Ferris State University Grand Rapids Campus

Diversity Team Year End Report

By September Howat and Dawn Schavey December 2009

Creation of a team of staff and faculty passionate about the diversity initiative brought forth by Dave Pilgrim at Ferris State University. The goal is to provide information, events and training to staff and faculty on a variety of Diversity topics. Together we can make Ferris a comfortable place for all students, staff and faculty. The focus of this group this year was to build on last year’s exposure to and discussion about new ideas, to more active participation and involvement in the local community.

CPTS major activities related to diversity

We believe every person has their own lens and brings their own experiences and opinions to the workforce. Although co-workers are at different places, we believe there are 3 intersecting ways we can each begin our journey towards a conscious understanding and appreciation of diversity.

We expect everyone to take ownership of their own learning; take advantage of group learning opportunities and participate in civic engagement opportunities. Each month the Diversity Team puts together a Diversity Calendar that highlights opportunities for Individual Learning, Civic Engagement and Group Learning. Most events are focused around the lunch hour so each individual can participate in opportunities within the working day, although the calendar offers a number of opportunities in the evenings and weekends.

Library Lunches Individual Learning:

Summer University GRCC Diversity Lecture Series Workshops Presentations

Student Group Advising Take a class Self reflection Conferences Volunteer opportunities

Volunteer Opportunities Civic Engagement:

Attend a church other than your own Tie civic opportunities into class/family

experiences Attend/Co-sponsor community events

Engage with International students Ask Questions of others Adopt-a-Soldier project Clothing Drive for First Lady’s Attic GR Community Tours

Monthly Book Club Group Learning:

Training Sessions Summer Common Reading Discussions

Staff Development Conferences Summer University American Sign Language Lesson

We have provided the following opportunities for faculty and staff:

Brown Bag Lunch Series Once a month we invite co-workers to bring lunch and engage in discussion around a group activity, documentary or short film we watch over lunch. Each session typically draws about 8-12 staff members and student employees. These are developed with the help of the following resources:

GRCC Diversity Resource Center Grand Rapids Public Library TeachingTolerance.org

• (videos w/discussion tools) • The Children’s March/A Place at the Table/One Survivor Remembers/Mighty Times/The

Shadow of Hate

Topics have included: • GLBT Issues, discussion, Allies and Advocates Training • Race & Ethnicity: A Place at the Table, video • Holocaust: One Survivor Remembers, video • Politics, slide shows with different links, pod casts and videos • Cultural Exploration, slide shows with different links, pod casts and videos • Gender, slide shows with different links, pod casts and videos • Stress in the workplace: Local Chiropractic office, guest speaker • Deaf Culture: Sound and Fury, video • Office Sustainability, discussion, slide shows with different links, pod casts and videos • The Gift of All: A Community of Givers, video • Cultural Lessons from Study Abroad programs, guest speaker

Training Opportunities “What I can learn on my own can be tenfold if I share that experience with others” We offer a variety of training opportunities for staff and faculty. Some are offered in office and others are off campus.

GRCC Diversity Lecture Series Jim Crow Museum Tour Allies and Advocates Training, 9 staff were trained Understanding Students with Mental Health Disorders, guest speaker Understanding Students with Disabilities Training, guest speaker MLK Staff/Faculty Discussion Identity Theft Prevention: Local Prudential Office, guest speaker Mental Health Foundation, guest speaker Working with Adult Students, webinar 20 Minute Audio Adventures, podcasts

Community Relationships/Involvement In the summer of 2008, we began hosting interns through a partnership with the Hoy Program. This organization is collaboration between Steepletown Neighborhood Services and the Hispanic Center of Western Michigan that seeks to prepare in-school and out-of-school youth for academic, career and personal success. We have also used the Diversity Team to help extend Ferris beyond its office walls. In 2009, we worked to cultivate a relationship with local community organizations/events as outlined below:

West Michigan’s Women’s Expo, visit Adopt-a-Soldier, participants sent packages overseas Fountain Street Church, GRCC Diversity Lecture Series, THEM: Images of Separation YWCA of West Michigan, visit, tour GR Parks and Recreation, Parking Day 2009 GR Public Library, The Big Read, guest speakers, monthly book club Urban Institute of Contemporary Art, visit, tour Serving lunches at Veteran’s Park, one Tuesday each month Art Prize, lunch tour United Way, food drive Adopt-A-Family in GR, Thanksgiving and Christmas, provide food and gifts

Steps to diversify staff- we have put value in diversifying our staff by making sure our employee recruitment efforts appear in wide variety of publications such as the in hopes of ensuring a diverse pool of candidates.

CPTS Successes

Offering Educational opportunities for staff and faculty to participate in has shown to be very successful. Faculty and Staff regularly attend scheduled workshops and discussions, and have eagerly participated in Veteran’s Park and Adopt-A-Family events in 2009. We have strengthened our relationship with Main Campus through resources and training. We have pulled from the resources and tools that Main Campus has to offer which has helped build our relationship and awareness on Main Campus. We have raised expectation of staff to participate in opportunities such as Summer University and in the community outside of Ferris Grand Rapids. Involvement and participation of Student Employees in our Diversity efforts has been our first step to reaching out to students through our Diversity efforts. We followed this with invitations to our food drives and Adopt-A-Family collections and received reasonable student participation.

Expanding our efforts State Wide CPTS Diversity Challenges

Assessment and Assessment tools Getting non-participating staff and faculty to “Buy In” to the Diversity Initiatives Maximizing opportunities for development such as our all staff meetings Designing recruitment plans specific to each program. (i.e. Digital Animation and Game Design- recruiting more females into this program. Health Care programs- recruiting more males and minority students)

Develop a Conference designed for students, faculty, staff and community. Offering different workshops related to specific fields:

CPTS Major Diversity Initiatives

DAGD-focused workshops on violence, racism and sexism in video games Education-focused workshops on teaching children from a variety of backgrounds and the

cultural impact on a child’s learning. Business-focused workshops on being culturally competent in the workplace. Information Security & Intelligence- and Criminal Justice-focused workshops on how to profile

without stereotypes and discrimination. Health Care-focused workshops on respecting and accommodating religious and cultural

differences in medical treatment.

Develop a University Wide Diversity Newsletter

Provide further training for staff and faculty