Wishing you a harvest of blessings, good health, and good times,
and a relaxing extended weekend - Happy Thanksgiving!
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Lakers Ready
Division of Academic Affairs
November 21, 2022
Lakers Ready is sent by the Office of the Provost
to faculty and staff within the Division of Academic Affairs
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In this issue of Lakers Ready
- Laker to Laker: Message from the Provost
- Scholarship Highlight
- Updates
- Centering Students
- Events
- Important Dates and Links
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Laker to Laker: Message from the Provost
Dear Colleagues,
I hope you are all staying warm and safe as we enter the beautiful snowy season. This week I share with you some reflections and a call for help.
Last week, in our continued reflection on how we grow our institutional capacity to serve more and more diverse student populations, we held two zoom sessions with a colleague who has thought and written extensively about the topic. He left us with several thought-provoking questions including:
- What do we believe are the most important characteristics that make a student successful? How do we find/develop the metrics to assess these characteristics? (i.e., prior learning, ability to learn, desire to learn, persistence, etc.)
- What do students want from their GVSU education? How do we meet their aspirations for impact? How do we help them build their cathedrals? Do we articulate these in our curricula and programs?
- How do we meet the needs and aspirations of new student populations by adapting our routines rather than adding extra work to our overloaded routines?
- Why are we embracing the new majority students? Is it the right thing to do? Is it the required thing to do? Or is it the best thing to do?
- We know how to articulate what GVSU offers the students. Can we also articulate what these students offer GVSU? What unique skills, perspectives, human capacities will they add?
I look forward to seeing our campuses engage with these questions and hearing your thoughts and ideas.
Last week we also received data and information about how our current students are doing. We have closely observed what happens in classes taken by first year students, especially in math and writing. Faculty teaching these sections have all experienced a new phenomenon this year: A much larger number than usual of students who stopped engaging after the fall break. We are also seeing lower midterm grades. The average midterm grade dropped from 2.87 last fall to 2.78 this fall. At this point, I would like to take the following two actions:
- Create a rapid process team to closely monitor a variety of data indicators and design real time interventions. This team will be focused on first year students and running one/two-week cycles of data collection and action. It is still under construction; in addition to staff and administrators, it will include faculty teaching first year courses. I will be consulting with the Deans, but if you are interested, please contact provost@gvsu.edu with a simple paragraph of interest. The estimate is that this is 10 hours a week commitment for which faculty and their chairs can decide how best to fit it within faculty’s existing commitments. A $5K stipend will also be provided.
- The above quantitative driven action team will be complemented with qualitative data collection. We need narratives from students and alumni about their experience, what helped them, what barriers they faced, what insight they are willing to share with us. For this too, we are looking for a faculty member who can run this as a special project. If this fits your expertise and your interest, please contact us at provost@gvsu.edu with a simple paragraph of interest. This is also estimated to be 10 hours a week commitment and will be negotiated with the faculty and their chair. A $5K stipend will also be provided.
Both projects will be a semester long project to take place in the Winter of 2023.
With my deepest gratitude and my best wishes for a Thanksgiving weekend full of reasons to give thanks,
Fatma
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Scholarship Highlight
Congratulations to Assistant Professor Anna Hammersmith, Assistant Professor Amanda Buday, and Associate Professor Rachel Campbell, all from the Sociology Department, for their $55,000 award from Access Health to create a Citizen Social Science training with residents in Muskegon Heights. The training is part of a health equity initiative led by the Coalition for Community Development and the Muskegon Heights Neighborhood Association Council and will equip community members to assess local needs and priorities.
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UpdatesCollegial Recognition - Annual Service Awards and Holiday Gathering
Help celebrate your colleagues! Share a favorite memory, achievement, or positive comment about your GVSU colleagues receiving Service Awards recognition this year. Submissions will be shown via slideshow at the awards celebration on Thursday, December 1. Submissions may be made via the Office the President website at http://www.gvsu.edu/serviceawards/kudos. See the Service Awards webpage for additional information about the event.
Inclement Weather - Cancellation/Closure/Remote Policy
With the changing seasons and winter weather upon us, faculty and staff are encouraged to review the Cancellation/Closure/Remote policy (SLT 6.3).
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Centering Students
Designed: State of Mind Graphic Design Senior Exhibition
"Designed: State of Mind", the B.F.A. Graphic Design Senior Exhibition, will be on display from November 14 - December 8, at the GVSU Art Gallery, Haas Center for Performing Arts, Allendale Campus. The exhibition features works by 12 GVSU Graphic Design students. The soon-to-be graduates pursued a self-initiated project for the entire semester and engaged in design research, analysis, and prototype production of physical and digital artifacts.
Nominate a Student Leader for the Peter C. Cook Leadership Academy
Do you know any excellent students that could benefit from a high-impact initiative dedicated to developing their leadership and professional skills? Nominations are open for the 2023-2024 Peter C. Cook Leadership Academy (CLA) cohort. Please submit nomination(s) before Friday, February 24, 2023, and share this opportunity to nominate with others. Learn more about the CLA and make your student nomination(s) today on the Hauenstein Center for Presidential Studies website or contact Emily McKenna-Makela with questions.
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EventsSeminars, Lectures, and Performances
Understanding the State Supreme Court: A Conversation with Michigan Supreme Court Justice Elizabeth Welch
Decisions of the US Supreme Court may receive a great deal of our attention, and State Supreme Court decisions shape our everyday lives in important ways. In Michigan, the Court serves as an increasingly important bulwark of the people's rights addressing everything from abortion to the environment, school funding the LGBTQ rights. Hosted by the Political Science Department and Human Human Rights Minor, join them on Thursday, December 1, at 5:30 p.m. at the Alumni House, Allendale Campus, to find out more about the vital role played by the Michigan Supreme Court. See the Events webpage for additional information.
GVSU Arts Celebration - Holiday Concert: "And on Earth, Peace"
The Music, Theatre, and Dance Department will offer Gerald Finzi's "In Terra Pax" alongside other sounds of the season in the 2022 Holiday Celebration entitled, "And on Earth, Peace". The celebration will feature GVSU's choral ensembles, orchestra, and musical guests as we celebrate the holiday season through song. The Holiday Celebration will take place on Monday, December 5, 7:30 p.m. at Fountain Street Church in Grand Rapids. Additional information is available on the GVSU Arts Celebration website.
Campus Life
Student Small Business Holiday Market
Come support students at the Campus Activities Board's Student Small Business Holiday Market on December 2, 10 a.m. - 2 p.m., Kirkhof Center Lobby, Allendale Campus. A gift wrapping station will be provided free of cost!
Save the Date - Presidents' Ball 2023
Hosted by President Mantella and Student Senate President Faith Kidd, the annual Presidents' Ball is returning in full fashion! This event will take place January 27, 2023.
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