News
Faculty MI-ACE Representative: Dr. Cathy Meyer-Looze
October 26, 2023
"As a first generation born American, school was my safe place.
I learned that education was the way out of oppression, ignorance, and
cycles of abuse and poverty. Teaching and learning were my saving
grace. My vow - my life’s work - was to do what I could to provide the
same safe space of learning for others. This work landed me in PK-12
public school systems as a teacher and then as an administrator before
becoming a faculty member and Unit Head in the Educational Leadership
and Counseling department at GVSU.
What led me to apply for the role of Institutional Representative
to MI-ACE was both for personal and professional reasons. My current
research agenda is looking at the role of superintendent in PK12
schools, understand why the role is still primarily male, and what can
we do to elevate and support female superintendents and school
administrators. The number of women superintendents across the state
is in the minority and this is no exception to rural Northern
Michigan. While we celebrate the increased number of women
superintendents in the past few years, we seem to lose them as soon as
we get them into the seats. The reasons are varied, and turning this
around by first understanding and then providing supports is what is
driving me.
The personal reason is raising a daughter. While I would like to
think I modeled some breaking of glass ceilings as it relates to being
an adult (career) woman, I realized that there are still more to
shatter. The pandemic highlighted this for me as I was "bringing
home the bacon and frying it up in the pan" and realized that
doing "it all" was not sustainable.
The Women's Commission prides itself on "advocating for all
women on campus by acting on their issues and by promoting equity and
social justice." The desire is to take the learning from my
scholarly agenda into my role at GVSU and as an Institutional
Representative. First, I seek to understand. Then, look for
opportunities and strategies to continue to advocate in the spaces
where it is needed.
The Women's Commission is committed to elevating intersectional
understanding, promoting inclusion, and celebrating diversity on
GVSU's campus. This is something that our Educational Leadership
program has been committed to as well. I would love to say we have
"it all figured out" and that our demographics represent
diversity. While there has been slight improvement, it is not where
any of us wish to be. I do know that this can be achieved with
intentionality. When inviting others to professional learning or like
sessions, we need to be intentional about the inclusivity of others.
Ensure that ALL voices are welcome to the table AND heard. Two
strategies that I have used in my classroom and in leadership
facilitation are the use of dialogue protocols and communication
strategies through Relational Cultural theory and the Process
Communication model.
The journey from PK-12 to higher education has been an empowering
one. I began my career in education wanting to “make a difference” in
the life of a child - wanting to create a safe and secure environment
for my classroom of children in which they could learn and grow. 25
years later, I am able to create the capacity in others to grow and
lead so that more children can feel safe and exceed the limits of
their potential. Grand Valley State University is an exceptional place
to be able to facilitate this leading and learning in others, and I
will continue this as the faculty Institutional Representative.
I am grateful and humbled by this opportunity. I wouldn't be
honest if I didn't say I was a little bit intimidated and fearful as
well. I take this work seriously and wish to fulfill the expectations
of the role. I look forward to collaborating with others to do just that."