Spring Preview Day 2024

Date & time

Apr 5, 2024, All Day

Location

Joan and Sanford Weill Hall

735 S. State Street, Ann Arbor, MI 48109-3091

Spring Preview is designed to help admitted master's students get to know our faculty, staff, current students—and each other!

We look forward to welcoming you to Ann Arbor to experience the Ford School community, the University of Michigan campus, and our wonderful city!

Registration

Please fill out this form no later than Friday, March 22nd to confirm you will be attending.

If you are unable to attend in person, but would like to attend a portion of the events virtually, please register here. Please see the schedule below for more information.

Travel and lodging

We greatly look forward to welcoming those of you who are able to attend.

The Ford School has partnered with the Hyatt of Ann Arbor to offer a block of rooms. The rate is 189/night, and reservations can be made through this link. Note that the link is preconfigured to reserve for Thursday (4/4) through Saturday morning (4/6). If you would like to stay only one night, please update the dates at the top of the page to reflect that. There are also a number of other area hotels available through this link.

The Ford School can offer up to $300 for travel reimbursement for admitted students who attend Spring Preview and are from outside the Metro Detroit area. This can include flight, hotel, train, taxi, or rideshare service. Students from within a two hour radius from Ann Arbor can be reimbursed for up to $50 for mileage and parking. If you are thinking about this reimbursement opportunity, please keep all of your receipts. We will ask for them for reimbursement.

Schedule

* Denotes sessions available to virtual attendees
^Denotes sessions to be recorded

8:30 – 9:00 a.m.	Registration and coffee Great Hall
9:00 - 9:45 a.m.	Welcome and introductions* Betty Ford Auditorium Celeste Watkins-Hayes, Dean; Director, Center for Racial Justice (virtual) Jeffrey Morenoff, Associate Dean for Research and Policy Engagement (in-person) Stephanie Sanders, Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Officer (virtual) Logan Corey, Senior Recruiting Coordinator (in-person) Kaltura Video
9:45 - 10:00 a.m.	Break Suggested Activity - start working on your Ford bingo card!
10:00 - 11:00 a.m.	Student panel* Betty Ford Auditorium Moriah Nacionales-Tafoya - Moderator, MPP ‘24 Zakaria Bulus MPP ‘25 Katrina Wheelan MPP ‘25 Emma Cohen MPP’ 24
11:00 - 11:15 a.m.	Break Suggested Activity - explore Ford research centers at the resource table in the Great Hall
11:15 a.m. - 12:15 p.m.	Faculty panel* Betty Ford Auditorium Kevin Stange, Associate Professor Javed Ali, Associate Professor of Practice Paula Lantz, BA Program Director; Professor Beth Chimera, Writing Instructor Natasha Pilkauskas, Associate Professor Kaltura Video
12:15 - 2:00 p.m.	Lunch with faculty and staff Becky Blank Great Hall-person Suggested Activity - explore Ford student organizations at the resource table in the Great Hall
1:30 - 2:00 p.m.	Tour of Weill Hall (optional)
2:00 - 3:00 p.m.	Career Services presentation* Betty Ford Auditorium May Skelton, Career Development Specialist Casey Sullens, Assistant Director, Employer Relations Peter Vasher, Director of Career Services Current Ford MPPs: Tyler Baird, Elizaveta Dorofeeva, Sam Owusu, Aiswarya Padmanabhan, Ally Stavros Special Guest: Jennifer Niggemeier, Interim Managing Director, Leadership Initiative Kaltura Video
3:00 - 3:15 p.m.	Break Suggested Activity - finish your Ford bingo card and enter in the UM swag drawing!
3:15 - 4:15 p.m.	Alumni Lightning Talks Various Locations - Connect with Ford alumni in a variety of policy-related fields Local Policy Perspectives, Room #5240 Community Impact Policy Perspectives, Room #4240 (Meijer Lounge) Leadership in Policy Perspectives, Room #3240 Consulting (International Development, Strategy & NFP), Room #3110 (Reading Room)
4:15 - 4:30 p.m.	Closing Betty Ford Auditorium Winners of the swag drawing will be announced - must be present to claim prize
5:00 - 7:00 p.m.	Dinner, hosted by the Student Affairs Committee (SAC) Join members of SAC and other student org leaders for dinner at Pizza House