In This Issue

If you sing honestly and sincerely to kids, they will respond with all their hearts.

--Susannah McCorkle

There are many things I love about being a grandparent (for the past 14 months, two days). One of them is how an infant responds to a real smile, a real attitude, a real engagement. Of course that’s all the same for adults, too. Folks can usually tell if you’re faking it, and folks also forgive things as long as there is authenticity in how you bring yourself.

Students, too. The words “honest” or “authentic” don’t often show up in student evaluations, but sometimes the assessment “She is real” does appear in LIFT evals. That’s one of the things about teaching: our assignment might not have been exactly what we’d hoped, or the class activity of conversation didn’t go as we’d envisioned. But if there is passion or authenticity in what’s going on, learners respond. Problem is, of course, going “all in” can be exhausting. Same as parenting (or grandparenting).

Hoping a Spring Break helped with recharging your engagement batteries. Another 8 weeks until the semester end—and lots of great student presentations, awards, and celebrations remain. See you ‘round.

Welcome Kristen Krueger-Corrado

Kristen Krueger-Corrado is in a new position at GVSU as a Director of Academic Affairs Communication. As part of this role, she is working to support both CLAS and Brooks College to help elevate the visibility, reputation, and impact of our academic programs, research, and other initiatives. Kristen will be collaborating across colleges and helping support messaging and storytelling in Brooks college, CLAS, and Academic Affairs. She will be working directly with the Dean’s office on projects and looks forward to getting to know more about the work of the college.

Kristen is a communications professional with over 20 years of experience, primarily in non-profit arts and cultural institutions. She holds a bachelor’s degree in Interdisciplinary Humanities from Michigan State University and a master’s degree in Management with a specialization in Communications from Aquinas College. Before coming to GVSU, Kristen spent 16 years working for the Grand Rapids Public Library as the head of marketing and communications.  She also served as the Public Relations and Marketing Manager for the Grand Rapids Art Museum and held various positions at the Grand Rapids Dominicans, the National Museum of the American Indian, and the Michigan State University Museum. Kristen lives in Grand Rapids with her husband and son. In her spare time, she loves reading, listening to podcasts, and discussing the latest celebrity gossip.

Join us on April 16th from 3:00pm-4:30pm in the Honors Multi-Purpose Room to Celebrate Griff's "life 2.0" retirement party.

Griff has been  serving as the administrative director of the General Education Program as well as a Professor in the Natural Resources and Environmental Management Program in the Biology Department.  She has been with GVSU over 20 years and we are looking forward to celebrating her as she moves to her post-retirement "life 2.0 adventure".  

Starting this Winter semester, all Brooks faculty teaching 15-week courses will be required to submit final grades by midnight on Monday, May 4, 2026. This will allow the Dean’s office to use the time available on Tuesday morning to address any missing grade reports and meet the University deadline of Tuesday, May 5 at noon.  Please note that different deadlines apply to six- week and other parts of term courses and those will be communicated to you by the departments at the start of each semester. You will continue to receive regular email reminders before grades are due, clarifying the deadlines for submission.

If you have questions or concerns about this new deadline, please reach out to Interim Associate Dean, Julia Mason 

Hear from Finance & HR about upcoming optimization efforts.

Learn about the Workday Student implementation.

Ask questions and connect directly with GVSU’s Workday leaders.

https://www.gvsu.edu/workday

March 23, 2026 2-4pm 

Grand River Room & Zoom

 

The next Brooks College Town hall has a NEW LOCATION. The town hall will take place on Friday April 10th from 11:30am to 12:45pm in the Library Multipurpose room. LIB 030.  

Pizza will be provided!

The 17th Annual Local History Roundtable will be held on Wednesday, March 18th, 2026 from 3:00 - 8:00 p.m. on GVSU's Pew Campus in downtown Grand Rapids. This year's theme, Local Struggles, Lasting Change, will examine challenges that local communities faced in the past and their impact on the present.

Our panel discussion will be about the first Women's Resource Center in Grand Rapids, and will run from 3:30 - 5:00 p.m. Dinner will follow, with the keynote address by Eric Hemenway, Director of Repatriation, Archives, and Records for the Little Traverse Bay Bands of Odawa Indians of Waganakising The Land of the Crooked Tree, beginning at 6:00 p.m. Hemenway will be discussing how the Anishnaabek's struggle to defend their rights and homeland helped shape not only the history of the United States, but the fate of their respective nations.

View additional event details HERE

See the WOODTV8 Article promoting the event HERE

 

Day of Giving is March 26th and this year Brooks College is accepting gifts to support the Summer in West Michigan opportunity. Summer in West Michigan provides students in ANY major the opportunity to have a rich and unique learning experience, earning 9 credits, while learning and working in West Michigan. Students learn from GVSU faculty, community leaders, and regional experts, work in worthwhile and fulfilling internships within the region, and connect with the land, history, and culture surrounding Grand Valley State University and West Michigan. Support Day of Giving and Summer in West Michigan HERE 

 

 

Sustainability Champions are individuals who, by practice and belief, support the ideals of sustainable practice and using a triple bottom-line approach to problems and issues. The champions have demonstrated that they support both in word and deed, and can be looked to as leaders in sustainability.

The Office of Sustainability Practices will be presenting the awards on March 27 from 12 to 1pm in the Pere Marquette room in the Kirkhof Center.

Register HERE

 

 

 

Award winning American historian and author Dr. Anna-Lisa Cox presents her recent research on America’s forgotten black pioneers and their struggle for equality.

March 30, 3:30pm 

Pere Marquette Room 

2204 Kirkhof Center 

 

View additional event details HERE

This Campus Conversation offers a space for the campus community to talk collectively about ways to navigate eco-grief, the emotional distress around the impacts of climate change. A goal of this conversation is to increase awareness, mutual understanding, and connections for sustaining critical hope. Conversations can strengthen community.

Additional event details can be found HERE

March 31st 6:00pm-7:30pm

Pere Marquette Room

Kirkhof Center 2204

 

 

The GVSU Inclusion and Equity Institute is committed to providing learning and development for faculty and staff to further knowledge, skills, and abilities related to these core values. Each week, the I&E Institute offers FREE, dynamic, and helpful workshops on a variety of topics. 

You can review the list of workshops HERE

Winter 2026 Philosophy Colloquium Series

Friday 4/3/26, 3:00-4:30PM 

MAK B1138

Quinn Harr (GVSU Philosophy): "Learning Management Systems Are the Enemy of Information Literacy: Teaching Critical Thinking Skills in the Digital Age” 

 Distrust of experts, information overload, overreliance on social media, shortened attention spans: these are the conditions facing many students today. To meet these conditions, we need to transition from a content-delivery to a skills-development model of the classroom. However, learning management systems do not fit this model well. First, they perpetuate the idea that all knowledge can be mediated through screen-based technologies, moving the source of insight from the activity of the (distractible) mind to the content on our (distracting) machines. Second, they provide instant access to content via hyperlinks and embedded files, mirroring the fast-paced information environment of social media and the open web, and reducing opportunities for students to practice, in slow and sustained ways, critical analysis of information sources and creative integration of their contents. Third, once the semester has ended, they restrict access to the knowledge they allegedly provide, not simply putting it behind a paywall but blocking students from it altogether. Fourth, they reinforce the tendency to view classroom knowledge as a one-and-done affair, as opposed to a foundation for continued reflection and synthesis, through features like quantitative measures of course completion and predictive grade calculators. For these and other reasons, I suggest that educators need to seriously consider transitioning away from learning management systems if we are to meet this critical moment. And I provide some practical ideas, drawn from my own evolving classroom practices, for how we might begin to do so.

 

 

 

Check out the office of Sustainability Practices Earth Month Event Calendar! 

Brooks May Writing Retreat - May 4-8th (Lake Ontario Hall 120)

Looking to make progress on your own writing projects amongst a community of fellow writers? Join us for a writing retreat! 

Each day involves goal setting in the morning, reporting progress at the end, and conversations with fellow writers during lunch, which is provided for all attendees along with light snacks and coffee/tea

 

 

Please contact Patrick Johnson, Writing Center Director (johpatri@gvsu.edu), for questions or to sign up. additional information is available HERE 

New federal ADA Title II rules require public universities like GVSU to ensure that all digital content meets Web Content Accessibility Guidelines 2.1 Level AA standards. This applies broadly to websites, documents, videos, and course materials, not just centrally managed pages. The goal is to ensure content is inclusive and help meet our legal obligations under ADA.

As you start to review your syllabi, readings, and other information you may have on websites/Blackboard here are some quick tips:

- Using real headings (H1, H2, H3) instead of bold text

- Writing link text that clearly describes the destination

- Providing alt text for meaningful images

- Captioning videos and reviewing captions for accuracy

-Avoiding scanned PDFs or images of text when a text version is possible

-Checking color contrast before publishing

-Making sure pages and documents can be used with a keyboard

-Keeping paragraphs short and readable

The university has provided a website with support resources, tools you can use, and suggestions on how to start this work. If you have questions you can email accessibility@gvsu.edu.

Adult learners and their families gathered February 5 at the Eberhard Center for the first induction ceremony of GVSU’s chapter of the Alpha Sigma Lambda Honor Society, Sigma Lambda Sigma.   

The honor society celebrates adult learner students who balance school, work and home life, while achieving academic excellence.

Brooks Students inducted include: Hilary Beebe, Hannah Moulds, Sarah Johnsen, Amy Watkin, Nichole Deters, Katie Lopez, Michelle Schwarz, & Colon Lugo Magdanamay. 

Jen Jameslyn will be a panelist at the March 26th Women's Commission's Reflections Leadership Panel. 

The Women's Commission, in partnership with The Gayle R. Davis Center for Women & Gender Equity, Provost's Office and the Office of the President, developed the GVSU Women's Mentoring Reception in 2012 as a way for the campus community to share stories, insight and advice breaking the myths of women in leadership.

This annual event spotlights the journeys and accomplishments of women leaders at Grand Valley by offering a platform for them to share their perspectives on leadership, management, work-life integration, professional strategy, self-care, and many other topics.

The Kutsche Office of Local History at Grand Valley State University is pleased to announce Gina Bivins as the 2026 Gordon Olson Award winner. The award recognizes outstanding contributions to local history.

The Gordon Olson Award honors individuals whose work embodies the Kutsche Office’s mission of “using history to give voice to diverse communities.” 

When announcing the award the Kutsche Office Director Dr. Nora Salas said,
“Most will know Bivins from her 37 year career with the Grand Rapids Public
Museum, and as past President of the Grand Rapids Historical Society. Bivins has
long worked to promote and preserve local history. 

As we continue to highlight all of the programs and centers across Brooks College over the next few months and we look forward to sharing our student and faculty successes with you.

When our students graduate, they don’t just leave with a diploma, they leave with direction, and a crucial part of helping students determine their direction is the conversation they have with their advisors. This month we are celebrating the important work of the Brooks College advising Center. Our advisors are deeply committed to helping students navigate their very distinctive Interdisciplinary majors and academic pathways. Whether they are exploring global and cultural studies, pursuing sustainability-focused programs, or preparing for careers in public service, they provide support. With 60% of our students enrolled in fully online programs and 49% identifying as adult learners, the center specializes in meeting students where they are, offering flexible, responsive support tailored to busy schedules and diverse life experiences. Through thoughtful advising, holistic connection, and a strong commitment to access, the Brooks College Academic Advising Center empowers every student to thrive.

Investing in interdisciplinary education isn’t just good for students, it’s good for the future.

March 27 (5pm)- Withdraw with a "W" Grade Deadline

April 25- Classes End

April 25 - May 2- Examinations

May 1- Commencement

May 4- Grades Due From Faculty

May 7- Grades Available to Students 

Note: partial term courses have different tuition and refund deadlines. View additional deadlines in the course index. 

WE WANT TO HEAR FROM YOU! Fill out the form below to submit an event or announcement (with photos!) for the Brooks College Newsletter or email brookscollege@gvsu.edu

Join our mailing list so you never miss a Brooks College newsletter.
View previous issues in our newsletter archive.