academic affairs division newsletter april 2016 edition provost … 2016 academic... ·...

5/2/2016 SJSU Mail April 2016 Academic Spotlight Newsletter

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Provost Update: SJSU Celebrates Diversity and Promotes Inclusion;'Essence of Blackness' Event Builds Community at SJSU; StudentsEngage Beyond Borders in 'COIL' Classes; Video: Folklorico DancersCelebrate Culture; Conference Brings 300 Women Engineers to SJSU;Images from the SJSU Cultural Showcase; Subscribe to the AcademicSpotlight blog.

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Academic Affairs Division Newsletter April 2016 edition

Provost Update: SJSUCelebrates Diversity andPromotes Inclusion

University settings bring together people from many different backgroundsin a collaborative environment. This is especially true at SJSU, where wehave one of the most diverse campuses in the nation. This month'snewsletter highlights the many ways our life experiences influence ourinteractions, creating a rich climate for innovation and learning for allmembers of the SJSU community.

Melissa Anderson <[email protected]>

April 2016 Academic Spotlight Newsletter 1 message

Andrew Hale Feinstein, Provost and VP for Academic Affairs <[email protected]>Tue, Apr 26, 2016 at 11:20 AMReplyTo: "Andrew Hale Feinstein, Provost and VP for Academic Affairs" <[email protected]>To: [email protected]

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For the past two years, I have been privileged to serve as cochair of thePresident’s Commission on Diversity. We have made strides in fostering adialogue around diversity and inclusion, most recently in April when weheld a discussion on the 2015 Campus Climate Survey. Students, staffand faculty members were invited to a presentation on the survey resultsand then provided with an opportunity to share their feedback in focusgroups, while also expressing thoughts on moving toward a moreinclusive community. This month also marks the appointment of the firstever SJSU chief diversity officer, Dr. Kathleen Wong(Lau). She will leadthe Office of Diversity and Inclusive Excellence. I invite you to join us infinding ways to advance our efforts together. As provost, I am especially proud ofthe African American andChican@/Latin@ Student Successtask forces, which have beenworking hard for more than twoyears to build a sense of communityfor underrepresented minoritystudents. The task force membershave hosted a multitude of activities,such as the Adelante study breaks and the Essence of Blackness culturalcelebration. These task forces began as part of Academic Affairs, but arenow moving to Student Affairs where they will be managed by the newAVP for Retention and Transition Services. I remain committed tothese efforts and this realignment will allow us to more effectively supportstudent success priorities across divisions. I would like to take thisopportunity to thank the staff and faculty members who have served onthe task forces, and encourage all of you to join this collaborative effort toconnect students to the campus in meaningful ways. In Academic Affairs, we have also been building more opportunities forstudents to engage in international experiences through facultyledprograms, online exchanges in oncampus classes and research projectswith overseas partners. We recognize the growing relevance of globalcitizenship in educating college students. Global citizenship encompassesan ability to work with people from around the world, but it also createsempathy between people with different backgrounds, experiences andhistories. I encourage you to learn more about how we can providestudents with these opportunities by connecting with colleagues in the



College of International and Extended Studies.

Andy Feinstein Provost and VP for Academic Affairs

‘Essence of Blackness’ EventBuilds Community at SJSU

Photo by Lauren HernandezGuests dance to a jazz band at the Essence of Blackness event hosted by theAfrican American Student Success Task Force Harambee Committee in April.

By Lauren Hernandez, ’15 Journalism

The pounding of conga drums married with the seductive blare of the trumpetfilled the Student Union Ballroom as part of the second annual Essence of



Blackness event.

The African American Student Success Task Force hosted the event along withits Harambee Committee to explore just one influence of African culture on theworld by focusing on jazz music and its rich, diverse history in the United Statesand beyond.

“Harambee, the arm of the task force that sponsors these kinds of events,brings together not only the African American students, faculty and staff butalso reaches out to the larger campus to participate in cultural events,” saidMichelle Randle, director of the CASA Student Success Center and chair of theHarambee committee. “And [also it is important] for the African Americanstudents to see the support that they actually have on campus beyondthemselves.”

The Essence of Blackness theme was born last year following conversationswith African American students regarding the type of educational programmingthey felt was necessary to share with the campus community.

“I do think young people now are not exposed to jazz and do not alwaysunderstand that its origins do come from Africa and this country,” Randle said.

Charlie Channel, of the Charlie Channel Quartet, lectured attendees on thehistory of jazz before delving into a traditional jazz performance.

Channel read Langston Hughes’ poem titled “Drums,” which represents theorigin of jazz by chronicling the movement of slaves from Africa whiledescribing the survival and reemergence of the drums into new lands.

“When you think about slavery and tribes of people who were thrown together,who didn’t know each other, the oppression, the brutality, there was just onething they had in common — it was the drum,” Channel said. “Ultimately, itresulted in this new form of music that had never been heard before on theplanet called 'jazz'.”

The genre’s diversity was introduced to attendees by Brian Andres, the drumset and leader of the Brian Andres & the AfroCuban Jazz Cartel. He discussedhow the music evolved in the United States with the help of Mario Bauza, aCuban clarinetist who played a role in launching the AfroCuban jazz movementduring the Harlem Renaissance.

Some attendees leaped to their feet and danced as Andres and his band’supbeat conga drumming and lively trumpeting reverberated throughout theballroom. Others indulged in Walia Ethiopian, Caribbean and American soul



food cuisine.

This year’s event included the Harambee Awards and commemorative clockswere given to individuals in the campus community who have served andshown commitment to the success of African American students.

Six members of the administration, four students and two community memberswere awarded recognition and two students were given special recognition fortheir “Strength in the Face of Adversity.”

Gary Daniels, a Harambee awardee, said although he is thankful for therecognition, he is not a student activist to gain accolades.

“Young people should use their talents and energy to make the world a betterplace regardless of whether they get awarded or recognized,” Daniels said.

Jerusalem Bekele, ’17 Kinesiology and fellow Harambee awardee, said eventssuch as Essence of Blackness are essential to educating the campuscommunity about various cultures and the origin of traditions, but also tobuilding a sense of community.

“Our perspective is kind of limited to what’s in front of us, and not necessarilyoutside so events like this kind of reach outside of America,” Bekele said. “Ithink it introduces a lot of culture and tradition to the SJSU community as well.”

Donntay MooreThomas, ’17 Communications Studies, said although it wasnice to see familiar faces that comprise the three percent African Americanpopulation at SJSU, she was thrilled to see people from other culturalbackgrounds attend as well.

“If we can share a meal together, I feel that we can come together for a greatercause,” MooreThomas said.

Students Engage BeyondBorders in 'COIL' Classes



Photo courtesy of Jason LakerConnie L. Lurie College of Education students engage with peers from Allama IqbalOpen University in Pakistan via online video conference.

In Xochilt Garcia’s Gender and the Male Student course, she and her peersconnected via video conference to students in Pakistan for almost every classsession.

“Our first session was a bit awkward at first due to both sides being timid aboutstanding in front of a screen,” she said. “However, as a discussion was initiated,everyone on both sides of the world started to become engaged and talkative.”

Garcia’s course was taught by Dr. Jason Laker using a technique calledCollaborative Online Intercultural Learning (COIL).

“Out of my six years in higher education, never have I had such a learningexperience where we discussed issues such as race, gender, religion, anddiscrimination with people that we oftentimes define as different,” she said.“Within American society, we are at times trained to learn about culturesthrough comparison and differences. However through COIL, I learned to lookat similarities in humans regardless of all the (identities) we may identify with.”

Garcia’s class connected with students at Allama Iqbal Open University (AIOU)in Pakistan, where SJSU was engaged in a threeyear U.S. State Departmentgrant, the Pakistani Distance Education Enhancement Program overseen byMark Adams. The grant ended in January 2016, but COIL collaborations



continue.

“It was interesting to bridge the gap between two different cultures – bothclassrooms were not too different,” said Muhammad Ramzan, a Pakistanistudent, after engaging in a Skype conference with SJSU students. “It was thebest use of technology…I (felt like) we were all sitting together and discussingwith each other.”

Laker said as the counseling education program serves many working studentsand offers courses in the evening, it worked well to schedule Skype sessionswith students in Islamabad, where it was early morning during his nighttimeclass sessions.

“I teach graduate courses for students preparing to become school counselorsor college student affairs practitioners,” Laker said, noting the importance ofdeveloping multicultural skills. “One of the particularly poignant aspects frommy perspective is the number of firstgeneration students on both sides.Students on both sides said they never thought they would ever have anopportunity to talk with peers in other countries.”

Minna Holopainen, a professor of communication studies, has been integral insupporting COIL. She presented on it at the IT Services Innovation andCollaboration Expo in October 2015. She has worked with other faculty oncampus including Bettina Brockmann, a lecturer whose class worked on awater project through COIL, and Assistant Professor Tabitha Hart, who iscurrently using the technique in her communication studies classes.

For two semesters, Hart has had her students conduct a written exchange withstudents from AIOU. She and a partner teacher in Pakistan select a writingprompt for the students. The SJSU students have a chance to read andrespond to the prompts from the Pakistani students, who do the same with theSJSU write ups. Last year, the students wrote about special education.

“The way the students had experienced special education, what it meant andhow they observed it was quite different,” Hart said, noting that the Pakistanistudents wrote about physical disabilities while SJSU students also mentionedless visible disabilities such as cognitive or emotional issues. “What wasinteresting is that they did see similarities and they saw differences as well.”

In some of her classes, Hart also has her students engage in a live onlinemeeting with students from Germany, Finland and Great Britain. The students



learn how to set up an online meeting that includes audio and video withsomeone overseas and they use the interviews to learn about different cultures.

“There are students who have had an international experience – they or theirfamily or extended family have traveled or moved from another country – butthe majority of students have never had to do something quite like this,” Hartsaid. “We talk about international and globalization culture – it is a value atSJSU. The tough question is how are we going to actually do that and this is avery direct way to do it.”

Video: Folklorico Dancers Celebrate Culture

SJSU Folklorico dancers celebrate their cultural heritage and serve as role modelsfor the next generation of Chicano/Latino Spartans when they visit local schools.

Conference Brings 300 Women Engineers to SJSU

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Photo by David SchmitzSJSU students engage with industry professionals at the Women in EngineeringConference that brought more than 300 people together.

By Lauren Hernandez, ’15 Journalism

When Hanni Ali, ’17 Chemical Engineering, took the Student Union Ballroomstage, she prepared to share an alltoo familiar experience with more than 300female engineering students and professionals as part of the second annualSilicon Valley Women in Engineering (WiE) Conference on March 12.

“Usually, when people ask me what I’m majoring in, I reply with ‘engineering,’and they give me a confused look and ask me ‘Why?’” Ali said. “And I reply,‘Why not?’”

Ali attended the conference last year as a prospective transfer. This year, shewas selected to speak at a gala dinner. The event offers the opportunity forprofessional women engineers to share their perspectives with students onentrepreneurship, innovation and leadership in the maledominated industry.

“It is crucial to continue to hold events to encourage and empower futuregenerations of STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Mathematics)women,” Ali said. “This year’s conference is bigger than last year’s, with a lotmore professionals donating their time to inspire the next generation of women


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innovators.”

Guests attended some of the 25 workshops offered throughout the dayon topics ranging from mentorship strategies, women leadership in STEM,buildings, infrastructure and the environment. Speakers included Oracle CEOSafra Catz, Apple Vice President of Wireless Technologies Isabel Mahe, andFacebook Vice President of Product Management for Social Good Naomi Gleit.

Apple’s Mahe alleviated the common concern that women can’t be successfulengineers and also be strong mothers when she shared her experience ofgetting invited to dinner by Steve Jobs while she was still on maternity leave.After two hours of conversation with Jobs, Mahe accepted the position that shehas held for eight years. She is now a mother of four.

IBM Corporate Citizenship and Corporate Affairs Manager Kristina Vasquez,’02 Computer Engineering, hosted an interactive mentorship workshop withnine engineering students to discuss the importance of mentors and how to findthem.

“I remember being in their shoes and I remember the people who helped me,and I don’t think I would be here today if it weren’t for them,” Vasquez said. “Ihave a daughter and these girls are like my daughters. I want the best forthem.”

Vasquez, who graduated from San Jose State in 2002, said she sawthe conference as an opportunity to maintain a sense of community amongwomen engineers at the university, but also teach women that anyone can fillthe role of being a mentor.

Read more about the Women in Engineering Conference.

Images from the SJSU Cultural Showcase

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More than 100 people attended the 2016 Third Annual SJSU CulturalShowcase in the Student Union Ballroom on April 21. The event was foundedthree years ago by a group of SJSU Salzburg Scholars upon their return from asummer global seminar. The students sought out a way to connect the diversestudent performing groups on campus while also highlighting themulticulturalism of the campus community.

Student performers auditioned this year for a panel of judges consisting ofprofessors, a student representative and a staff representative with expertise indance, performing arts or cultural affairs. This year's event featured Pride of thePacific Islands, Grupo Folklorico Luna y Sol de SJSU, Akbayan SJSU and asolo performance by Shivangi Agarwal who danced to a traditional Indianwelcome song. In addition, guest artists were invited to perform this year. Theyincluded Nyantara Narasimhan on violin and Arvind Bhamidipati on tabladrums, who performed a south Indian song, and Mariah Miller (known asUnique Praiz) who performed mime to a gospel song. Following theperformance, guests were invited to mingle with the artists at a reception withcultural food.

Subscribe to the Academic Spotlight blog

Visit the Academic Spotlight blog and subscribe now to get a weeklyroundup of posts with more stories of faculty research, student successand other news about Academic Affairs. From the main page of the blog,visitors can submit their email address to subscribe to notifications. We also encourage you to share your ideas and stories for consideration.Please email Melissa Anderson, the executive communications specialistfor the provost, at [email protected] with any updates youwould like to share.

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