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Caitlin Flaherty

Recreation Leadership
Endowed Scholarship

Congratulations to Caitlin Flaherty (pictured left), the 2020-2021 recipient of the Recreation Leadership Endowed Scholarship. This scholarship recognizes and rewards student leaders who are involved in recreational sports, programs, services, and activities, who demonstrate a high degree of leadership aptitudes, initiative, and dedication to university recreation.
Majoring in Elementary and Special Education, Caitlin serves as a Sports Programs Supervisor with Recreation & Wellness. She participates in Group Exercise, Intramural Sports, and Unified Sports. 
“This scholarship has lightened my financial burden, which allows me to focus on learning. RecWell has helped me feel more connected with the campus as a whole, and your generosity has inspired me to help others and give back to the community.” – Caitlin Flaherty 
Learn more about past scholarship recipients on the Recreation & Wellness website.
student making heart sign with hands

Engagement Efforts in Housing & Residence Life

The Fall semester was wrought with contingency planning, pivoting, and cancelations. Housing & Residence Life was at the mercy of ever-changing County and State restrictions and evolving University priorities. Despite this, Resident Assistants (RA) facilitated more than 120 programs during the Fall semester with total attendance of more than 1,660 residents. Approximately half of these events were in-person and the other half were held virtually.
For the Winter 2021 semester, Housing & Residence Life will focus on two primary engagement efforts – Laker Chats and the Unwind from the Grind series.
  • Laker Chats are individual and small group interactions and gatherings facilitated by RA staff designed to encourage engagement and belonging.
     
  • The Unwind from the Grind series will be hosted on Discord and begin in a fully virtual model with the potential of in-person components being added throughout the semester. These are casual, weekly drop-in groups based around a shared interest or theme. Participation is open to all GVSU students but advance registration is required.

Winter Programming in the Career Center

Preparations are underway for winter programming in the Career Center. The Work Like a Laker Conference will take place March 8-18, 2021 and will include pre-conference preparation sessions, professional development opportunities and industry specific workshops – please save the dates. The Work Like a Laker Conference sessions are tailored to help prepare students for the Virtual Career, Internship & Summer Job Fair that will take place on Thursday, March 18, 2021 (hosted in partnership with Student Employment).
The Career Center is seeking to partner with faculty and staff from across the University on programming for the Work Like a Laker Conference. If you have an idea for a program collaboration or topic you’d like to see presented, please contact Lisa Orlando (orlandli@gvsu.edu) no later than February 5, 2021. 
Please note that the career fair and preparation activities will be held in March instead of February. This will allow students more time to prepare for the conference and fair following a delayed start to the winter semester. The delay also provides employers more time to solidify hiring needs amidst a global pandemic that has severely impacted the job market. 
Virtual Water Coolers Shared Learning Space: Film Series
Upcoming Division of Student Affairs Shared Film Series discussion:

Harriet 
Co-hosted by Takeelia Garrett & Andy Beachnau
January 27, 12 - 1 p.m.

Upcoming Division of Student Affairs Virtual Water Cooler Series:

Managing Multiple Agendas: Caring for Staff while Managing Administrative Mandates 
Facilitated by Latrece McDaniel & Pamela Miller
January 21, 12 - 1 p.m.

FREE Professional Development Opportunity

ALL Division of Student Affairs staff are eligible to register for the NASPA P.R.A.C.T.I.C.E.S Live Briefings - Spring 2021 Series. The purpose of this series is to provide a variety of critical student affairs topics based on the NASPA Advisory Services' framework. Topics are listed below:
January 14: Compliance: Talking BITS: Addressing the Common Challenges of Today’s Behavioral Intervention Teams
February 17: Resources: Get On Board: Developing New (and New-to-a-role) Employees 
February 25: Policy: Tobacco 21: What New Regulations Mean for the Design of Tobacco and Nicotine-Free Campus Environments 
March 4: Academics: Bridging the Gap Between Student Affairs and Academic Affairs: An Inclusive Model for Collaboration 
March 9:  Technology: Where’s the Online Support? Collaboratively Improving Support Services for Online Students 
April 8: Inclusion: Every Story Matters: How Texas A&M University Inspires Belonging and Highlights Student Engagement Through Visual Storytelling 
April 22: Community: Markers and Making Change: Using Design Thinking to Impact Campus Culture and Community 
May 6: Evidence: Sit on the Shelf? Not Ours! Sustaining a Strategic Plan
May 20: Students: Positioning Transfer Students for Success: How Different Campus Units Can Create Programming to Help Transfer Students Be Successful 

Registration information can be found on the Division of Student Affairs Staff: Insider website. 

Sprout EAB Navigate Trainings

In Fall 2020, Grand Valley State University began utilizing EAB Navigate, a new student success tool that aims to help improve student outreach, advising and more. 
Navigate:
  • is a one-stop shop for students to access services with greater ease;
  • provides a platform for faculty members to better assist Grand Valley students, improving the advising experience
  • syncs with Outlook’s calendar and allows users to view student information on one platform; and
  • utilizes Grand Valley’s single sign-on process and can be accessed by logging into the EAB Navigate website
If you are interested in learning the basics of EAB Navigate or submitting academic alerts, sign up for EAB Navigate Training through the Sprout website. This training is listed under the Student Academic Success Center category.

DSA & University Resources

Division of Student Affairs

Alcohol & Other Drugs Services
Campus Health Center
Career Center
Children's Enrichment Center
Dean of Students Office
Housing & Residence Life
Office of Student Conduct & Conflict Resolution
Office of Student Life
Recreation & Wellness
Student Ombuds
University Counseling Center
Grand Valley State University
1 Campus Drive
202 Student Services Building
Allendale, MI 49401
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