Welcome to the Equity & Inclusion Committee

4 members of the Teach in Group C#11 standing in a circle smiling

WHAT IS THE EQUITY AND INCLUSION COMMITTEE ?

We are the latest governing committee created in 2017. Our Committee works to ensure that the voice of the faculty is continually heard by the University Academic Senate on question of Equity and Inclusion.

The Equity and Inclusion Committee is comprised of 11 faculty members representing the different colleges and the library, an undergraduate and a graduate student from the Student Senate, and 6 members of the administration (ex officio).

Mission:  The role of the Equity and Inclusion Committee is to promote and facilitate faculty involvement in support of a healthy and equitable campus climate.  The committee accomplishes its role by engaging in social justice and diversity issues on campus, including but not limited to:

  • Advising UAS on policies and practices to recruit, support and retain a diverse faculty, staff, and student body (e.g., reviewing the Affirmative Action Plan on an annual basis).
  • Organizing and running events to promote awareness of the importance of social justice and campus diversity (e.g., the Teach-in).
  • Identifying faculty for the various university awards related to diversity.
  • Fostering faculty involvement in student recruitment and retention efforts(e.g., working with pipeline, bridge, student support, and curricular programs).
  • Serving as a liaison with the Division of Inclusion and Equity and Student Senate Diversity Affairs Committee.

BIPOC Task Forces

January 2025

To streamline work and improve accountability, we're evolving existing teams and shifting responsibility to our Black Student Union (BSU) and Division of People, Equity, and Culture (PEC). This collaborative approach empowers BSU and PEC to work with faculty, staff, and students to ensure a more accountable university community with greater transparency and clearer communication.

As we move forward with these efforts, we welcome you to engage with us. You can share questions, ideas, or feedback through this  BIPOC Task Force feedback form . We deeply appreciate the contributions of our student colleagues, faculty, staff, SLT, and mentors alike who have supported this work and continue to do so. Together, we can ensure that progress is sustained for future generations of students.

 

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.

DEI-AB Initiatives in different Colleges

  • University DEI-AB Framework  (Student AFFAIRS, FTLC)
  • In 2024, the University has appointed a Vice-President for People, Equity and Culture : Dr Robert Shorty
  • University Libraries
    • Focus on structural and policy inequity and user education and engagement using the MCOD model
    • 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
    • Under Mission and Vision, they have guiding principles, priorities, one of which is educational equity, and an objectives dashboard with 2026 objectives and measures starting 2022. Key indicators are for example retention from year 1 to year for different polulations of students, diversity in Honors college, etc.
  • College of Liberal Arts and Sciences (CLAS)
  • Kirkhof College of Nursing
  • Increasing Accessibility:
    • Holistic admissions being improved and leveraged across undergraduate and graduate programs to increase inclusivity
    • Efforts to make nursing education more accessible for students from disadvantaged and diverse backgrounds through support from two HRSA grants.
  • Diversifying Faculty:
    • One current HRSA grant also supports an objective to develop a plan for diversifying faculty; work is in progress.
  • Faculty & Staff Development:
    • Hosted a Holistic Nursing Student Success Workshop (Fall 2023) to improve student success and retention.
    • Faculty Learning Community with representation from nursing, the library, and PT/OT. The group read the book DEI Deconstructed and now using the workbook Reconstructing DEI. It is our goal to take these lessons learned to inform next steps.
  • Increasing Community Awareness of Racism in Nursing:
    • Planning a SHIFT film screening and panel discussion (April 2025), Everybody’s Work: Healing What Hurts Us All, to explore the impact of racism in nursing.
  • Curriculum Efforts:
    • Study underway related to integration and scaffolding of LGBTQ+ health across undergraduate curriculum
  • DEI Climate Efforts:
    • Launching the AACN Lamp Culture & Climate Survey (Winter 2025) to evaluate diverse experiences and foster belonging.
    • Hiring underway for DEIB coordinator (title TBD)
    • DEIB taskforce (title TBD) forming
  •  College of Health Professions(CHP))
  • College of Computing
    • will launch the WAIVE lab for inclusive accessibility
  • Padnos College of Engineering

COACHE

COACHE Steering Committee

The COACHE Steering Committee 2.0 has identified an outside facilitator to work with GVSU Senior Leadership Team, faculty, staff, and students to rebuild the structures and the underlying trust that form the basis for best-in-class shared governance. We selected The Change Leader. For the next 2 months, The Change Leader will be working with GVSU to co-design an Engagement and Action Plan. To do so, they will interview members of the COACHE Steering Team, UAS/ECS, Provost’s Cabinet, and Senior Leadership Team.

From these interviews, they will co-design a set of half-day workshops to be conducted in late March. These workshops will focus on building shared trust with an understanding that action and resolution of existing problems is a key part of that process. We expect to have specific dates and times of workshops determined by late February. Please keep an eye out for invitations to participate.

 

The full report is now available

Next Steps

The next step is to launch a co-design process involving the COACHE Steering Committee, currently elected faculty leaders, the Provost’s Cabinet, and the Senior Leadership Team. This collaborative effort between administrators, tenure track, and affiliate faculty will focus on creating an engagement framework. To ensure a constructive and impartial approach, we will pursue a facilitated process determined collaboratively. 

In addition to establishing venues for engagement, the planning process will identify key focus areas for discussion and action. These focus areas will be informed by the previous COACHE faculty listening sessions as well as the discussions held by the COACHE Steering Committee with the Provost’s Cabinet and the Senior Leadership Team. An initial outline of a plan is provided below; a finalized engagement plan will be shared in early January.  

This approach reflects a commitment to collective effort and community strengthening, ensuring that the path forward is inclusive, collaborative, and impactful. Here is the expected timeline: 

  • December 2024: Co-Design the Engagement and Action Plan outline and select facilitator(s)   
  • January 2025: Initiate Constructive Dialogue Engagement and Refine Action Plan   
  • February – March 2025: Deploy Engagement and Action Plan   
  • By April 2025: Present Recommendations and Next Steps for Change   

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. 

Events

LGBTQ Foundations, Level IV: Make NOISE

February 18, 2025 11:00 AM - 1:30 PM

In the "Make NOISE" session, participants will focus on developing strategic action plans to integrate LGBTQIA+ inclusion into their leadership practices. Through interactive activities and...

Know Your Rights

February 19, 2025 9:00 AM - 11:00 AM

Participants will learn what constitutional rights you hold, whether or not you are a citizen of the United States. The presenters will share when and how to exercise those rights and how...

Creative Wellness - harnessing the power of creativity for personal and community well-being

February 19, 2025 11:00 AM - 12:30 PM

The contemporary world is a stressful place to live. This is particularly true for those of use with one or more marginalized identities and/or involved in advocacy and activism work. Chronic stress...

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Spotlights

A more inclusive Navigation future Spotlight

A more inclusive Navigation future

Grand Valley's College of Computing will launch the Wayfinding, Accessible Interaction and Virtual Environment (WAIVE) Lab in the fall 2025 semester. \

Student Engagement Spotlight

Student Engagement

The MnoChigewin: Native Student Success Program is a network for students who self-identify as Native American.

Civic Engagement at GVSU Spotlight

Civic Engagement at GVSU

The GVSU Civic Engagement Collective

View More Spotlights

Check the learning opportunities offered by the I&E Institute



Page last modified November 3, 2024