This website provides updates on the work of our BIPOC Task Forces, which have made significant strides in addressing priorities from the Black Student Town Hall in Winter 2024.

• Participation: 70 students, faculty, and staff, including 5 members of the SLT participated over the summer in 7 task forces.
• Accomplishments: Performed review of existing practices, leading to the formulation of multiple detailed recommendations seeking to enhance diversity, equity, and inclusion throughout the university.
• Recommendations: Focused on 44 areas (some overlap between groups) such as enrollment engagement, diversity among faculty and staff, student support, DEI training, and university branding. These recommendations will be factored into upcoming prioritization and budget discussions.
• Continuation of Efforts: Oversight of implementation will be managed by the I&E Activation & Accountability Leadership Team (AALT), Strategic Enrollment Management Plan (SEMP) team, and Division of Student Affairs for relevant recommendations. The new Vice President for People, Equity, and Culture will play a pivotal role in ensuring the sustainability and alignment of ongoing initiatives. Specific task forces like marketing and branding will evolve into more formal advisory bodies to relevant areas.

• University DEI-AB Framework  (Student AFFAIRS, FTLC)
• University Libraries
  • Library IDEA committee active since 2017
  • Focus to structural and policy inequity and user education and engagement using the MCOD model
  • Paid BIPOC committee formed to investigate decision-making structures
  • Library faculty include a DEI-related goal in their Faculty Work Plan
• Seidman College of Business
  • HBCU articulation agreements for graduate programs
  • DEI initiatives in hiring processes
  • Commitment to track the number of minoritized faculty members and students 
• College of Education and Community Innovation
  • Committee on anti-racism and social justice meets monthly
• Brooks College of Interdisciplinary Studies
  • DEI taskforce administered a questionnaire to faculty in summer and fall of 2023
• College of Liberal Arts and Sciences (CLAS)
  • CLAS DEI-AB Committee meets monthly starting in Winter 2023
  • All CLAS Unit Heads were asked to create a DEI-AB Plan starting in Fall 2022
• Kirkhof College of Nursing
  • Working on the creation of a DEI committee as of Fall 2023
  • Implementing a holistic approach to admissions that removes some biases

Grand Valley State University is committed to fostering an environment where faculty, staff, and students can thrive.  Feedback and insights are invaluable in helping us achieve this goal. We believe that faculty satisfaction plays a crucial role in the overall success of our institution. Their perspectives on various aspects of their academic journeys are vital to shaping a more fulfilling and supportive work environment.  For this reason, GVSU has joined The Collaborative on Academic Careers in Higher Education (COACHE) for 2023-2026./ This is a long-term project at the Harvard University’s Graduate School of Education, led by R. Todd Benson, focusing on faculty. 

As part of the collaboration, during Winter semester 2024, faculty were asked to participate in COACHE’s Faculty Job Satisfaction Survey./ COACHE will provide to GVSU diagnostic reports and regular consultations with the COACHE team on how to make meaning and act from the data.  In Fall 2024, GVSU faculty will be engaged to review the findings and to start to make changes. 

Over the past few years, the university has heard various feedback through faculty fora, the Climate Survey, and faculty governance. Now, we want to dive deeper to better understand how we can improve the faculty experience at GVSU.