November 2024 NatSci DEI Newsletter

November NatSci DEI Newsletter

"November" spelled out with black and white tiles

In this issue

Upcoming Events and Sponsorships
Cultural Competency Workshops
Student Organization Information
Important Dates
Lifelong learning
Health and well-being
Action List
Recognitions
Contact us

Upcoming Events and Sponsorships

The College of Natural Science is participating in the holiday food drive for the MSU Food Bank, we will be collecting sanitary and personal hygiene products (Soap, shampoo, deodorant, razors) in the NatSci DEI Office (Room 154, 8:30am-5pm) to donate. If you are an MSU department, you can contact me (Nick Goldblatt) at natsci.dei@msu.edu. and I will pick it up from you. New personal hygiene items only please.

We have created an Amazon Wishlist as well to help with ordering the hygiene products. You can access this Amazon list here.

These will be collected between now and December 13th.

A sample list of preferred items is listed below:

A list of acceptable donation goods for the food drive

Flyer for Transgender Awareness Week by the GSCC

A Cultural Competency Workshop being taught at Michigan State University.

Cultural Competency Workshops

Registration is now open for the final Fall 2024 semester NatSci Cultural Competency Workshop for MSU NatSci employees and graduate students!

To learn more about the workshops, click here.

A group of students surrounding a laptop.

Student Organization Information

Are you a NatSci RSO with an upcoming event you'd like to spread the word about? Message us on the NatSci DEI Instagram page (natsci.dei) with a flyer and information and we will share it for you, or reach out to us at natsci.dei@msu.edu.

The Graduate Women in Sciences STEM mentoring program flyer

Important Dates

November 1st to the 2nd is Dia de los Muertos.

November 20th is Transgender Day of Remembrance.

November 29th is Native American Heritage Day

Native America Heritage Month

Lifelong Learning

Transgender History, second edition: The Roots of Today's Revolution

Gender Euphoria

Everything You Ever Wanted to Know about Trans (But Were Afraid to Ask)

Notable Native People: 50 Indigenous Leaders, Dreamers, and Changemakers from Past and Present

An Indigenous Peoples' History of the United States

In the Hands of the Great Spirit: The 20,000-Year History of American Indians

Mental health and wellbeing

Please take care of your health and wellbeing. Please use the resources below for support.

We have also created a health and wellbeing webpage on the NatSci website, it covers 8 categories of health states. If you wish to add any potential resources to the pages, feel free to reach out to us at natsci.dei@msu.edu.

You can visit the webpage here.

A picture of the Red Cedar River with fall colors.

Photo by Nick Goldblatt

Action List

Many units across the university participated in celebrating Dia de los Muertos in the end of October! There were events to attend, ofrendas to decorate, plus arts and crafts.

You can read an article about this here.

Academic Accessibility

Schedule a consultation

Need assistance or advice about accessibility in your classroom? Request an accessibility consultation with the Instructional Technology and Development group.

October accessibility tip

When recording a class session in Zoom, choose the “record to the cloud” option. This will save your video directly to MediaSpace, and as long as the captioning option is turned on in your settings, a transcript will also be machine generated. Use a good microphone and transcripts will likely be highly reliable.

Want to learn more?

MSU employees can request access to Deque University online self-paced trainings at no cost. Deque's comprehensive web and digital accessibility curriculum covers the full range of topics, with classes designed for a variety of professionals.
Self-enroll in this D2L course developed by the Resource Center for Persons with Disabilities (RCPD). The course focuses on disability education, RCPD accommodations, and accessible classroom best practices.

Inclusive Pedagogy

Participate in an NSF educational research project!

Do you teach a blended / hybrid undergraduate course at MSU?
Are you interested in transitioning your course to a blended format?
Would like to be part of the study and professional development community related to blended courses?

MSU’s Enhanced Digital Learning Initiative (EDLI) is seeking instructors interested in or already implementing blended undergraduate courses in all disciplines to participate in an NSF-funded study for one or more semesters between Spring 2024 – Fall 2025.

Instructors receive an overload stipend and professional development opportunities.

View complete recruitment information here.

Upcoming classroom accessibility training

Get accessibility training!

Deque University offers online, self-paced training. Deque's comprehensive web and digital accessibility curriculum covers the full range of topics, with classes designed for a variety of professionals.

MSU IT Educational Technology Training website

Educational technology workshops covering topics to help faculty use MSU-supported software in their classrooms. Workshops occur throughout the semester.

President Guskiewicz gave an update on the spaces in Berkey Hall and the MSU Union involved during February 13th 2023. Classes will also not be held on February 13th 2025, except for some graduate and professional classes.

Read the full announcement here.

The Office of the Provost has put together an FAQ list of civil discourse, freedom of speech, and freedom of expression. This webpage helps to identify ways to contribute to reasonable discourse and respect first amendment rights in conversations today.

Read the full webpage here.

CAPS (Counseling and Psychiatric Services) and the University Health and Wellbeing have composed an election care kit to help relieve stress and anxiety surrounding the latest Presidential election.

Read the pdf file here.

A new program has been launched within NatSci! The NatSci Future Faculty Postdoctoral program will help with moving forward the NatSci Strategic Plan with improving inclusion and diversity of the staff and faculty.

More information about this program here.

Please review the Religious Observance Policy for 2024-25 exam and presentation scheduling. You can find a listing of the 2024-25 list of religious holidays here.

The University has updated its policies surrounding pregnancy, childbirth, and pregnancy-related conditions for students and employees.

You can read these updated policies here.

In 2023, the University Committee on Faculty Affairs issued a statement on professional integrity and proposed updates to the Faculty Rights and Responsibilities policy to promote respectful, safe, and equitable learning and working environments. These were approved by the MSU Board of Trustees in June 2024. You may read these revisions here.

If you suspect misconduct has happened or have a concern about it, you can contact the MSU Misconduct Hotline at 1-800-763-0764, or reach out to them at misconduct.msu.edu.

The office of ASMSU Student Rights Advocates provides assistance to students in University-related affairs involving the MSU conduct system, residence hall life, and more. The SRA office is not funded by any university department, and operates as a

confidential and independent resource for students. Student Rights Advocates cannot dispense legal advice, For legal advice,

contact Student Legal Services at (517) 353-37163

Recognitions

The NatSci DEI Office welcomes Yasas Vithanage into our office! HE will serve as the new DEI Community Engagement Coordinator, and has written up a small introductory statement below:

Hello NatSci Students, Staff, and Faculty!

My name is Yasas Vithanage (he/him) and I am the new DEI Community Engagement Coordinator. My role at NatSci is to simply improve your experience as a student, staff, or faculty through some fun, curiosity, and hopefully food.

I am originally from Sri Lanka and I came to the United States to pursue my bachelor’s degree in Aerospace Engineering. I was highly involved as a student as an RA, an SGA senator, International Student Union directorate member, and participating in all manner of leadership office programs. After I received my bachelor’s degree, I realized that I really loved helping STEM students learn who they are so that they can be better Engineers, Scientists, Doctors, ect. for all people, so I completed my master’s degree in Counseling for Higher Education and Leadership.

In my career I’ve got to work on anti-hate/bias policies and education, gender-inclusive practices and education, student and staff accountability, peer education and support groups, technology and automation, and a lot of events where we got to cook and share food. I can’t say I am an expert in anything, I am just a curious person. You can probably talk to me about anything and I’d get excited. I am so happy to have got to work and learn with so many amazing people who helped me be better to myself and others around me and I hope to help create that here at NatSci with you.

Come visit me in the DEI Office, Room 154 in the NatSci Building, to say hi, get some snacks, destress, and tell me your ideas on how we can have more fun together. Currently, I work a hybrid schedule where I work from home on Wednesdays and Fridays and I am working on an weekly office hours schedule, which I will share soon. You can always reach me via email (vithana1@msu.edu) or TEAMS. In my spare time, I enjoy spending time with my daughter, two dogs, and two cats. My hobbies include powerlifting, photography, and anime (currently finishing Black Clover).

See you soon!

NatSci students have been named finalists for the international Rhodes Scholarships! Veona Cuthino, a Senior in Genomics and Molecular Genetics, and Nur Aminah Benti Halim, a Senior majoring in Statistics, have both been named finalists for the award for their respective countries.

Read the full article here.

The FRIB (Facility for Rare Isotope Beams) project team has been presented with the Department of Energy's DOE Secretary of Energy Award! This is the DOE's highest recognition award for team achievements.

Read the full article here.

NatSci physicist Johannes Pollanen was was named as an inaugural Cowen Distinguished Chair in Experimental Physics! This position was made possible by an endowment by MSU alum Randy Cowen. Pollanen's team works on exploring quantum technologies.

Read the full article here.