MSU’s campus is packed throughout the academic year with more than 40,000 students, but during the summer MSU is host to a younger generation of possible Spartans.
This summer alone more than 200 groups and 50,000 people will participate in programs ranging from fashion design to video game design, MSU spokesperson Jason Cody said via email.
With thousands of children participating in MSU’s camps, the campus can still seem just as crowded as students see it during the academic year.
To accommodate for the influx, multiple university departments coordinate housing, dining and other resources, Ashley Chaney, assistant director of communication for Residence Education and Housing Services, said. Chaney described this effort as “all hands on deck operation.”
The end goal of all this additional labor during MSU’s academic slow season is to get children interested in learning and MSU, associate provost for University Outreach and Engagement Hiram Fitzgerald said.
Why MSU Does it
“The more we can get young children interested in the things we do here and who might want to come here, or any place of higher education, that’s the payoff,” Fitzgerald said.
Francisco Villarruel, University Outreach and Engagement coordinator for the College of Social Science, said each college at MSU develops programs based on the objectives that college has for their camps.
“This becomes an intellectual exploration,” Villarruel said. “These summer camps can promote learning and long-term professional aspirations.”
Villarruel said many programs are trying to generate childrens’ interest in the STEM disciplines by allowing them to learn in a hands-on way.
“The intent is to introduce kids to campus, enhance their skills and have them participate in positive activities and experiences,” Fitzgerald said, adding that there are many sports and academic camps offered which involve fun, learning activities.
These opportunities provide families a chance to spend time together and create fun and collaborative learning environments, Villarruel said.
Fitzgerald said MSU hosts many of the programs, but groups such as Odyssey of the Mind, Boy Scouts of America and the Science Olympiad are also held at MSU.
“We are fortunate at MSU that we have outreach and engagement that brings faculty together with the community,” Villarruel said.
Bringing together the community and faculty is what makes MSU’s summer programs unique, Villarruel said. One exemplary program, he said, is Grandparents University, which was held on campus from June 30 to July 2.
Grandparents University
“We’re celebrating the (10-year) anniversary of a program that brings grandparents and grandchildren together, an opportunity for them to truly spend time together and to also introduce them to Michigan State University,” MSU Alumni Association associate director Sue Petrisin said.
“It’s excellent,” East Lansing resident Gale Schiamberg, who attended with her twin granddaughters, said. “If you’re a grandparent ... you should be here.”
MSU Alumni Association program and event coordinator Amy Carnahan said they sold out this year, with 1,200 participants, and the program continues to grow.
“It’s a two-night, three-day intergenerational experience,” Carnahan said. “We have it to bring them together, so they get the full college experience.”
Chicago resident Ruby Werber, 8, who was at the program with her grandmother, didn’t think she would like the program at first, but she said it was great and she wants to go to MSU when she’s older.
“My dad used to live in the dorm that we were, that we are in right now, and my grandma went here,” Werber said.
Petrisin said the participants are the only ones living and eating in Holmes Hall and McDonel Hall during the event, although they have classes all over campus.
“We work with Lyman Briggs, we work with Engineering, we work with Culinary, (and) Education; everyone across campus we partner with to bring this together,” Carnahan said.
Carnahan said there were 177 classes offered this year and Petrisin added the participants signed up for evening activities as well.
“Tonight I’m going to do a science theater and then tomorrow I’m going to do something about the night sky and that’s going to be interesting,” said Werber, who also participated in pizza making and acting classes.
Effect on MSU Students
Though these programs are meant to benefit the kids, they can be a headache for some trying to make their way across campus or relax on a quiet campus.
Culinary Services communications manager Jenna Brown said via email that these programs can help offset school year costs.
“The events attract business and help to spread out the operating costs over the course of the year, easing the financial burden placed on students,” Brown said via email.
The summer business helps keep university operating costs down, including room and board rates for students, Brown said.
Fitzgerald maintains that these programs are also good for MSU students because they offer the opportunity for students to work in these programs.
English junior Kelsey Reitzloff said the influx of outreach program participants can make campus travels more complicated.
“There (are) more people than I expected there to be, and then sometimes it’s kind of hard to get around,” Reitzloff said.
Reitzloff, who is a Service Center representative at MSU, works the front desk in residence halls and sometimes the check-in desk for sports camps.
“There’s obviously a lot of responsibility that just goes with making sure that they enjoy campus for their first time,” she said.
She said although the programs are fun, the extra people can cause the campus to be overcrowded.
“Every way I looked there was a different tour going on,” Reitzloff said. “It was very congested and I had to walk behind them and that was a little annoying.”
Food and board
Although there are only two residence halls open to MSU students in the summer — Owen and Bailey — Housing Services is busy preparing dorms to house summer camp participants, Chaney said.
To be as efficient as possible, they rotate between what halls are used and the dorms are kept fully operational while groups are resident.
Because resources vary between groups, some additions are made to the halls, Chaney said. For example, Wilson Hall, where games have been set up in the lobby for the sports groups coming through.
Although Housing Services ensures everything runs smoothly in the dorms, Chaney said another part of their job is to make sure MSU creates a good first impression on people.
“We really want to make sure they have an outstanding Spartan experience,” Chaney said. “A lot of people come here for the first time for a camp or conference and decide to go to MSU based on that experience.”
With 50,000 guests running around MSU during the summer, they’re going to need somewhere to eat.
Brown said MSU keeps a few dining halls open during the summer to serve on-campus students, faculty, staff and the MSU community.
This summer, Brody Square, The Vista at Shaw and Riverwalk Market at Owen Hall are open to the public, but many of the dining halls on campus will open solely to service camp participants residing in the residence hall.
“All camps dine in the residential dining hall where they are housed on campus,” Brown said.
Setting up and cleaning up
MSU Conference Services books many different camps in the summer, Michael Mitchner, university events coordinator for Infrastructure Planning and Facilities said.
“Our main role is supporting all the different activities,” Mitchner said.
Mitchner said IPF deals more with the preparation work for outdoor events, such as setting up tents, making sure the event area looks good, providing pest control and setting up recycling and trash containers.
IPF also takes care of site restoration after the event is over, Mitchner said.
Employees at IPF, along with multiple other MSU services, said they are just as busy in the summertime as they are throughout the academic year; just busy doing different things.
Although many students leave for the summer, campus remains as busy as ever, hosting these outreach programs.
“We take pride in opening up our campus both for local and regional organizations,” Cody said. “It keeps the campus environment vibrant during the summer and also can serve as a recruiting tool."
