Stakeholders in Michigan were asked, “What would characterize an exemplary 21st century Michigan Extension system?” Their response—“A quality, cutting edge educational product that is timely, customer-focused with a multidisciplinary ‘systems’ approach to problem solving.” Michigan State University Extension’s response—the creation of more than 30 area of expertise teams, with the tourism area of expertise team to be among the first to form.

Area of Expertise teams are self-directed work teams comprised of field faculty, campus faculty and researchers, as well as others who might be stakeholders or faculty from other universities. One campus faculty member and one field faculty member who serve as co-chairs lead the teams.

Every AoE team is expected to develop curricula for the development of staff on their team. The DACUM process is the first step in this effort. The team decides the specific content requirements and skill levels AoE team members must achieve. The team creates a shared mission, vision and a yearly plan of work based on agreed-upon priorities. The team allocates resources to those priority programming efforts and has the authority and responsibility for those resources.

At Michigan State University Extension, the Tourism AoE Team is composed of 17 members: six campus faculty, four graduate students, seven field faculty, one joint appointment—MSUE and the Michigan Department of Natural Resources, and two faculty from other universities. We are currently planning for the addition of key stakeholders to join our team. The purpose of our Tourism AoE Team is to identify issues and common concerns with stakeholders, solve problems together, educate stakeholders, select and mentor new staff, increase communication and assist in evaluation.

Some of the benefits in functioning as a Tourism Area of Expertise Team are:

• A common plan of work or set of priorities changes the way the group works together.
• The group has more expertise to bring to creative problem solving.
• The group is able to set its own priorities.
• The group decides who will lead the projects and who will be involved in a support or caretaker role.
• The group decides how to allocate the budget.
• The group decides what additional training is needed for the team.
• Group members assist one another in training.
• It results in better communication.
• We hold one another accountable for results.

Michigan State University Extension, through our Travel Tourism Recreation Resources Center (the research arm of our team), holds a Tourism Outlook Conference annually. Following the conference, our team spends an evening reviewing the current year’s projects and programs and thinking about what we might do differently for the upcoming year. In May we hold an annual retreat to agree on our plan of work for the upcoming program year. A budget is agreed upon for each of the programs and we hold monthly conference calls to keep one another updated on progress and changes. Over the course of the year, we try to meet several times to make adjustments, monitor our budget and seek additional funds. Additionally, we conduct study tours that include focus group meetings with stakeholders in that part of the state. Our team provides administration with outcomes of our work.

The Tourism AoE Team is one of six in the Community and Economic Development program area. Others include: Community Development AoE, Economic Development AoE, Land Use AoE, State and Local Government AoE, and LeadNet (Leadership Network) AoE, which is an Area of Expertise team that serves all of Extension.

We have developed a skilled, knowledgeable and committed team of MSUE faculty around the state, which I have observed as a co-chair of our Tourism AoE Team for the past three years. We have a better working relationship between campus and field faculty, and we are better able to serve tourism stakeholders in our state.

We are happy to share our DACUM with other states considering the area of expertise concept as well as copies of our plan of work. Additionally, we invite you to join us at one of our team meetings or a team conference call. If you’re ‘thinking out of the box,’ this might be the way to go.

For more information on Michigan’s Tourism Area of Expertise Team contact Rita Hodgins, Community & Economic Development, Michigan State University Extension—Upper Peninsula, 702 Chippewa Square, Marquette MI 49855; (906) 228-4830, (906) 228-4572 fax, hodgins@msue.msu.edu, www.tourism.msu.edu.