Advancing Academic Affairs: Update

The new Advancing the Academic Affairs Vision 2026 webpage is now live and will serve as a central resource throughout the Academic Affairs restructuring process. The page features updated organizational charts, answers to frequently asked questions, and helpful resources to support faculty and staff as changes continue to evolve. Be sure to check back regularly, as content will be updated throughout the process.

Updates

Lakers Ready is emailed to Academic Affairs faculty and staff on the second and fourth Monday of each month. Staff from other divisions can be added to the distribution list by making an email request to the Office of the Provost.

A fully online, self-paced course developed by the College of Computing and Information Technology will help faculty and staff build practical AI skills and use artificial intelligence responsibly in everyday life and work. Offered through GVSU's OMNI online network at no cost, "AI Literacy for Life & Work" is a seven-module course offered entirely online. Guided by College of Computing faculty, participants explore core AI concepts, ethical use, effective communication with AI and workplace applications. To learn more and to register for the course, visit the College of Computing website. 

Ongoing updates and resources related to new executive orders, federal memos, and other important federal actions are available on Division of People, Equity, and Culture website. Updates on executive orders impacting federally-funded projects can be found on the Office of Sponsored Programs website.

Engaged Scholarship

Congratulations to Sarah Johnson, Assistant Professor of Biology, on a grant from the Huron Mountain Wildlife Fund, for "Assessing impacts of white-tailed deer on forest diversity and dynamics at the Huron Mountain Club." Among other activities, the project team will collect soil samples to produce the first seed bank study of this old growth forest.

Congratulations to Abishek Balsamy Kamaraj, Assistant Professor of Engineering, on a contract with Hutchinson Antivibration Systems, Inc. The project will be completed within the Design, Optimization, Evaluation, and Redesign (DOER) Center in PCE to test materials and provide GVSU's expert analysis to this industry partner.

We appreciate the commitment of GVSU authors who invest significant time, effort, and rigorous research into their publications. We want to recognize not only individual contributions but also underscore the collective impact our intellectual endeavors have on academia and society. Submit your book publications to be featured in an upcoming Lakers Ready!

Events

Planning to submit a sabbatical proposal? Join members of the University Sabbatical Review Committee for one of their workshops.

Find more details and register on Workday Learning.

Imran Mazid, Associate Professor of Advertising and Public Relations, will be the keynote speaker at the inaugural GVSU CommCon on June 17. Mazid will address the challenges and ethical considerations of artificial intelligence in communications. All GVSU faculty and staff are invited to this free, daylong conference on June 17 at the DeVos Center for Interprofessional Health. RSVP at gvsu.edu/ucn. CommCon is presented by the University Communicators Network.