We found 80 results that contain "belonging"

Leadership Fellows

2016-2018: Megan Jackson
2017-2019: Dominik Neuman
2019-2020: Matthew Klein
2021-2022: Radhika Sen

Megan Jackson (2016-2018)Megan’s work as the first Communication Arts & Sciences Leadership Development Fellow established strong connections with Dean Prabu David as she supported his goal of improving the graduate student experience. Together, they began a 1-credit course to increase awareness of college offerings and university resources, socialize students in the college, and begin to build community. Further, Megan worked with the college’s only GSO, The Association of Graduate Students in Communication (AGSCOM), to facilitate its official recognition as an RSO and supported Karen Cleveland’s new GSO in the Department of Media & Information. A September 2017 meeting between Megan, Dean David, and Matt Helm, the Director of Graduate Student Life & Wellness at the time, led to a social event held at the college that saw graduate students sharing lunch and discussing plans for future social events held off-campus. 
Megan concluded her 2017 report with a reflection on change and the individual; “The success of graduate student collaboration, community, and leadership development is immensely dependent upon an individual, like the fellow, leading the effort within the college. [The] impact of the first year fellow in the college is highly visible as the Dean stated one of his top 5 goals for this academic year to be improving the graduate student experience. Change does not happen, change is led. With the fellow in place, this organic change is within reach and the immensely positive outcomes will be seen for years to come.”Dominik Neuman (2017-2019)During the first year of his Fellowship, Dominik Neumann built on Megan’s work creating social events for grad students in the College of Communication Arts & Sciences by hosting an event series called “Communication on Tap” at local bars in East Lansing where graduate students could share their research while tying in personal stories or humorous anecdotes in a laid-back and relaxed setting. This work-free space for socialization was organized following a survey to the college’s PhD students that determined the events could foster a sense of togetherness and community while working to overcome the feeling of disconnection graduate students perceive between their professional and personal lives.
Dominik began the second year of his Fellowship developing a peer-mentoring system and handbook for the college. His initial survey to PhD students demonstrated the need for individual mentorship, as compared to committee- or group-based support. Domink decided to create a “buddy system” for incoming students in the College of Communication Arts and Sciences. Buddies served to create respectful relationships and an open dialogue that could help incoming graduate students navigate East Lansing, campus resources, classroom dialogues, and other issues that may be relevant for the student.
Matthew Klein (2019-2020)As the third Fellow for the College of Communication Arts & Sciences, Matthew Klein worked closely with a faculty member within the College on a college-wide project looking at the impact of inclusive language on syllabi. Matthew was invested in contributing to College-level efforts related to inclusion, and in collaboration with his key stakeholders, he decided that a mixed-methods study would best serve them in pushing future initiatives forward. Matthew and his stakeholders intend to launch this study after the completion of his Fellowship year.
Radhika Sen (2021-2022)Radhika created Imagine MSU, an initiative that provided graduate students funding to enhance the graduate student community. Grounded in an awareness that a thriving university community is one in which a great variety of lived experiences and perspectives find voice, Radhika’s project aimed to build a stronger culture of belonging among students (which research indicates is a major indicator of student success and retention) at MSU by encouraging creative problem solving and student leadership and supporting the pursuit of innovative community‐building ideas prototyped and implemented in collaboration with students. Radhika applied for and received a Creating Inclusive Excellence Grant from MSU for $5,000. She also partnered with the Graduate School to access additional funds. She recruited a steering committee of faculty who reviewed 25 applications from graduate students and selected 3 projects to fund. The first project aimed to increase a sense of community amongst graduate students in the English department as well as learning how DEI issues intersect with research and writing. They proposed to hold several writing retreats and to bring in a speaker whose work focuses on indigenous studies. The second project proposed developing an LGBTQ+ History course for the MSU History department and developing LGBTQ+ culturally-responsive training for faculty and TAs to incorporate LGBTQ+ history into their current courses and support students in the College of Social Sciences. The third project proposed the creation of a multi-authored Spartan Zine series reflecting on the experiences of MSU graduate students during the pandemic in the hopes of both fostering belonging while honoring difference.
 

An assessment in the commons is a self-contained learning object that may contain youtube videos, quizzes, embedded files or other things. 
 
To create one select the add button in the upper right-hand corner of the screen and select “Assessment.”
 
Here you will be given similar options to creating a post or an article where you can provide an image, a title, an introduction to the learning object, which group it should belong to, its category and its visibility. 
 
Continuing allows you to create a sequence of individual pages that may have media at the top and text below.
 
You can publish from here or select save and exit. 
 
Note that currently, hitting save and exit will allow you to go back to the learning object and add more pages along with self-assessment questions as needed. 
 

 

Title: Incorporating equitable pedagogy into your classroomPresenter: Valerie Hedges (Physiology); Casey Henley (Neuroscience & Physiology)

Description: Increasing diversity, equity, and inclusion initiatives in higher education aim to cultivate learning spaces where all students have the ability to thrive and succeed. Our learning community, Equitable Pedagogy: Removing Barriers to Learning, has spent the year reviewing methods for making the classroom more inclusive. In this workshop, we want to share those practices with our participants. Many components of our course design can affect our students’ perceptions of belonging. This workshop will explore how we as instructors can choose to be more equitable in our classrooms towards the creation of more inclusive learning environments. Our focus will be on the course syllabus as a framework to discuss the many ways in which we as instructors can better address issues of equity. Topics will include language and tone of the syllabus, flexible course structure options, fair attendance and late work policies, providing opportunities for collaboration and social connectedness, instructor presence, and equitable grading policies. Participants should bring their course syllabus to the workshop to annotate as we openly discuss practical ways to increase equity and inclusion within our courses. The workshop is relevant to in-person, online, and hybrid courses.

Title: Compassionate Teaching Practices: Cultivating Appreciation, Care, and KindnessPresenters: Stefanie T. Baier; Samara Chamoun (Department of Mathematics); Hima Rawal (Second Language Studies)Format: WorkshopDate: May 10th, 2023Time: 10:00 am - 11:15 am Room: 2201Description:As Parker Palmer says, “The connections made by good teachers are held not in their methods, but in their hearts – meaning hearts in its ancient sense, as the place where intellect and emotion and sprit will converge in the human self,” this workshop focuses on compassionate teaching practices. These practices, which encourage positive interactions and create a learning environment reducing stress and anxiety, are generally not taught in any pedagogy seminar but are cultivated by the instructor. These practices can be embedded in our day-to-day teaching irrespective of any subject or content we teach, can take on various forms, including check-ins about feeling states and stress-levels, contemplative practices, and small acts of appreciation, care and kindness. Reinhard Haller (2019) established the “Seven Steps of Appreciation”, recognizing that humans need to be attended to first and then treated with mindfulness, respect, and acknowledgement in order to feel valued. Only when all these steps are in place, trust can be built which fosters mutual appreciation and creates a space of connection and belonging, both of which are important for student learning and engagement. In the spirit of many holistic educators like Parker Palmer, bell hooks, Nell Noddings, Peter Kaufman and Janine Schipper, participants are invited to share in a space that looks at the whole learner who can be present in the body, mind and spirit (hooks, 1994). The participants of this workshop will have the opportunity to practice care, kindness, gratitude, and take a number of compassionate practices back to their instructional spaces for immediate implementation. 

Photo by Tra Nguyen on Unsplash
 
The first day of class sets the tone for the entire semester. Student achievement is directly tied to how well a teacher establishes and implements classroom procedures, norms, and behaviors. Plan carefully for the first day of class, and implement those plans with energy, kindness, and rigor.
*note: distancing and other precautions required during the COVID19 pandemic may influence how some of these tips look in your face-to-face/hybrid classes 
Post a schedule and objectives 

Arrive early to prep the room
Objectives and agenda give students a sense of direction

Put students to work

Give students a meaningful task to complete immediately 
Set the tone for productivity to give students purpose

Assign seats

Place students intentionally so they can function as groups
Give students a sense of place in the room

Greet students at the door

Welcome students as they enter, introducing yourself
Interact personally to give students a sense of belonging

“You will either win or lose your class on the first days of school.” Wong, H. K., & Wong, R. T. (1998). The First Days of School: How to Be an Effective Teacher.
The first day is your only shot to define the terms of the class. What is the subject matter? What are the most important ideas? What does a successful student look like? Instill in the students a growth mindset and make it clear to them that they have a voice and they need to use it in class daily.
Review critical procedures

Set expectations of students, defining their boundaries
Let students voice their expectations

Teach students how to learn

Define what learning looks like in your class
Chart a path for success and give students agency

Focus on ways of being

Let the first day be about role setting
Define classroom culture before addressing subject matter

Engage in goal setting

Show students what they’ll know by semester’s end
Have students write their goals for the class

 
Resources
https://bit.ly/2VKzsYI
https://bit.ly/2bwXTPb
https://bit.ly/2PIMyjx
https://bit.ly/2GPWy6F

The following is a list of the educators receiving the #iteachmsu Educator Award from the College of Agriculture and Natural Resources. For more information on these awards, check out the article entitled "#iteachmsu Educator Awards".
Jenifer Fenton: Jenifer is a fantastic mentor and constantly seeks out new pedagogical information to pass on to others. Her knowledge and direction really helped me improve my summer asynchronous online courses, and current and upcoming synchronous online courses. Additionally, she was fundamental in the redesign of our Nutritional Sciences major.
Tatiana Thomas: In a very challenging semester, Tati committed to helping me with ANS 300E, animal welfare judging. She served as both a ULA, an assistant coach for the judging team, and in both roles was a huge help to me. She came to each class with a positive attitude, always encouraging and ready to support the students and instructor. In her role as a ULA, Tati created a mock welfare scenario for the students and monitored their fact sheet submissions providing valuable practice and important feedback to the students. With such a trying semester for me, the quality of this course would have suffered had it not been for Tati. A million times over, thank you.
Jessica Kiesling: Jessica seems to be an endless well of patience, positivity, and productivity. She gives students meaningful assignments, path-plowing networking opportunities, and much-needed grace as we stumble our way into the professional world. I am so grateful to have Jessica as advisor and instructor, and the animal science community is so lucky to have her! Thank you, Jessica!
Scott Winterstein: I would like to give a huge shoutout to Dr. Winterstein for being the most exemplary mentor for the past 3 years and for his unparalleled dedication to excellence in teaching that I have witnessed the past 2 years as his Undergraduate Learning Assistant (ULA).
I met Dr. Winterstein when I was a freshman psychology major in his ISB202 course. Dr. Winterstein’s ISB202 course and our discussions after class strengthened my passion for environmental protection and showed me that I could turn my passion into a career. Near the end of the course, I changed my major to Environmental Studies and Sustainability. Now a graduating senior, Dr. Winterstein has been an amazing mentor to me and has completely shaped my career goals and introduced me to all the amazing opportunities the College of Agriculture and Natural Resources (CANR) has to offer.
I have had the pleasure of working as his ULA for the last 4 semesters. In this role, I have seen him consistently go above and beyond for his students. He is incredibly committed to spreading his love of environmental science and supporting every one of his students. Dr. Winterstein’s work ethic and devotion to creating the best academic experience for his students is unparalleled. Especially during the COVID-19 pandemic and transition to online learning, I have seen many classes decline in quality and effort. For his ISB202 sections, I have only seen Dr. Winterstein dedicate more time and effort to perfecting his course. Moreover, he seriously takes into consideration the end of the semester surveys every time. Although he already has recorded lectures from the last two semesters online he could easily use, he re-records them every week adding new information and slight changes he makes based on survey results and careful analysis. He is extremely understanding of student difficulties, organized, and well-read. Additionally, I have seen many professors throughout my years at MSU change office hours to by appointment only, understandably, due to a lack of participation. When students would not show up to office hours due to zoom exhaustion, Dr. Winterstein opened up an extra office hour day in hopes of fitting student’s schedules better. He is always open to talking to his students about questions, related or unrelated to the course. And, many students have shared how fascinating and inspirational his memories about the history of the environmental movement and his own research is. While reading feedback he received from students on how to improve the course, a common trend I found was a deep appreciation of how enjoyable he made the science lectures through his humor and clear passion. He teaches in a way that is easily digestible to non-science major students and stimulating enough to convince me and many others to switch to science majors.
As a mentor, Dr. Winterstein has changed my life for the better. Always more than happy to help, I have asked Dr. Winterstein for endless letter of recommendation requests and his references has helped me secure over $8,000 in scholarships. Not to mention, he always forwards workshops/conferences he finds relating to environmental protection and my goals that he thinks may be of interest to me. Moreover, this year Dr. Winterstein offered to serve as the faculty advisor for my personal gap year project, a clean drinking water initiative in Mfangano Island, Kenya. Since, he has helped me apply to grants that could fund clean drinking water for 700+ residents and helped me secure an amazing summer internship.
Professor Winterstein is clearly in the top 1% of professors I have encountered at MSU based on both his dedication to his subject matter and unwavering passion in helping his students succeed. Personally, he helped me tremendously in growing from a confused freshman to a passionate and experienced professional with a clear career goal and life purpose. To be frank, MSU was not my top choice, but now I am graduating with an overwhelming sense of belonging within the CANR and forever proud to be a Spartan. His passion in helping his students inspired me to be a student mentor to a handful of CANR students and to pitch a mentorship program to the CANR Alumni Association which they will be pursuing. Thank you Dr. Winterstein for all that you do. I know the trajectory of my entire life has been significantly improved thanks to your course and mentorship. It is educators like you that make the world go round!
Aakanksha Melkani: Aakanksha is an amazing peer: she is a skillful, thoughtful woman who is as much fun to work with as she is to eat a meal or chat with! Aakanksha helps address the concerns of graduate students in her role as AFRE Graduate Student Organization Vice President. Her research work focuses on understanding marketing decisions in Zambia and trade of agricultural inputs. Aakanksha really represents excellence in all its forms :)
April Athnos: GTA April Athnos chooses to be an “usher” rather than a “gatekeeper” to knowledge for students of Ecological Economics (EEM 255). She welcomes students to identify environmental challenges and uncover the economic factors underpinning them. Said one student, “April used a variety of teaching methods, to promote an inclusive learning experience for all different types of students.” April makes the time to tailor the course to individual student needs, so that another student, “had the opportunity to write a research paper on the topic of the Coronavirus outbreak and its impact on the U.S. economy for my Honors Project.”
Ankita Bhattacharya: Ankita, is the true example of a graduate student. She started in the department as a Masters student and just recently transferred into the PhD program. Several semesters she has held the position as a TA for FSC 430, with the instructor giving her rave reviews. Ankita, is a kind student that always has a smile on her face.
Sihan Bu:

Sihan is a fantastic teaching assistant. She was instrumental in the process of converting a course from in-class to synchronous online, even though she had never assisted with the course prior. The course has a lot of "moving parts", and I was very impressed with her ability to adapt and provide input. Sihan completed every task bestowed upon her, and readily took the initiative when needed. Additionally, she has been a reference for me in using R for a course I am teaching this spring. I had never used R before, and I would often reach out to her inquiring about specific codes.


Sihan is such a kind person and always has a smile. She received her MS at MSU and is continuing on with her PhD. She has contributed to several different studies within the department and with a previous FSHN student at Wayne State University.

Rick Jorgensen: Rick, is one of the most delightful, enjoyable students to be around. He has continued to keep a 4.0 GPA, His first project was to establish a IgE-Western blot method for studying wheat allergenicity. He has presented at the AAI meeting. Is a co-author on an abstract, a co-author on 2 peer-reviewed papers, the list continues on. He is also the student representative for FSHN GAC, all this while being a TA for the fall and spring semesters.
Srishti LNU: From the time Srishti entered the MS program she has had a smile on her face. Almost everyday she would stop by my desk to just say Hi and have a short conversation. This is her last semester as she will be graduating, while I am so excited for her and her future, it is sad to see her go.
Chia-Lun Yang: Chia-Lun is planning on graduating summer semester. Her career goal is to become a nutrition scientist, delivering knowledge to the general public. We have no doubt that she will meet and exceed her expectations. Chia was/is a great addition to FSHN, always kind, always smiling and always helpful.
Lucas Krusinski: Lucas is in his second year and has maintained a 4.0 GPA. He is overseeing projects and training other student in techniques and completed work on two funded grants. He also presented his research findings at the annual meeting of the American Association of Animal Science, his abstract was published in their journal. FSHN is lucky to have Lucas as a Grad student.
Alyssa Harben: Alyssa Harben has engaged opportunities across the mission (teaching, research and service) more deeply than any other student that I have had the privilege to mentor. She is critical player in our research, collecting and analyzing data as well as mentoring students and actively engaging community partners. She is an excellent teacher former FAST fellow, who has engaged in critical inquiry related to teaching and learning. All of this has led to the creation of new knowledge and new scientists. Her enthusiasm is as endless as her energy and it has been to my benefit to have known her.
Anyone can recognize a fellow Spartan for their contributions to MSU's teaching and learning mission or for how they made a lasting impression on your experience. All you have to do is click "Thank an Educator" in the left panel of iteach.msu.edu. From there you'll see a short form where you can enter the name, netID, and a short story of the educator you'd like to recognize

Spartan 365 (also known as Office 365) is a suite of Microsoft Office software available to staff, faculty, and students that is configured for MSU’s unique environment. Spartan 365 offers robust features, a secure, collaborative environment, and the ability to use on multiple devices.
This software is provided to individuals when they become affiliated with MSU and removed when they leave employment or graduate. MSU Email may be retained for individuals that formally retire from the university or have graduated after June of 2015*. Details about the Spartan 365 service offering can be found here. Additional information is available here.
Below are some of the available Spartan 365 tools. Additional Spartan 365 tools are being reviewed and will be rolled out in the future. You can log in to your Spartan 365 account at spartan365.msu.edu.
 
Chat & Collaboration
Teams
Teams is the chat-based workspace tool that allows you to manage all of your conversations, files, and tools in one team workspace. This tool can be used across multiple devices.
Available for faculty, researchers, staff, and students.
Access Teams at spartan365.msu.edu and learn more about Microsoft Teams.
Collaboration & File Storage
Spartan Drive
Spartan Drive offers users a simple way to store, sync and share files with other people and devices. The files stored in Spartan Drive can be accessed directly from a web browser or from an operating system.
Available for students, faculty, researchers, and staff.
Access Spartan Drive at spartan365.msu.edu and learn more about Spartan Drive.
Delve
Delve helps you manage your Spartan 365 profile, and to discover and organize the information that’s likely to be most interesting to you right now – across Office 365
Available for students, faculty, researchers, and staff.
Access Delve at spartan365.msu.edu and learn more about Delve.
SharePoint
SharePoint is a web-based, collaborative platform that integrates with Spartan 365 products. This tool can be used to create an intranet or team site.
Available for faculty, researchers, and staff.
Access SharePoint at spartan365.msu.edu and learn more about SharePoint.
Office Tools
OneNote
OneNote is a digital notebook you can use across multiple devices or through any web browser. OneNote automatically saves and synchronizes your notes and allows you the ability to share and collaborate.
Available for students, faculty, researchers, and staff.
Access OneNote at spartan365.msu.edu and learn more about OneNote.
Sway
Sway allows you to design and create presentations that will be presented primarily onscreen rather than to an audience.
Available for students, faculty, researchers, and staff.
Access Sway at spartan365.msu.edu and learn more about Sway.
Forms
Forms allows you to create surveys, quizzes, and polls, and to easily see results as they come in. When you create a quiz or form, you can invite others to respond to it using any web browser, even on mobile devices.
Available for students, faculty, researchers, and staff.
Access Forms at spartan365.msu.edu and learn more about Forms.
PowerApps
PowerApps is a suite of apps, services, connectors, and data platforms that provides a rapid application development environment to build custom apps for your business needs.
Using PowerApps, you can quickly build custom business apps that connect to your business data stored either in the underlying data platform (Microsoft Dataverse) or in various online and on-premises data sources (SharePoint, Microsoft 365, Dynamics 365, SQL Server, and so on).
Access PowerApps at spartan365.msu.edu and learn more about PowerApps.
Power Automate
Power Automate is a tool that allows you to automate workflows and streamline processes.
With Power Automate, you can automate business processes, send automatic reminders for tasks, move business data between systems, and more.
Access Power Automate at spartan365.msu.edu and learn more about Power Automate.
Office Pro Plus Licenses
MSU licensed Spartan 365 Office Pro Plus software (including Word, Excel, PowerPoint, OneNote, Sway, and Outlook) for use by the MSU community at no added cost. This software is available for Mac, PC, and mobile devices.

Departmental use – Available for download at msu.edu
Undergraduate Student use – Available for download when students log into their Spartan Mail/Spartan 365 accounts
Graduate Student use – Available for download at msu.edu
Faculty/Staff use – Available for download at msu.edu

Spartan Mail
Spartan Mail (Microsoft Outlook and Campus Exchange) is the official email client of MSU available for all MSU faculty, staff, undergraduate, and graduate students. It provides management of email and calendaring features in a common environment. Spartan Mail replaced the legacy email system previously accessed through mail.msu.edu.
Access your account at spartanmail.msu.edu or through Spartan 365 using the Outlook app.
Spartan Mail offers benefits:

Email, calendaring, security, and collaboration features across your devices
Up to 25GB of data storage
Access to the Spartan 365 suite of tools at msu.edu

Learn more about Spartan Mail and MSU Mail Protection.
Data Protections
Microsoft’s Enterprise Agreement for Spartan 365 provides compliance with the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA) and Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA). This means student and health information are protected and onshore data storage is ensured.
As part of MSU’s Spartan 365 agreement, Microsoft will not mine individual data and will only access that data for troubleshooting needs or malware prevention.
Spartan 365 customer data belongs to individuals and they can export their data at any time.
*Note: The terms of these service offerings are subject to change. Termination of services will be preceded by a two-week notice whenever possible.

Moderating the Meeting

Passwords are on by default for all MSU Zoom meetings.

Do not post these passwords on public websites or social media. Also note, that if you share your meeting room link with the password embedded on public websites or social media, unwanted individuals could still get in. In this case, enabling the waiting room serves as a second layer of security in that you (or a moderator) can admit only those you wish to allow to participate.
Check your participant list during the meeting.


When necessary, talk about confidential data, but do not directly share it. Your connection is only encrypted between you and the service provider.
If security concerns exist, consider:

Disabling File Transfer
Hiding Telephone Numbers
Visit https://support.zoom.us/hc/en-us/articles/115005759423 for instruction


Enable Virtual Backgrounds
The moderator’s role is to help maintain control of the virtual room by interjecting as needed.
Be patient with individuals serving this role as they may need to adjust talking points during pauses and transitions, guide discussions, remind speakers to repeat questions from attendees before answering them, and/or call on people who are quiet throughout the meeting to be sure everyone has an opportunity to voice their thoughts.
Consider installing the Zoom plugin for Microsoft Outlook. This allows for a more convenient way to schedule Zoom meetings via your email.
Try to keep your meetings under one hour if possible. If your meeting is going to be longer than an hour, please consider taking a short break so that everyone can stretch or take a moment to focus back in on the call.
Consider captioning options, if available. If you have difficulty hearing or members of your group do, consider incorporating closed captioning to enhance the experience and make it easier to keep up with the conversation. In some applications, captioning can also provide a record of the meeting, so it’s easier to pay attention without taking as many notes.
To report poor behavior or abuse during an online meeting, send concerns to the MSU IT Service Desk at ithelp@msu.edu.

 
Preparing for the Meeting

Make sure you have a strong Internet connection.
Consider the use of a headset for better audio quality.
Make sure you have proper lighting.
Position yourself in the center of the webcam.
Keep your background professional and distraction-free.
Dress appropriately for your meetings. While we may be working in an online environment, it is still important to wear appropriate attire when in a meeting.
Come prepared. A Zoom meeting is like any other meeting. It is still important to prepare as you would in-person.

 
During the Meeting

Mute your mic as soon as you join a call and whenever you are not speaking.
If your audio is spotty, consider turning your video off if it is enabled.
Use your spacebar to unmute your microphone when you want to talk in Zoom.

Click your profile, then click settings
Click the audio tab
Check the option “Press and hold SPACE key to temporarily unmute yourself.”


Maintain eye contact with the webcam.
Turn your video off if you are doing something that may distract other people on your call.
Keep movement to a minimum.
Avoid eating.
Be courteous and considerate of those attending.
Act and talk as you would at work.
Try not to multi-task.
Take advantage of the chat feature to ask a question when someone else is speaking.
Raise your hand in the camera, use “raise hand” features or send a message using the chat or other messaging tool (Teams, Zoom, etc.) to indicate you would like to speak.

 
For additional best practices, check out this Zoom Blog: https://blog.zoom.us/wordpress/2020/03/04/best-practices-for-hosting-a-digital-event/