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***This is part of a series of articles compiling useful resources and information for new graduate students. Some of the information in this series will be relevant for anybody new to MSU, including undergraduates, postdocs, faculty and staff. The topical areas range from settling into East Lansing and Michigan, getting to know which services can be found on campus to administrative steps and information needed throughout a graduate program at MSU. For the full series, see this playlist dedicated to (international) graduate students.***
 
By Bus
The local bus service is called CATA. CATA also operates the busses on campus. They have an App called Transit that is useful but can be a bit confusing in the beginning and is not always 100% accurate in my experience. So don’t wait until the last second to get to the bus stop!
On-campus bus services are free to use.
Off-campus bus services have a reduced fee for students. You pay the driver 60 Cents which includes free transfers. Make sure to say you are a student and have your student ID ready to show to get that reduced fee. You can only pay in cash but no worries if you don’t have the exact amount, you will get the change back as a ticket to use next time. If you use the bus often, it might be worth buying a semester pass.
A note on busses…
Busses in the US don’t stop at every bus stop, you will have to signal the bus driver when you want to get off. In most busses, this is done by pulling the yellow cord that runs along the windows. Some of the newer busses have “Stop” buttons on the handrails. Make sure to signal early enough!
By car
Getting a car might be a convenient option for you. Remember to purchase insurance for your car!
If you drive to campus, make sure to get a parking permit or if you only come in occasionally to park at visitor parking spots.
As an international student, you will probably have to get an American driver’s license. This is also good as identification here (better than carrying around your passport).
A note on driving…
Make sure to get familiar with the local traffic laws, e.g. surprisingly for me you can actually turn right on a red light (unless there is a sign saying otherwise).
Have you heard of the “Michigan left”? It is quite common in this state to not be able to make a left turn at an intersection. Don’t worry, you are meant to make a right turn and then a U-turn.
When driving anywhere but especially on campus: Please be a respectful driver, stick to the speed limit and look out for cyclists and pedestrians especially when turning.
By Bike
The MSU campus is big! A great way, besides taking the bus, is to cycle across campus. There is a decent network of dedicated bike lanes and there are bike racks to lock your bike near every building.
Whether you cycle or walk, this map can be useful in navigating from building to building using the “Wayfinding” function in the top right corner.
Cycling is also a great way to explore the Lansing River Trail and beyond. The MSU Bike Shop has maps of good bike trails and lanes around town. And if you ever get caught in the rain or snow, CATA busses have bike racks on which you can transport your bike while riding the bus.
The MSU Bike Shop sells (second-hand and new), rents and repairs bikes at good prices.
You can also find second-hand bikes at the Lansing Bike Coop (also for DYI and repairs), Dicker& Deal and others. There are several dedicated bike shops around East Lansing and Lansing if you are looking for something new or high-end.
Make sure to REGISTER YOUR BIKE! There are regular checks of campus for neglected, dysfunctional or improperly parked bikes. If your bike doesn’t have a registration sticker, it will be removed.
A note on cycling on campus…
Though there are a lot of cyclists on campus, please be careful when cycling. Not every car driver looks over their shoulder when they make a turn! At the same time, please make sure to be a respectful member of traffic – follow stop lights, indicate with your arm where you are going if you’re making a turn, don’t ride on the sidewalks, park and lock your bike at bike racks only. Also, protect your head, wear a helmet! 😊
 
Long-distance travel
There are several ways you can explore Michigan and the rest of the country.
By train
The local train station is on Harrison Road, close to Spartan Village. The trains here are operated by Amtrak and are a great way to go to Chicago or Detroit. They have comfortable seats and Wi-Fi but are not the fastest.
By bus
Next to the train station, you also find a bus terminal for longer distance busses operated by Indian Trails and Greyhound (which also leaves from the main CATA bus terminal in downtown Lansing).
The Michigan Flyer that leaves from downtown East Lansing (just outside the Marriott Hotel) is a convenient way to get to Detroit Metropolitan Airport or even just to Ann Arbor for a visit.
By plane
Lansing has its own airport, the Capital Region International Airport. You can sometimes find good deals to fly from there.
Often times, flying from the Detroit Metropolitan Wayne County Airport is a cheaper option though.
It may also be worth looking at the Chicago airports, however, do keep in mind the longer travel time to get there and potential delays of trains, busses or because of traffic.

***This is part of a series of articles compiling useful resources and information for new graduate students. Some of the information in this series will be relevant for anybody new to MSU, including undergraduates, postdocs, faculty and staff. The topical areas range from settling into East Lansing and Michigan, getting to know which services can be found on campus to administrative steps and information needed throughout a graduate program at MSU. For the full series, see this playlist dedicated to (international) graduate students.***
 
Health Insurance
As an international student, you need to have health insurance. MSU will automatically enrol you in the Blue Care Network health insurance. There are only very few circumstances in which you can waive the health insurance coverage. This insurance can be used for pretty much anything except for dental and vision care.
Dental insurance is covered through Delta Dental and can be purchased in two enrolment periods (July-October for a Fall semester start and November-February for a Spring semester start). Depending on your employment type at MSU, you probably qualify for a reduced fee (i.e. MSU will pay half of the cost of coverage).
Vision insurance can be purchased any time of the year through Vision Service Plan.
I’d strongly recommend going to the Health Insurance information session organized by OISS to get a good explanation of how health insurance and the health care system work in the US. Here, I am listing just a few important words in American health insurances.
Deductible: Amount you must pay before your insurance “kicks in”. This is not applied to all services and is a yearly amount to be reached before the insurance covers the services (you may be left with Co-pays or Co-insurance payments).
Co-Pay: A fixed amount you pay for specific services. E.g. for visits to a specialist.
Co-Insurance: Your share of the cost of covered services, calculated as a percentage. This only applies to some services.
Out-of-pocket maximum: Amount to be reached beyond which the insurance pays 100% of covered services (deductible, co-pays and co-insurance payments all count towards the out-of-pocket maximum).
You can contact both OISS or the Blue Care Network representative at Olin Health Center if you have specific questions. Make sure to look at your member guide also.
Health Care Services
MSU has its own health services. The main health centre is Olin Health Center on the northern end of campus, though there are also some neighbourhood clinics dotted around campus. Students have 3 free visits at Olin per year. After that you will have to pay a Co-pay for your visits. Make sure to bring your student ID and insurance card. The doctors there can also refer you to a specialist if needed. And there is an in-house laboratory (in the basement) in case you need any blood work or other tests done. You can also get a free flu shot (i.e. vaccination) there.
There are 3 main access points to health care depending on the severity of your condition – Primary Care, Urgent Care, and the Emergency Room. See this resource for when to go where. If you are unsure where to go or need other immediate advice also after hours, there is a 24/7 phone nurse available.
Appointments, reminders for check-ups, test results, contact forms to directly communicate with your doctor, online payment for services rendered and more can be found in your online Health Portal (MyMSUHealth).
Mental Health
There are several mental health services available on MSU’s campus (free for students) as well as independently off-campus that are covered by your Blue Care Network insurance.
The Counselling and Psychiatric Services (CAPS) located at Olin Health Center offer up to 8 free visits per year for all students. They offer drop-in, mini sessions (10-15 minutes) called CAPS Connect at different locations on campus too. CAPS also organizes several support groups, including one dedicated to international students.
If you are employed by MSU (as a Graduate Research Assistant or Teaching Assistant) you are eligible to use the Employee Assistance Program (EAP). EAP offers short-term counselling services and can also refer you to counsellors outside of MSU if you are looking for more long-term/ regular support. Their services are usually limited to 6 sessions per “issue”.
There is a regular offering of mental health or wellness courses/ workshops offered through Health4You. A popular one is “Breaking free from the monkey mind” or workshops on mindfulness, stress management or emotional eating to name but a few. The exact workshops offered continuously change, so keep an eye out for e-mails from the Graduate School and check the Health4You website or sign up to their newsletter for updates.
A note on mental health…
Life gets messy sometimes and we all struggle on occasion. If you have a mental health concern, or just need someone to talk to about dealing with stress, your adjustment here, relationships (at work or in your private life), etc. PLEASE make use of the mental health services provided. In the US, there is much less of a stigma attached to seeking help for mental health issues and it is more openly talked about than in some other countries. You do not need to be in crisis in order to benefit from counselling. Note that all services are confidential.

Introduction
Quality Matters (QM) is a nationally recognized, faculty-centered, peer review process designed to certify the quality of online courses and online components. MSU purchased a campus subscription to the QM Rubric to assist faculty and instructors in creating quality courses that will improve online education and student learning. The initial pilot of using the rubric to inform course design started as an MSU partnership between the Center for Integrative Studies in General Science, College of Arts & Letters, and MSU Information Technology. Currently, MSU maintains its full subscription status on a yearly basis which provides access to the fully annotated QM Rubric and the QM Course Review Management System (CRMS). Additionally, MSU IT Academic Technology consults with faculty and instructors on applying QM standards to their courses and developing new approaches in online and blended learning.
The MSU QM Course Review Process is a faculty-driven, peer review process that emphasizes continuous quality improvement. The QM reviewers experience and review a course from a student perspective and provide feedback based on the Quality Matters Standards. See IT Instructional Technology & Development for information about course development and see IT’s Academic Technology Service Catalog to learn more about QM at MSU. 
Our course review process consists of three parts: 

a self-review done by you to get familiar with the course review process on the MyQM system. 
an internal review by a peer-reviewer to provide initial feedback on the course design. 
after any necessary changes are made and the course has run, a copy of the course can undergo an official review conducted by a team of three QM Reviewers (Master Reviewer, Subject Matter Expert and one additional Reviewer) resulting in Quality Matters Certification [cost $1,000].

Whole programs can also be QM certified whose courses have been peer-reviewed. Information on QM program certification can be found on QM’s website. 
Getting Started
Anyone at MSU can create an account through the Quality Matters website by using their msu.edu email address.
Quality Matters provides a fully annotated course standards rubric, different types of course reviews including a self-review, and discounted QM professional development through its website and MSU’s subscription.
Some of the Quality Matters resources involve added costs and official course reviews require MSU consultation first.
Course Rubric
The QM Rubric is a research-based peer review process that is widely adopted in higher education as a measure of online course quality. It offers weighted best practices in online instruction to improve course quality.
Visit the QM Higher Education Rubric, Sixth Edition to download the rubric.
The rubric is helpful as a tool to consider what elements may be missing from an online or blended course or to generate suggestions for new features.
Self-Review First
Faculty and staff can use the fully annotated, self review materials, within the MyQM CRMS (Course Review Management System). Annotations explaining each standard in greater detail can be accessed within the Self Review tool after logging in to the QM site.
This unofficial self review is a way to become more familiar with QM standards or assess a course prior to an internal or official review. You can also do pre- and post- assessments of your courses to keep a record of improvements, and a private report can be emailed once completed.
What to expect in a peer-review?
The internal and official review are almost identical. Both generally consist of the following steps:


Pre-Review Discussion


Team chair (Lead Reviewer in an internal review) contacts review members and faculty member to set up a conference call or face-to-face meeting at the beginning of the review. The purpose of the conference call/meeting is to discuss the instructor worksheet, ensure that all members have access to the course, establish the team review timeline, and answer any questions from team members before the review begins.


Review Phase


The review begins. Each team member logs into the QM Rubric website and uses the online rubric tool to record their observations about the course. Remember that you are reviewing the course from the student’s perspective. If you have questions during the review, don’t hesitate to contact your team chair.


Post-Review Discussion


Upon completion of the review, the team chair will call for the final conference. This conference will be among the review team members to discuss any discrepancies in the review and to ensure that recommendations are helpful and effective.  All individual reviews will be submitted after this meeting to compile the final report.


Post Review – Revise Course (as needed)


The team chair will submit the final review to the Campus QM Coordinator through the online QM tool. The review findings will be shared with the course instructor who then has an opportunity to respond to the review (using the course Amendment Form in the QM site). If the course does not yet meet standards, the faculty course developer/instructor works to bring the course to standards (with the assistance of an instructional designer, if desired). The review team chair then reviews the changes and determines whether or not the changes move the course to QM standards. In an internal review, revisions are made before submitting for an official review.
Steps for Internal Review
It is good practice to complete a self-review of your course before submitting for internal or official review. This is an optional step and only you see the self-review responses. For a self-review, log into the CRMS (Course Review Management System) on the QM website and use the Self Review tool to conduct a review of your own course.
When you are ready to submit a course for internal review:

Sign up for a SpartanQM Online/Blended Course Peer-Review and wait for an email response. 
Make a copy of your course to be reviewed.
Log in to MyQM at http://www.qmprogram.org/MyQM (Your login name is your email address on file with QM. If you do not have your login info choose "Forgot Username" or "Forgot Password")
Log in to the Course Review Management System (CRMS) and select “Start a Review Application” on the main screen.

Select Michigan State University.
Select David Goodrich as the QM Coordinator.
Select yourself as the Course Representative.
Select Internal Review as the review type.
Scroll down and enter course information. Select Submit Application. You will receive an email that will prompt you to complete the worksheet once it is approved.

Log in to the Course Review Management System (CRMS) to complete the Course Worksheet.
Select My Course Reviews: Open Course Reviews

Here you will choose the "View" next to the applicable course number. 
The Actions section allows you to view, edit and then submit the Course Worksheet. Select edit to input your course information. 
When finished, click “Submit Complete Worksheet.”

Your course will automatically be assigned to a Lead Reviewer who will contact you regarding the course review.
After your review, you may make any necessary changes to your QM Review course as a result of the internal review.
This review is an unofficial course review that provides feedback on meeting the QM Standards before submitting for QM recognition.

Steps for Official Review
When the course is ready for the official review:

Sign up for a SpartanQM Online/Blended Course Peer-Review and wait for an email response. 
Faculty will use the updated copy of the course that was used in the internal review. 
Log in to MyQM at http://www.qmprogram.org/MyQM (Your login name is your email address on file with QM. If you do not have your login info choose "Forgot Username" or "Forgot Password")
Log in to the Course Review Management System (CRMS) and select “Start a Review Application” on the main screen.

Select Michigan State University.
Select David Goodrich as the QM Coordinator.
Select yourself as the Course Representative.
Select QM-Managed Review as the review type. 
Scroll down and enter course information. Select Submit Application. You will receive an email that will prompt you to complete the Course Worksheet once it is approved.

Log in to the Course Review Management System (CRMS) to complete the Course Worksheet.
Select My Course Reviews, Open Course Reviews. 

Here you will choose the "View" next to the applicable course number.
The Actions section allows you to view, edit and then submit the Course Worksheet. Select edit to input your course information.
If you completed an internal review inside the CRMS, you can copy your internal review worksheet.

MSU staff will add the QM review team to the QM Review Course. This can take up to two weeks.
The Course Representative (faculty course developer/instructor) meets virtually or by phone with the QM review team for a pre-review meeting.
A QM Review is scheduled for a 4-6 week review period, which includes approximately 3 weeks of actual review time in addition to pre- and post-review conference calls.
The QM Team Chair will submit the final report which will be sent to the Course Representative.
Once the standards are met, Quality Matters recognition is provided to the Course Representative and the course is listed in the QM Recognized Courses registry.

Recertification Review
Certified courses are reviewed and re-certified after five years.
Resource Links

QM Higher Education Rubric, Sixth Edition
QM at MSU Community: Faculty and staff at MSU can join this D2L Community site to learn more about the QM Rubric, discounted professional development, and course examples for meeting standards.
Quality Matters website: Create an account using your msu.edu email and access the self-review tools on the MyQM site.

Starting graduate school is an exciting moment in life, it can also be a stressful one. Facing new roles and responsibilities, maybe moving to a new city and a new university, having to adjust to a new work environment and collegial relationships, and figuring out how to balance different work/ research/ study requirements with your private life. Phew! Now, add on top of that being an international student also adjusting to a new language, culture, country and university system.  It can all be a little overwhelming.
 
Thankfully, MSU has many great resources available to support graduate students during this transition and throughout their program, some tailored specifically to international students, many available to all graduate students. Orientation programs are provided through the Office for International Students and Scholars (OISS), the Graduate School, and the individual departments. Most information is conveyed through the departmental welcome events since there are a lot of department-specific requirements and resources. This means though that there is a wide variety in university-wide information, resources and services covered, resulting in an uneven awareness of those among graduate students.
 
As an international student myself, I attended all the orientation events I was aware of. They gave a good introduction to some aspects of graduate school. However, I realized throughout the following months that there are many more useful resources that could have eased my transition into graduate school and my early life as a graduate student significantly. The other side of the coin is that the orientation programs cover A LOT of ground in a short amount of time, making it difficult to remember it all. In my opinion, easily accessible (i.e. easy to find even though you might not be aware of what you are looking for) information could significantly support graduate students as they transition into and move through their degree program.
 
This experience inspired my work as one of the Leadership Fellows in the College of Agriculture and Natural Resources (CANR). Of course, I first had to find out whether I was alone with my experience or if it was shared by others. Over my first year at MSU, I spoke to many of my fellow graduate students, sometimes mentioning workshops or resources I had come across. I was often met with astonishment that those were available to us. This reaffirmed to me that many of the great resources available were not necessarily easily accessible or publicized. During my Fellowship year, I focused on the international student perspective because there were a lot of things of the American university system (and beyond) that I found to be quite confusing. There are also always those things presumed to be known but very confusing and unknown to someone who didn’t grow up here.
 
After reflecting on my experience and brainstorming topics for which I would have benefitted from better access, I conducted a short survey in cooperation with the Graduate School’s Curriculum Development Director. We received a surprising response of 100 international graduate students within 2 weeks (and just before winter break!). The survey asked both for how much information students had received on specific topics/ issues as well as collecting open-ended feedback on information they wished they had received when first coming here. We also asked what went well during orientation and further comments they had to improve the onboarding experience.
In response to whether students had received enough information on selected topics, the item with the most “Yes” responses was “Health Care Information and Services at MSU”. However, even for this item only 49% felt they had received sufficient information. The items with the least number of “Yes” responses broadly fall under ‘daily life services’ (such as hair and beauty salons) as well as family and child care support services. Without going into more detail here, the survey confirmed the need for my Fellowship project – creating one place from which students are easily directed towards resources they may need during their graduate school stay at MSU. So that is what I set out to do.
 
My goal is to create a playlist for incoming international graduate students here on the #iteachmsu website that brings together many of the available resources in one place. Picture a Spotify playlist but instead of music genre and songs, it will have topical categories like “Health” and “Money” under which one can find a collection of resources fitting within that category. The information will be introduced and “translated” into an easily digestible format. I will not reinvent the wheel here but rather showcase WHY these resources are useful and important to know about from the perspective of a graduate student (me). Accessing support resources should not turn into another research project but be a straightforward process. This playlist aims to do just that.
 
While the playlist is not yet up and running, it will be available for the Fall 2020 incoming students. I am currently bringing together the resources I wish to start with and writing the articles for the playlist. It will be a living resource in that I encourage feedback and additions.
 
Through the connections I have made during the Fellowship, a new cooperation in CANR has emerged to work on a similar project, catering to both international and domestic students.
 
My hope is that the playlist will be useful in publicizing the great resources MSU has to offer and in some way ease graduate students’ experience at the beginning of and throughout their program. The playlist can easily be expanded to cater to domestic students as there is a lot of overlap. And since it is one playlist, one package, it could easily be shared at orientation events within CANR and beyond, making the same information available to all.

New faculty who are interested in international research are invited to join us for lunch to learn about the many ways Global IDEAS (Global Innovations in Development, Engagement, & Scholarship) can help support your work. Global IDEAS hosts regular gatherings of the Community of Practice on Global Development to connect with funders, development firms and international experts. We also help faculty to find funding, network with other MSU researchers, develop proposals, and create international partnerships. Join us for lunch to learn more.Date: Friday, 16 Sep 2022

Time: 12:00 p.m. to 1:30 p.m.

Location: Room 303, International Center

We look forward to meeting you!

Leadership Fellows

2016-2019: Jacob Bradburn
2019-2020: Courtney Bryant & Tatiana Bustos
2020-2021: Kionna Henderson & Jaleah Rutledge
2021-2022: Cordelia Martin-Ipke & Jessie Pink
2021-2023: Qi Huang

Jacob Bradburn (2016-2019)Jacob Bradburn constructed a thorough and thoughtful approach to building the Social Science graduate student community as the first Fellow for the college. He began by surveying the college’s landscape in order to gather information on departmental procedures, college structure, and identify possible intervention points in which to enhance the graduate student experience. He created an organizational chart mapping the graduate departments and degree programs and a supplementary Excel spreadsheet with information on each of the departments, programs, and graduate student organizations (GSOs). Jacob took his research further by analyzing the survey results from two specific departments, Psychology and Social Work, and presenting his findings to department leadership. Jacob also advocated for graduate student representation on the College of Social Science Dean’s Student Advisory Council, which consisted of only undergraduates at the time. He worked with GSOs to help register them with the university and to facilitate outreach through his organizational chart.
Jacob was a key author in the Leadership Institute’s 2019 grant proposal to the Office for Inclusion and Intercultural Initiatives CIEG. He worked closely with then-Coordinators, Madeline Shallgren and Makena Neal, and former Coordinator, Megumi Moore, to outline the Institute’s vision, purpose, and leadership development curriculum. This document is an important reflection of the Institute’s ethos during a time of past leadership and helps us understand how the Institute has grown since. In short, Jacob was a key player that went outside the bounds of his Fellowship responsibilities to support the Institute’s development and lay a strong foundation for future Social Science Leadership Fellows.Courtney Bryant & Tatiana Bustos (2019-2020)Courtney Bryant and Tatiana Bustos leveraged Jacob’s leadership network to build a strong relationship with the Assistant Dean and gather connections within the College to inform their multi-tier support system for underrepresented graduate students. Their project specifically focused on diversity and inclusion within the College and utilized a needs assessment survey to help define the different tiers within the support system. Example initiatives they considered included getting a physical space in the college, creating a section on the website including diversity and inclusion resources, and implementing a program to teach multicultural mentoring to faculty. As they were faced with the time-consuming and difficult challenges brought on by graduate student life amidst the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, Courtney and Tatiana were unable to see these initiatives through. However, their work brought awareness to unequal graduate student representation in the College and they built an incredible network of connections and data that will inform future graduate student diversity and inclusion initiatives.Kionna Henderson & Jaleah Rutledge (2020-2021)Kionna Henderson and Jaleah Rutledge’s project, All About Academic Entrepreneurship, consisted of a four-part series that introduced graduate students to academic entrepreneurship. With the understanding that graduate students possess a variety of skills and talents that can be applied to a wide range of fields, this series aimed to help graduate students turn these skills into for profit business opportunities. The series covered an introduction to academic entrepreneurship, marketing and building your brand, finding the right partners and financial resources, as well as a panel of academic entrepreneurs. Speakers included Dr. Jasmine Abrams, Dr. Paul Elam, and Christine Beamer. The panelists included Jen Fry, Dr. Tatiana Bustos, Dr. Sederick Rice, and Dr. Valencia Moses. Kionna and Jaleah worked closely with the Director of Graduate Student Life and Wellbeing, Dr. Megumi Moore, and Social Science Deans Mary Finn and Anna Maria Santiago. Their series was received extremely well by their audience, with many remarking that it exceeded their expectations and provided valuable and inspiring content.Cordelia Martin-Ipke (2021-2022)Cordelia began the year by looking at how to recruit more underrepresented minorities into the Geography Department. She worked to strengthen the Advancing Geography Through Diversity Program and community building among underrepresented minority groups in the geography field. She worked with her department chair as well as director, and established a network to create a recruitment pipeline from Chicago State, which does not have a Geography PhD program and is a minority serving institution. Cordelia has been exploring the sustainability of this program.Jessie Pink (2021-2022)Jesse’s project addressed environmental justice and racism. He used an interdisciplinary approach that tied environmental justice with health inequities. Jesse has been working to highlight the importance of activism and community engagement in solving environmental health issues in vulnerable communities.Qi Huang (2021-2023)Qi worked with CAL Fellow, Hima Rawal, to address international students’ use of mental health services on campus. They hope to build bridges to increase access to and decrease stigma of mental health services. They collaborated with the Office of International Students & Scholars, Counseling and Psychiatric Services, the Trauma Services Training Network, and more to learn more about how these offices support international students. They also interviewed over a dozen international students to deepen their understanding of the concerns and barriers international students have concerning mental health. Using this data and their partnerships, Qi and Hima hope to create a Wellness Ambassador program where selected international students are trained to reach out to other international students to help them learn about mental health services on campus.

The Cube (publishing - process - praxis) is a publishing nexus housed in Michigan State University's Department of Writing, Rhetoric, and American Cultures (WRAC). The Cube supports, promotes, and produces open-access works created by diverse members of the mid-Michigan and Michigan State communities. Our publishing focuses on messages of social justice, accessibility, diversity, and inclusion. We provide a space for diverse voices to publish and advocate for their work and engage with audiences they would otherwise have difficulty reaching. This Poster, featuring The Cube's director, its graduate assistant, and its lead undergraduate web developer, will provide an overview of the work the Cube does, from brainstorming to final product, and show how we faced adversity and thought creatively in the wake of massive budget cuts to the humanities. 

To access a PDF of the "We Are The Cube" poster, click here.
Description of the Poster 
This poster is made using something similar to a mind map, with bubbles named “high-impact experiential learning,” “people,” “mentorship and community,” “projects,” “process,” and “skills.” Surrounding those bubbles are smaller bubbles with descriptions (described below). 
We are The Cube. 
Publishing - Process - Praxis  
We are a publishing nexus that supports, promotes, and produces open-access work created by diverse members of the mid-Michigan community, focusing on messages of social justice, accessibility, diversity, and inclusion through high-impact experiential learning. We provide a space for diverse ranges of persons, places, and communities to publish and advocate for their work and to engage with audiences they would otherwise be unable to reach. 
High-Impact Experiential Learning Circle: 
Mentorship is key. Project proposals come to The Cube via our website; from there, we review projects and hire paid undergraduate and graduate interns to complete the work. At any given time, The Cube has between twelve and twenty interns, and our entire budget is dedicated to labor. 
 Throughout our processes, students are mentored by faculty members, encouraged to take risks and make mistakes,  praised for their good work, and given credit for that work. For a full list of our mentors and interns, see our website: https://thecubemsu.com/. 
Experiential learning programs allow students to take risks, make mistakes, and learn from those mistakes in a safe and supportive environment. 
There are two goals. One is to learn the specifics of a particular subject, and the other is to learn about one’s own learning process. 
Experiential learning works in four stages:  

concrete learning,  
reflective observation,  
abstract conceptualization, and  
active experimentation. 

All of these are key for developing both hard and soft skills, which students will need to be ethical pioneers in their fields and in their communities. 
Representative People Circle: 
Catherine Davis, User Experience and Design Intern 
Shelby Smith, Writing and Editing Intern 
Grace Houdek, Graphic Design Intern 
Jaclyn Krizanic, Social Media Intern 
Jeanetta Mohlke-Hill, Editorial Assistant 
Emily Lin, Lead UX Designer  
Mitch Carr, Graduate Assistant and Project Coordinator 
Kara Headly, Former Social Media Intern 
Community & Mentorship Circle: 
Dr. Kate Birdsall, Director 
Dr. Alexandra Hidalgo, Editor-in-Chief  
Dr. Marohang Lumbu, Editor-in-Chief 
The Writing Center at MSU 
Writing, Rhetoric, and American Cultures (WRAC) at MSU 
Projects Circle: 
The Current, digital and print magazine 
JOGLTEP, academic journal 
Constellations, academic journal 
Agnes Films, feminist film collective 
The Red Cedar review, literary journal 
REO Town Reading Series Anthology, digital book 
Superheroes Die in the Summer, digital book 
Process Circle: 
Brainstorming 
Collaboration 
Client Relations  
Consistent Voice and Branding 
UX Design and Engineering 
Skills Circle: 
Confidence  
Editing and Writing Style Guides 
Professional Development 
Risk Analysis 
Develop Professional Portfolio 
Human Centered Design 
Developmental and Copy Editing 
Poster by: Dr. Kate Birdsall, Mitch Carr, and Emily Lin (Writing, Rhetoric, and American Cultures (WRAC) Department)) 

The following is a list of the educators receiving the #iteachmsu Educator Award from the College of Natural Science. For more information on these awards, check out the article entitled "#iteachmsu Educator Awards".
Qianjie Wang: As the coordinator of the International teaching Assistant (ITA) Program and instructor of some of the the ITA support courses offered, I had the wonderful opportunity to work with Ms. Qianjie Wang from the Chemistry Department last spring. Qianjie chose to take AAE 453, Support for In-Service ITA teaching, an optional course designed to support international students in their first few semesters of teaching at MSU. The course is a seminar style course where international teaching assistants can discuss and reflect on the issues that come up in the courses they are teaching and share their experiences and learn from other students. I was always so impressed with Qianjie’s genuine interest in understanding the backgrounds and challenges of the undergraduate students she taught, and her commitment to becoming the best teaching assistant possible. It wasn’t until I had the opportunity to observe her teaching, however, that I fully appreciated what an asset she is to her department. teaching a lab section in the Chemistry Department presents some unique challenges as there are several sections taking place at one time in the same general space, each with a different teaching assistant and different group of students. teaching assistants need to be able to give clear instructions, encourage and guide students as they conduct their experiments, answer questions and lead students to discover answers for themselves, all while ensuring basic student safety. Qianjie excelled at all of this. Her rapport with her students was clear, as was her sincere interest in helping them to learn. Moreover, her own interest in learning and growing as a teacher was evident in the way that she implemented feedback and suggestions from AAE 453 discussions into her teaching. It was truly an honor to work with such a motivated and committed teaching assistant. Thank you, Qianjie!
 
Aaron Wasserman: Movement of a large lecture format course (200+ students) to a on-line format is not easy. Aaron made that transition so much smoother by being willing to take on extra work. Aaron took on the tasks of learning all the ins and outs of D2L so that we could switch from in-class clicker questions to D2L quizzes (all properly formatted!). In addition our first D2L exam went smoothly mostly due to his efforts. He gives weekly virtual review sessions to the students and is incredibly responsive to their questions and needs. He deserves a big shout out for his efforts!
 
Stephen Thomas: For his incredible work over the last few weeks as we have transitioned to remote learning. Stephen is a perfect person for this time in our history at MSU. 
 
Teena Gerhardt: Shows how much she would like to see her students thrive; always available for help (even if she is out of state); very good at lecturing.
 
John Keven: When classes went online John was filling in for me while I was traveling. He stepped up and managed the MANY student emails of concern with grace and compassion. He continues to be a vital component of communications with the students. He is doing all this while trying to get his dissertation wrapped up and working from home with a family. Thank so much, John!
 
Brean Prefontaine: Brean Prefontaine is an outreach coordinator for the Women and Minorities in the Physical Sciences (WaMPS) graduate student group, and she has gone above and beyond with public science outreach. Brean took the initiative to greatly expand WaMPS's outreach program from participating in 2-3 outreach events per semester to now more than a dozen outreach events each semester. These new events include MSU Science Fest, after-school programs at libraries, and classroom visits. She also volunteered as SL@MS co-chair last summer, organizing and running the WaMPS summer camp for middle school students. She spent a lot of time developing new fun and educational activities for all these new outreach events, with modifications for many age groups that range all the way from preschool to high school, and she acquired all of the supplies and materials that are needed for them. This is an incredible amount of work for a single person to tackle! Because of Brean, a lot more graduate students have been able to get involved in outreach, and she is very patient with teaching them how to engage the kids. Thanks to Brean, WaMPS's outreach program has been a huge success and has grown immensely over the past 2 years! She definitely deserves to be thanked and the WaMPS Board wants to recognize for her amazing outreach work in the physics department!
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 be directed to a form where you can enter the name, netID, and a short story of the educator you'd like to recognize.