Dear Colleagues,

I hope you all had a good change of pace and found time to recharge during the spring break.

A few weeks ago, I attended the Higher Education Climate Leadership Summit at the University of Miami February 5^th through 7^th. This is an annual event bringing together universities who have committed to take action on climate change through their investments, operation, education, and research. Yumi Jakobcic, Director of the Office of Sustainability Practices, and I represented GVSU. She attended remotely; I represented President Mantella in person. The number of universities making the commitment and joining the Summit has been growing. The Summit provides an opportunity to share challenges, ideas, and take collective actions. The topics covered included facility planning and operation to maximize sustainability; the unprecedented federal investment in sustainability (Inflation Reduction Act), and the place of higher education in it; communicating effectively with internal and external constituencies around the issues of climate change; the intersections between sustainability, inequity, and justice; and experiences in supporting and accelerating education, research, and practice around sustainability.

Last week, I also represented President Mantella at the inauguration of the University of Michigan President Santo Ono. The inauguration event included a morning symposium whose themes were equity and diversity and also climate change and sustainability. The keynote speaker on climate change was Janet Napolitano, former Secretary of Homeland Security, and former President of the University of California system. Her address and subsequent conversation on a panel with UM faculty emphasized the urgency for higher education institutions to take on a leadership role and to partner with their communities to educate, mitigate, and focus our multiple resources towards this issue.

GVSU has a very strong foundation of a sustainable campus with extensive programs directly and indirectly addressing this topic. I have been discussing with your deans ways in which we can create space and time for all of us to engage more deeply and more broadly. Your deans and I will share details as they develop. I am also looking forward to reading your ideas and collective thinking in the 2023 UAS Newsletter, titled, “Lakers Ready for Equity and Sustainability.”   

Have a great week everyone. I hope to see many of you at the Fireside chat tomorrow with Dr. Byron White.

Fatma 

Congratulations to Dr. Michael Layton in the Dorothy A. Johnson Center for Philanthropy for his $180,000 award from the W.K. Kellogg Foundation. Dr. Layton will research the current state of giving circles, a form of philanthropy where individuals collectively donate money to support organizations or projects of mutual interest. The primary purpose of this research is to produce a national landscape of giving circles and document their impact across race, gender, and sexual orientation.

Provost's Cabinet Member Assessment Survey
The Office of Institutional Analysis will assist the Office of the Provost in distribution of the Provost's Cabinet Member Assessment Survey for those individuals being evaluated this year. Links to the online survey will remain open through 11:59 p.m. on Sunday, March 26. Your thoughtful responses are encouraged. Please contact Mary Albrecht in the Office of the Provost with questions about this process.

Student Scholars Day is an important celebration of student research and creative activity at GVSU and it requires many volunteers to be successful. To learn more about SSD and to register to volunteer visit our website: www.gvsu.edu/ssd 

Software Requests for Windows and Mac Computers
To prepare physical and virtual computer labs for fall classes, Academic Research Computing is seeking software requests for Windows and Mac computers. Submissions are accepted anytime. However, to ensure thorough testing for compatibility with other software packages and operating systems, requests should be made six weeks in advance of the start of each term.  No need to request software that is already installed unless there is an update. Requests can be made at services.gvsu.edu.

Student Academic Success Center Opportunities
Getting Caught Up and Staying Caught Up - March 15, 1:00 p.m.
There are many reasons why students fall behind in class, and things can start to pile up quickly. Students are invited to join the Student Academic Success Center (SASC) to discuss tips and strategies on how to get organized, prioritize tasks, and get caught up.

Accountability Groups
The Student Academic Success Center's Accountability Groups serve as an opportunity to connect with peers, sustain motivation, and be held accountable throughout the semester! Group members will hold each other accountable to individual academic goals that will be developed at the first meeting and revisited weekly. To assist in achieving members' goals, discussion on success strategies will be led by the group facilitators.

The Graduate School Citations for Academic Excellence
The Graduate School Citations for Academic Excellence were created to recognize outstanding academic achievement of graduate students. Awards are given to students who have completed their program or are very close to completion. The events is scheduled Friday, April 14, 5:00 - 8:00 p.m., Loosemore Auditorium, DeVos Center, Pew Grand Rapids Campus.

Graduate Showcase
Tuesday, April 28, 3:00 - 5:00 p.m., Loosemore Auditorium, DeVos Center, Pew Grand Rapids Campus. More information is available on the Graduate Showcase webpage.

From Knowledge Generator to Knowledge Navigator: The Community-centric Future of Public Policy
President Mantella and Provost Mili will host a Fireside Chat with Dr. Byron P. White, Associate Provost for Urban Research and Community Engagement at the University of North Carolina Charlotte. He will lead a conversation on how public universities need to deepen their integration with local communities - including their embrace of a new student majority - to best ensure their sustainability against emerging challenges. The event is scheduled March 14, 2:00 p.m., Loosemore Auditorium, DeVos Center, Pew Grand Rapids Campus. Register to join in person or watch via livestream.