collective Leaders of Honor and Ambition.
The NMU program is based on the framework of MOCHA, Butler explains. It has adopted MOCHA’s foundational pillars: ambition, achievement, integrity, service, health and wellness, and its mission and vision: “to provide personal, academic, cultural, social, professional, and leadership development to undergraduates, in an effort to positively impact academic success, increase retention and develop successful leaders of tomorrow, today.”
NMU’s program is open to all students — men and women of any race. Its goal is to create a clear pipeline from education to employment, retaining local talent to the benefit of both the students and Upper Peninsula communities, Butler says.
Students want to stay in the U.P.
“I think this will be phenomenal because I've talked to so many students who would love to stay here if there was a job waiting for them after they graduate,” says Butler. “Participants not only gain valuable career experience, but they also build lasting connections within the community. This initiative prepares students for success while fostering a more equitable and inclusive environment that strengthens the local workforce and offers huge economic, cultural and quality-of-life impacts.”
Fittante is especially excited about the program’s summer internships.
“A key feature is the integration of paid summer internship opportunities, where students can gain hands-on experience with local businesses and organizations,” he points out.
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Northern Michigan UniversityAn intern at work at Northern Michigan University.“These internships, paired with summer housing support, remove financial barriers for students, allowing them to fully engage in career-building activities during the summer months. The program's strong ties to the local community also create a pathway to keep these students here after graduating, helping to build our economy and our community, which is the priority for InvestUP.”
NMU is a member of InvestUP.
“As a regional, comprehensive university, Northern has an important role to play in helping drive economic opportunity for the region, which of course is consistent with our mission,” Fittante says. “A primary objective for InvestUP is to try to drive population growth and to address the gaps in age demographics and skill development that are challenging the region. Northern plays a lead in addressing that objective by recruiting talent to the region and providing for a vibrant community.”
Fittante calls the university’s new leadership program “a triple win” for the U.P.
“By guiding and developing stronger partnerships on-campus as well as off, we believe it will lead to better-skilled and better-connected talent for the local workforce, which in turn helps build stronger, healthier and more resilient local employers,” he explains. “The more college graduates our region can retain, the stronger, more dynamic and resilient our communities will become.”
Butler agrees.
“The students think this is an awesome opportunity,” she says. “The president, the board of trustees, the executive council—they’re all excited about it too. It aligns with Northern’s strategic plan, which is ‘partnering in place,’ meaning partnering with our local community and business leaders to strengthen and grow the workforce in the U.P. I expect the program to be competitive and our 10 slots to fill up quickly.”
Jennifer Donovan is a reporter with more than 40 years of experience on daily newspapers, magazines and university writing and editing. She is retired as director of news and media relations at Michigan Technological University and lives in Houghton.