Lakers Ready

Division of Academic Affairs

January 12, 2026

Lakers Ready is sent by the Office of the Provost
to faculty and staff within the Division of Academic Affairs

In this issue of Lakers Ready:

A Note from the Provost

Dear Colleagues, 

Welcome to the start of the Winter 2026 semester! I hope the break offered you time to pause, reconnect, and return with renewed energy for the semester ahead. 

Over the break, I found myself thinking about hope and the importance of pragmatic optimism in helping us remain resilient and ready to act, even in complicated times. Take a look at Emily Dickinson’s “Hope” is the thing with feathers” -- maybe sit with the poem for a while. For me, hope is what allows us to keep showing up for one another and to always act on the belief that our shared work matters. 

As we begin the semester, I invite you to nurture that sense of hope together, in community. I encourage you to participate in the upcoming Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Day events, which offer meaningful opportunities to honor Dr. King’s call to justice, care, and shared responsibility. I hope you’ll consider joining colleagues and students at one or more of these gatherings as we carry these critical lessons into the new year. 

I am grateful for you. 
Jen 

Reflections: Campus Conversation – Exploring Research Ph.D. Programs 

As we turn our attention to the work ahead, I am energized by our shared commitment to Grand Valley’s mission as an anchor institution to expand access, advance social mobility, and partner with our communities for real-world impact. Through Reach Higher Together and the Academic Affairs Strategic Framework, we are aligning our commitments with our strengths so we can serve students, the region, and the public good with intention and care. 

That commitment includes regularly fine-tuning our academic portfolio, including our portfolio of graduate programs. Towards the end of last semester, I held faculty forums and sent a corresponding survey focused on the possibility of launching a small number of research Ph.D. programs. Thank you to those who participated in these engagement activities for the thoughtfulness you brought to those conversations. 

I shared what I learned from the forums and survey feedback with the Executive Committee of the Senate and the University Academic Senate, and I want to share that feedback more broadly in this newsletter. 

Nearly 130 faculty registered to attend the forums, and many others shared reflections through the feedback survey. I am grateful for your engagement and value your opinions. The questions and comments were candid, constructive, and rooted in a strong commitment to our students, our mission, and the long-term health of Grand Valley. 

Three themes emerged clearly: 

While I heard some good conversation about a handful of new master’s and doctoral degrees, I did not hear any unit beyond the College of Computing expressing an interest in exploring the development of a research Ph.D. program at this time. While I remain supportive of our colleagues in Computing, I also support the rest of our colleges in pursuing other avenues for fine-tuning our portfolio of graduate programs, enhancing our research, scholarship and creative activities, and working with community partners to drive regional vitality as we activate the priorities in our Academic Affairs Strategic Framework. 

Thank you for your engagement, your honesty, your care, and your ongoing commitment to our students and one another.  

Projects and Initiatives Updates

Working with the Faculty Personnel Policy Committee, the Office of the Provost has updated guidance about the written performance summaries that are part of the annual faculty review process. Information is available on our revised web page. The new guidance replaces text published in 2016 and 2019 and is consistent with last year’s update to Shared Governance policy 3.08 (Faculty Salary Adjustment Program). Please spend a few minutes reviewing the updated guidance.

The Integrated Student Success Initiative is a comprehensive approach to enhancing student experiences through coordinated academic policies. Rather than treating institutional policies in isolation, this initiative recognizes how various requirements collectively influence student outcomes. In collaboration with multiple campus departments and student representatives, educational modules were developed to address key policy areas that impact student success. Click on the links below for resources pertaining to upcoming academic events. For questions or additional information about this initiative, please contact Assistant Vice President for Academic Affairs Felix N. Ngassa.

Video Resources:

Updates

College of Liberal Arts and Sciences Dean candidates will be on campus in the coming weeks. Faculty and staff are invited to engage with the candidates during two open sessions. Visit the CLAS Dean Search website for access to candidate materials and feedback surveys.

Candidate 1

Candidate 2

Candidate 3

Nominations are open for two awards to be presented at the Student Awards Convocation on April 13, 6:00 p.m., L.V. Eberhard Center, Pew Grand Rapids Campus.

Gayle R. Davis First Generation College Student Emerging Leader Award
Glenn A. Niemeyer Award

All nominations are due by February 11. Visit the links above to learn more about the awards and to nominate an outstanding student. 

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 begin February 17 and conclude March 19. For details about accommodations related to the month of Ramadan, see the webpage hosted by GVSU's Kaufman Interfaith Institute. 

Submit a nomination for an Administrative Professional (AP) staff member for this year's AP Awards in one of these six categories.

To learn more and nominate an AP colleague, visit the AP Awards website.

Do you know any students who would benefit from a high-impact leadership development program? Nominations for the 2026-27 Cook Leadership Academy (CLA) cohort are due February 1. The CLA is a year-long program for undergrad and graduate students across all academic disciplines who are dedicated to becoming more ethical and effective leaders. Students gain foundational leadership skills, learn from local leaders and mentors, and grow through self-reflection and peer learning. Email cla@gvsu.edu with any questions. 

The Finance Reference Guide is now available for faculty and staff. This one-stop resource brings together essential information on finance concepts and transactions, with links to relevant policies, procedures, trainings, articles, and videos. Topics include introduction and basics of accounting at GVSU, Workday concepts, travel and expense, spend authorizations, payroll costing allocations and more.

The Workday Governance Group is making a request for Appointing Officers to gather feedback on Workday issues, challenges and ideas for improvement. If you have suggestions, please share them with your direct supervisor/unit head so they can be passed to your Appointing Officer. All submissions will be reviewed by the Workday Governance Group, with a summary of key themes and planned updates shared with campus this spring.

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

Bopi Biddanda, Professor of Water Resources, was awarded $245,635 for a project titled "Tracking Harmful Algal Blooms in a Great Lakes Estuary With High-Frequency Time-Series Observations and Remote Sensing Hyperspectral Overflights". The project will extend long-term water quality monitoring in Muskegon Lake and help identify factors that trigger the formation and demise of toxic cyanobacterial blooms in the Great Lakes basin.

Congratulations to Paul Fink, Assistant Professor of Computing, on two National Institute of Health subawards for "Project MultiNav: A gamified multisensory training and navigation system for blind and visually impaired people" (with University of Maine), and "Visionway accessibility aware path selection for wayfinding" (with Ohio State). Over the next five years, with $708,265 in planned grant funds from these two awards, Dr. Fink is bringing his research on utilizing computing for accessibility to GVSU.

Events

Join your Grand Valley colleagues at the Faculty Awards Convocation on February 10, 4:00 p.m., Loosemore Auditorium, DeVos Center, Pew Grand Rapids Campus, for a ceremony to celebrate this year's university-wide awards for outstanding faculty achievements in teaching, scholarship, and service. Award recipients will be announced in January.

Meet three of the four artists from the exhibition "Between Rooms." Rachelle Wunderink, Sarah Sproule, and Maddie May will chat about the overall themes of the exhibition and share insights on their individual works on January 15, 12:00-1:00 p.m., 1121 Haas Center for Performing Arts Gallery, Allendale Campus. 

Discover new ways to elevate your teaching at Speed TECHing, an exciting professional development event for GV faculty. Choose between two dedicated spaces: one offering personalized, one-on-one support and the other featuring quick, interactive technology demonstrations designed to inspire and empower your teaching practices. This event will be held on January 23, 9:00 a.m. - 12:00 p.m. via Zoom. Visit the eLearning Technologies website to view the event schedule and register online.

The Inclusion and Equity Institute offers free, dynamic, and helpful workshops on a variety of topics. For a complete list of upcoming workshops and to RSVP, visit the Inclusion and Equity Institute for Lakers website.

In Case You Missed It

12/8 - Announcing the 2026 MLK Commemoration Week speakers

Important Dates and Links

Previously Shared Events
2/10 - Faculty Awards Convocation - 4:00 p.m., Loosemore Auditorium, DeVos Center, Pew Grand Rapids Campus
4/7 - SSD Keynote Address - 4:00 p.m., Pere Marquette Room, Kirkhof Center, Allendale Campus
4/8 - Student Scholars Day

Dates
1/19 - Martin Luther King, Jr. Day Recess
2/23-27 - Mid-term Evaluations
3/8-14 - Spring Break
4/25-5/2 - Examination Week
5/1 & 5/2 - Commencement 

Links
Lakers Ready - repository of this newsletter and a link to submit content
Laker Family Network - repository of the monthly newsletter sent by the Division of Student Affairs to GVSU parents/supporters

Lakers Ready will be distributed on the 2nd and 4th Monday of each month.