The Third 90 Network provides opportunities for urban high school students to participate directly (alongside Michigan Colleges Alliance college students and faculty) in hands-on field and lab work in environmental science.  This early engagement program prepares students to enter and complete college by giving them a more realistic view of college-level work, cultivates interest in science and conservation, and introduces students to the distinctive brand of higher education available at MCA institutions.

The Independent Innovators Network builds on MCA’s highly successful Innovation Scholarship program by creating a unique, statewide network of undergraduate entrepreneurial scholars to stimulate a flow of new product and business ideas in Michigan.  IIN is a scholarship competition encouraging collegiate entrepreneurialism.  Students submit proposals for business ventures and are connected to statewide leaders and fellow students from across the network for mentoring and networking opportunities.  Business plan submissions are reviewed by a committee of scholarship donors, academic leaders, and partner entrepreneurial organizations.

In partnership with the Washington, D.C.-based Education Design Lab, MCA piloted a new digital badge (micro-credential) critical thinking skills.  Aquinas College, Hope College, and Andrews University have participated in a cutting-edge program in which campus and corporate teams codified and tested student skills in applying critical analysis, a hallmark of MCA schools, to real-life situations out of the classroom.  Since the pilot, additional badges in Intercultural Fluency and Design Thinking have been developed and implemented on MCA member campuses.

In a collaboration with Google and Steelcase, MCA led the development of a course share pilot program with three member campuses (Albion College, Alma College, and Calvin University).  Through smart classrooms on each campus (equipped with Google video conferencing, digital whiteboard technology, and state-of-the-art room design and furniture), campuses in different geographic locations cross-register students in “real time” classroom settings, resulting in newly expanded course offerings and cost efficiencies.

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MCA and Harvard Business School are collaborating on a new venture to broaden business and career education for MCA students from all majors. Working with Harvard’s online digital learning program, “blended instruction” is being offered at Adrian College, Albion College, Andrews University, Aquinas College and Siena Heights University, leveraging content from Harvard Business School Online courses augmented by experiences and instruction overseen by MCA professors. Harvard faculty also are engaged in designing and supporting new MCA courses using this format.

Utilizing the expertise of the faculty on MCA member campuses, MCA has served as a connector and project manager for consulting projects partnering Michigan corporations with campus faculty and teams of high-performing students.  Past project work has included the development of a global leadership development program, a project management challenge, data analysis on roadway safety, a feasibility study for real estate development, and the development of an app for criminal sentencing.

The MCA Professional Ethics Certification offers formal training in ethics to prepare students to meet challenges faced in the workplace.  Participating students gain foundational knowledge through coursework in major ethical theories.  Applied ethics coursework follows in the student’s specialized focus area.  The final certificate component is a case study.  A committee of professionals in the student’s focus area will design a real-world ethical scenario to which the student will respond through a written analysis.

For many years, Stryker Corporation hosted a high-profile student engineering competition. Invited campuses include such notable engineering schools as the University of Notre Dame, Purdue University, University of Michigan, Michigan Tech, and Michigan State University. Beginning in 2015, MCA joined the competition, with a team comprised of students from Hope College, Calvin University, the University of Detroit Mercy, and Andrews University. “Team MCA” excelled in the program from the outset, finishing as runner-up in two of the past four years and in 2019, took home first place!

The Talent Assessment Project is a study conducted by MCA that gathered Michigan employer insights to ensure the alignment of student preparation with the future skills, qualities, experiences and characteristics businesses need to support growth and economic recovery in the State of Michigan.

Think Michigan is a state-wide marketing campaign designed to promote Detroit, Grand Rapids and Lansing areas (Michigan’s three major metro areas) to emerging college graduates on the brink of making “place” decisions. The campaign included steady messaging (both traditional and electronic) and reached students through on-campus programs and city-based events and activities. It communicated living and work options offered in Detroit, Grand Rapids and Lansing to help attract and retain MCA graduates.

Keeping College Graduates in Michigan is a study conducted by MCA to capture students’ perceptions of the quality of life and work offered in Michigan and its three metro areas – Detroit, Grand Rapids, and Lansing.  It reflected students’ quality of life expectations and preferences for Michigan careers.  Data from this survey was used to inform the Think Michigan campaign.

Since 2013, MCA’s annual Mackinac Roundtable on Talent has brought together higher education and corporate leaders in an “Aspen Institute” setting to exchange ideas and build partnerships to prepare MCA students for success in the 21st-century workplace. Held at the iconic Grand Hotel on Mackinac Island, the 2024 Mackinac Roundtable on Talent included more than 100 college and university presidents and a host of senior talent corporate leaders from some 36 states.

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The MCA Concierge Candidate Search is an exclusive, one-stop recruiting link to 15 excellent four-year colleges and universities. The program provides access and selection support for high-potential full-time employees, interns, and project teams in areas of immediate need to our corporate partners.  With its 75-year consortia relationship with its member institutions, MCA identifies and engages talent, often working directly with faculty who teach and mentor students, as well as a range of campus organizations, for the benefit of Michigan companies.

A multi-disciplinary student cooperative education program, the Cooperative Learning Collaborative (CLC) is a collaboration of MCA institutions, signature employers, non-profit organizations, campus faculty, and students.  The program facilitates student career readiness with a unique format, while supporting talent pipelines for partner employers.  A scaffolded approach over two academic sessions provides students with real-world work experience, leadership development, and professional mentoring, while participating employers have early access to top talent and faculty-guided projects to support their organizations.

The Virtual Executive-in-Residence program brings to member campuses (via Zoom and other virtual platforms) leading business executives from throughout the state and region to conduct advanced student primers on a variety of business topics.  Practical insights on timely topics across all business functions, such as finance, human resources, marketing, information services, and productivity skills are featured.  Most modules are case-driven and take place over both single or multiple sessions.  Visiting executives are selected based on their level of management experience and expertise on featured topics, identified through trustee, campus, and corporate partner referrals.

The Michigan Campus Community Challenge (M-C3) is a student entrepreneurial scholarship competition that incorporates real-world, project-based learning into student experiences at MCA member colleges and universities.  The entrepreneurial competition challenges students to develop and present a business plan to 1) improve a local community in the state and/or create positive social change, 2) solve a problem or address an opportunity for a Michigan organization or business, or 3) develop a new product or service idea.  Students pitch their ideas to a committee of Michigan business leaders with the chance to earn scholarship and implementation funds.

The Professional Distinction Certification is a robust, industry-recognized student credential in key areas of Michigan talent needs.  In their junior or senior years, students take three core courses offered at their home institutions in topic-related subjects.  Each course is supplemented by credit-bearing directed study in a selected field (e.g. Manufacturing Management, AI in the Workplace, and the like), led by practicing professionals.  A CLC-type internship experience takes place in the summer of students’ junior year, followed by an employer defined real-world project and capstone exercise in the senior year.  All supplemental work is academic credit bearing (18 credits in total).  Upon graduation, students earn a Professional Distinction from their home school and are prepared for immediate employment in the field studied.

The Kalamazoo Math and Science Institute (KMSI) is a partnership between MCA, The Kalamazoo Promise and the Kalamazoo Public School system (KPS).  KMSI, held each summer with KPS rising ninth graders, is an innovative experiential learning program designed to develop proficiency in algebra and biology, two key indicators of student success.  KMSI builds on MCA’s decade long and proven experience in environmental education and leverages distinctive expertise from MCA faculty.