What is EmpowerUP?

EmpowerUP’s Main Goal: To lessen social determinants of health through projects that target access, preparation, attendance, and success of post-secondary education. Recently, EmpowerUP has expanded its mission to include social innovation in the local community. EmpowerUP is a multifaceted social innovation project that informs stakeholders, improves the community, and teaches students about civic engagement. This project aims to help students in the Western Upper Peninsula prepare, apply, attend, and be successful in college. The way this project helps students is unique through each of the individual projects. Not only will this mission provide financial support, but it will also be an information hub for various resources a student may need during their academic journey.

EmpowerUP Mission: To connect students with resources that make preparation, attendance, and success possible throughout their college journeys.

EmpowerUP Vision: For every student to have the ability to find success in their post-secondary education.

EmpowerUP Background: EmpowerUP began as a student SURF summer research project called Under Resourced College Students. After that, it was integrated with MGT2000 Fall of 2021. Since then, Approximately 360 students have worked on various aspects of this project producing deliverables that inform stakeholders to improve the community of the Western Upper Peninsula.

EmpowerUP Organization: EmpowerUP is run like a business that has departments and teams. There are 4 departments and 13 teams. Although every aspect of EmpowerUP shares a common goal, each team’s work represents that goal differently. Each team is unique and has a specific goal and deliverable. Having differentiated teams allows every student to pick a team that piques their interest and allows EmpowerUP to have a greater impact. Departments consist of teams that share a more common goal and have the same project manager. Interdepartmental collaboration is essential for EmpowerUP to be successful.

What is the Team Dynamics and Decision Making Course?

As a renowned school in the nation, Michigan Tech takes pride in having the ability to expose college students to real-world situations and giving them the tools to make an actual impact while earning their degree. Many students will take team dynamics and decision-making in their second or third semester. On campus, you’ll hear this class referred to as Management 2000 (MGT2000), referring to the course number. This class is a great opportunity to get to know more classmates, the community, and what your skills and weaknesses in a team are. This course has evolved from an in-classroom experience to a course designed to teach students about civic engagement through EmpowerUP.

Departments: To ensure high-quality research, documentation, and outreach of available resources and post-secondary information, students establish 8 different teams to cover all desired information, which fall under 4 different departments. See each team page for more information about the specific scope, goal, and tasks completed by each respective team.

• Promotional Department
  • Team 1: Marketing
  • Team 2: Website
• Outreach Department
  • Team 3: TRIO Upward Bound Saturday Acedemies
  • Team 4: Planning and Paying for College Conference
  • Team 5: Tech Tutors Teaching and Mentoring
• Entrepreneurship Department
  • Team 6: Husky Innovate
  • Team 7: Collegiate Entrepreneurs Organization (CEO)
• Research Department
  • Team 8: URIP Research

Stakeholder and Funders:

From Our Mentors:

For me, EmpowerUP represents hope. Since my first year of college in 2019, I have fallen in love with Michigan Tech and the surrounding community. In that time, I have noticed great needs in the community as well as efforts to alleviate those needs. I was first introduced to EmpowerUP in the Spring of 2022 when I took MGT2000. Although when I took the class, it was not called EmpowerUP but rather under-resourced college students (URCS). Since then, we have transitioned to an uplifting name that better represents the hope in this project. -Ashley, TA/project coordinator beginning Summer 2022

EmpowerUP is an opportunity to drive change that will have positive and lasting impacts on the local community, including Michigan Tech. In the Fall of 2023, I took MGT2000 and recognized I wanted to be a part of that movement. Not only did this class provide me the opportunity to connect with the community that I will be a part of here in the Western UP for the next few years, but also learned about how I can identify needs and implement change. -Olivia, TA/project coordinator beginning Spring 2024