Dear Laker Community,

Welcome back from Winter break! I hope this message finds you rejuvenated and ready to embrace the challenges and opportunities of a new semester. 

As Vice President for Inclusion and Equity, I want to reiterate our unwavering commitment to nurturing a culture that deeply cares for every individual honoring the diverse backgrounds everyone contributes to our university. We continue to advance important work towards building a culture of educational equity, upholding the values that foster an inclusive and equitable community. In this newsletter, you can find more information about the recent initiatives led by our Accountability and Activation Leadership Team (AALT). It’s these values that guide us, especially in times of national turbulence, ensuring that we remain a space for hope and understanding. 

As we reflect on the significance of the recent Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. events this week, I want to extend a heartfelt thank you to everyone who participated and contributed to making it a meaningful commemoration. Dr. King once said, “Life’s most persistent and urgent question is, ‘What are you doing for others?’” This quote resonates deeply with our mission here at GVSU, as we strive to uplift and empower each other through our actions and interactions. 

In recent times, significant national occurrences have deeply affected Black women in academia. This includes the departure of Dr. Claudine Gay and the passing of Dr. Antoinette “Bonnie” Candia-Bailey. We recognize the emotional and psychological impact these events may have on women of color at GVSU. Studies show that Black women in academic settings often face stricter scrutiny from students, non-Black peers, and supervisors, affecting their mental health and leading to inequitable expectations. These inequities highlight the vital need to foster an environment at our institution where all individuals are appreciated, listened to, and supported. I am personally committed to finding and creating opportunities that elevate the voices and experiences of our underrepresented communities and welcome your feedback and input. The stories and insights of women of color are not just integral to our collective learning but are essential in shaping a more just and empathetic world. The education and learning resources shared in this newsletter provide important opportunities to deepen our understanding. I also encourage each of you to actively check in and care for one another.

Let’s carry Dr. King’s spirit of service and community into our Winter semester. I encourage each of you to have a healthy, engaged, and transformative semester, full of learning, growth, and impactful contributions to our Laker family.

Jesse M. Bernal, Ph.D.
Vice President for Inclusion & Equity
Chief of Staff to the President

We are in the process of updating the Inclusion and Equity Strategic Framework, originally written in 2015. Various workgroups are striving to create a framework that is aspirational, accessible and clear in defining how faculty, staff, students and community can work individually and collectively to advance a culture of educational equity. Shared Equity Leadership (SEL) is an approach that is grounding our efforts. We encourage everyone to read more about SEL as we want everyone to see themselves as vital to leading this work. We are in the process of making our process explicit by presenting our efforts to employee groups across the University. 

As we began the I&E strategic framework update, we wanted to be intentional about connecting students more closely to the project. As a result, we are thrilled with the development of a new cohort of 10 GVSU students that will work alongside us as co-creators. We held a kick-off orientation with this dynamic group of students on Friday. They will also be invited to participate in the Activation and Accountability Leadership Team (AALT) as they are able. 

Starting in 2024, Grand Valley State University will begin collecting optional sexual orientation and gender identity (SOGI) demographic information from students, faculty and staff through the Inclusive Data Collection Project. This project will enable GVSU to make informed decisions, provide culturally and socially relevant interventions, appropriately allocate resources, and further recruitment and retention efforts among historically under-represented communities. With the support of university leadership in the Division of Inclusion and Equity, the Milton E. Ford LGBT Resource Center staff recommends that GVSU adopt methods to collect SOGI data via self-service Banner throughout the student and employee lifecycle.

The purpose of this project is to create modifications to the Banner Self-Service, database, and systems it feeds to accomplish the following 5 goals: 

We want to express our gratitude to the students, faculty and staff members who have been instrumental in advocating for this change. This includes a special thanks to the hard-working teams within the LGBT Resource Center, Division of Inclusion and Equity, IT and the Registrar's Office. Without your unwavering commitment to a person-first approach and the use of this tool, such progress would not have been possible. 

The Division of Inclusion and Equity, Employee Ombuds Office, Human Resources Office, and the Provost’s Office have worked with other key stakeholder groups on campus to streamline the complaint resolution and grievance processes. Procedures for a single-entry point for all employee-related complaints and grievances will eliminate the complexity of multiple filing avenues. In addition, key stakeholder groups have had an opportunity to weigh into policy and procedure enhancements to further streamline the process.

Additionally, experienced staff member, Chris Grooms, Human Resources Office, was identified with new responsibilities supporting the complaint resolution process. Grooms was named Manager of Strategic Support Team and Complaint Liaison. He will work closely with various offices to navigate and monitor complaints and grievances.

The new process is expected to be operational by February 1.

Nurturing a university culture that supports faculty, staff, and students and caring for the well-being of our community continues to be the top priority of the Division of Inclusion and Equity.  With this commitment, the I&E division is intentional about creating spaces that foster a strong sense of community, which aligns with our Reach Higher 2025 commitment to promoting educational equity, by sponsoring and supporting our Faculty & Staff Affinity (FSA) groups.

New Veterans Faculty/Staff Association

Are you a military veteran looking to connect with like-minded individuals on campus? We are excited to invite you to be founding member for the Military Veteran Faculty & Staff Affinity (MVFSA) group at GVSU. Much like our existing affinity groups that have been fostering community and collaboration, the MVFSA aims to create a space for military veterans among our faculty and staff. This group will be a platform to share experiences, build camaraderie, and support one another in the unique journey of being a military veteran in academia. Join President Emeritus Tom Haas and Shane Scherer, the director of the Military and Veterans Resource Center, in shaping the foundation of this exciting initiative. Just like other successful groups on campus, including the Asian Faculty & Staff Association, Black Faculty & Staff Association, and others, we believe the MVFSA will contribute significantly to the vibrant tapestry of our university community.

Why Join MVFSA?

To express your interest and register for the MVFSA, please click the registration link below. Once registered, a member of our team will reach out to guide you through the next steps in the process.

Thank you for considering being a part of this exciting new chapter at GVSU. We look forward to your participation and the positive impact we can make together.

International Faculty & Friends Invite you to Celebrate Mexico

Join International Faculty and Friends to celebrate Mexico on January 25, 6:00 p.m. at El Granjero Restaurant, 950 Bridge Street NW, Grand Rapids. Professor Mayra Fortes will share brief information about Mexican Culture. Guests are expected to pay for their own meal. Please RSVP your attendance at www.gvsu.edu/pic/iffmexico

Women's Commission

The Women’s Commission has the following events coming up over the next couple of months:

Our new employee competencies ask us to continue to cultivate a desire for continuous learning. Today, we are happy to announce an expanded and robust set of opportunities seeking to build awareness, knowledge and skills through the Inclusion & Equity Institute. We encourage everyone to take advantage of these opportunities and to provide us feedback along the way.

CONSCIOUS UNCOVERING

January 31, 2024 9:00 AM - 11:00 AM

Covering is described as the process of masking or concealing. Often used as a mechanism of protection, it can take many forms as individuals cover stigmatized and/or marginalized personal identities. This might be clothing to cover a gender identity, altering of a name to prevent potential linkage to racial or ethnic group, and so much more. Concepts will be explored via personal stories and examples to take the participant on a journey of defining and understanding a few forms of covering, why covering exists, as well as the “loneliness of onlyness” and its associated traumas. 

ANTI-RACISM, WHITE CONSCIOUSNESS (5-PART SERIES)

Thursday, February 8, 2024 2:00 PM - 4:00 PM

This is a 5-session learning cohort for white identifying faculty and staff at GVSU who are interested in learning about and developing anti-racist practices in their daily lives. Because the learning content is progressive from session to session, there is an expectation that participants will be able to attend every session.

Are you taking advantage of your access to hundreads of free learning resources provided through Academic Impressions? Since launching in September, approximately 51% of GVSU’s full-time employees have created accounts with Academic Impressions and of these, 45% have engaged with professional development resources.

As a reminder, one benefit of our partnership is the ability to curate content and develop customized learning plans. Please reach out to GVSU's Academic Impressions account manager Breanne@academicimpressions.com. 

Recognitions & Celebrations

Dr. Jakia Marie, Assistant Professor and Program Coordinator of African & African American Studies (AAAS) and Phillip Todd, Assistant Director of the Office of Multicultural Affairs, invite you to flex your Black history and culture knowledge, snag some amazing prizes, and enjoy food from around the world! The For the Culture Quiz Bowl is a tournament-style trivia event focused on Black history and culture from around the world. Topics include history, language, geography, politics, pop culture, and more. Don't worry - you'll get a study guide as soon as you register. Everyone is invited to participate and enjoy locally catered foods representing the Black diaspora. Sponsored by the Office of Multicultural Affairs and Area and Global Studies. Click here for event information.

See below for additional opportunities to celebrate the history, culture, traditions and contributions of African Americans this Black History Month, including: The Blackout: Black Student Organization Showcase, film screening of Judas and the Black Messiah, the Charles H. Wright Museum Trip, and Taste of Soul. 

Ramadan is the holiest month in the Islamic calendar when many Muslims fast from pre-dawn to sunset. This may lead some Muslim students to request religious accommodations for their course work. This year, Ramadan will occur in March and April and will conclude before Finals Week. For details about accommodations related to the month of Ramadan, see the webpage hosted by GVSU’s Kaufman Interfaith Institute.

Attend a keynote address by Dr. Mary Murphy on January 23, 8:30-10:00 a.m., Grand River Room, Kirkhof Center, Allendale Campus. This session will explore how we can create cultures of inclusion. Dr. Murphy's research illuminates the situational cues, like faculty and institutional mindset, that influence students' academic motivation and achievement with an emphasis on understanding when those processes are similar and different for structurally advantaged and disadvantaged students.

Continued Conversations:

For the National Day of Racial Healing this year, we are hosting our second annual cohort of Truth, Racial Healing, and Transformation (TRHT).

TRHT has been adopted by the W.K. Kellogg Foundation and the American Association of Colleges and Universities (AAC&U) as a way to support participants in building relationships, trust, and collective power. These relationships lay the groundwork for powerful systemic change, supporting participants to re-envision and reshape their institution's policies and practices. 

This is a 3 session experience that is being facilitated by: Takeelia Garrett, Student Ombuds, Division of Student Affairs and Dr. Melanie Shell-Weiss, Associate Dean and Professor, Brooks College of Interdisciplinary Studies, Division of Academic Affairs.

Next year's National Day of Racial Healing is January 21, 2025.  

We commemorated the life and legacy of Reverend Martin Luther King Jr. day through a series of events this week. Check out the list scheduled events on the website.

We are grateful for the campus wide committee that pulls these efforts together, Bobby J. Springer – Director of Gear-Up, Louis Moore – Professor of History, Michele Coffill - Associate Director of Digital & Print Publications, Cassonya Carter – Sr. Academic Advisor, Kirkhof College of Nursing, Melissa Baker-Boosamra – Associate Director, Office of Student Life, Kellie Pnacek-Carter - Associate Director of Event Services, Ruth Lowry – Adjunct Faculty,  IRIS (Integrative, Religious, and Intercultural Studies Department), Abby Sach – Program Manager , Cook Leadership Academy, Lariesha Lee – Assistant Director for the Center of Women and Gender Equity, and Linda Ray – Administrative Assistant, Muskegon Innovation Hub

Grand Valley State University is committed to providing a safe and inclusive space for all students. A variety of methods are available for community members wishing to share a concern or submit a report. Please read more about your options for engaging campus resources for students, staff and faculty. Formal and informal options are available to all of GVSU's community members.