January NatSci DEI Newsletter

Welcome to the January 2024 NatSci DEI Newsletter!

In this issue

Upcoming events and sponsorships
Cultural Competency Workshops
Important Dates
Lifelong learning
Health and well-being
Action list
Recognitions
Contact us

Upcoming events and sponsorships

With support from the Honors College, Undergraduate Research, the Office for Institutional Diversity and Inclusion, MSU Libraries, the College of Agriculture & Natural Resources, the College of Arts & Letters, the Broad College of Business, the College of Natural Science, the College of Social Science, and Student Life & Engagement, we are excited to inform you that the 7th Annual Diversity Research Showcase (DRS) will take place on Friday, January 19, 2024 from 1:00-5:00PM ET in the MSU Union. Submissions are welcome from all MSU undergraduate students!

Students are encouraged to submit previous or in progress research on issues of diversity that advance inclusion. Awards will be presented to the top three participants in the poster presentation category and the top three participants in the oral presentation category. Thank you to our generous partners for the opportunity to increase prize money awards this year!

First prize – $800
Second prize – $650
Third prize – $500
Two additional awards of $300 will be presented to two students in the preliminary stages of conducting research

Please refer to the attached flyer and/or the below links for additional information. Questions/concerns may be sent to Isabella Figueroa ([email protected]).

Join us for an Amplify STEM Zoom webinar

Date: February 9th 2024

Time: 11:30am-12:30pm EST

Presenter: York University's Dr. Deborah McGregor.

Link to register here.

Open to all members of the community.

Dr. Deborah McGregor, Anishinabe, Associate Professor and Canada Research Chair: Indigenous Environmental Justice. Osgoode Hall Law School and Faculty of Environmental and Urban Change, York University. Professor McGregor’s research has focused on Indigenous knowledge systems and their various applications in diverse contexts including environmental and water governance, environmental and climate justice, health and environment and Indigenous legal traditions. Professor McGregor remains actively involved in a variety of Indigenous communities, serving as an advisor and continuing to engage in community-based research and initiatives. Professor McGregor has been at the forefront of Indigenous environmental and climate justice and Indigenous research theory and practice. Her work has been shared through the IEJ project website

Hosted by the College of Natural Science, the Resource Center for Persons with Disabilities (RCPD), and STEM+ Education @State

Session 1:

Crip Camp: A Disability Revolution

Documentary screening and discussion with disability specialists

Thursday, Feb. 1^st, STEM 2130

Documentary Screening, 5-7pm

Dinner provided for those who register

Interactive Discussion, 7-8pm

Panelists leading the discussion:
Mike Hudson, Director, RCPD
Tracy Leahy, ADA Coordinator
Ginger Martz, RCPD Specialist
You are welcome to attend the discussion if you have already seen the documentary (available on Netflix)

Session 2:

Disability in Higher Education: Creating Inclusive Spaces for Students with Autism

Brad Cox, Assoc Professor, College of Education, founder of National College Autism Network

Tuesday, March 12, 2024, 10-11am, ZOOM webinar

Session 3:

Learning Narratives from Students with Disabilities in STEM Classrooms

Friday, March 29, 12-1:30pm, STEM 2110 or via ZOOM

Panelists will include undergraduate and graduate students
Lunch included for those attending in-person

Amplify STEM is holding a video initiative this year! Help us amplify the voices of STEM professionals from underrepresented backgrounds! Create a 2-5 minute video highlighting an underrepresented STEM professional, professionals can be past or present. Creators of selected videos will also receive a free Amplify STEM t-shirt. Open to students and employees.

Information and submission link site here.

In late November, Amplify STEM held a "Diverse Voices in STEM Career Fields" panel, with 3 professionals in the STEM field. The video recording is included below:

Cultural Competency Workshops

Registration is now open for the Spring 2024 semester NatSci Cultural Competency Workshops for MSU NatSci employees and graduate students!

Our workshops are held on:

Tuesday series (virtual): January 23rd, 30th, February 6th, 20th 1-3:30pm

Monday full day (in-person): February 5th 9am-5pm, location TBD

Wednesday full day (in-person): March 13th, 9am-5pm, ISTB room 1404

April 30th, May 1st, 2nd, 3rd (in-person): 9-11:30am, location TBD

To learn more about the NatSci Cultural Competency Workshop click here.

Important Dates

January 4th is World Braille Day, and January is Braille Literacy Month! This is a day in celebration of braille inventor Louis Braille, and a month to raise awareness to the blind and partially sighted community.

Some more information about Braille Day and Braille Literacy Month here.

January 13th is Korean-American Day! There are approximately 2 million Korean-Americans in the United States today.

The university is closed January 15th in honor of Martin Luther King Jr. Day. Classes will resume Tuesday the 16th.

Lifelong Learning

This past December, the College of Agriculture and Natural Resources, NatSci, Lyman Briggs, and Engineering hosted sessions for their Women in STEM online program. Below is Dr. Laurie Thorp's session for viewing.

Mental health and well-being

Please take care of your health and well-being. Please use the resources below for support.

Action list

"Please be sure to review and reference the academic calendar. Also be mindful of our Religious Observance Policy and encourage your students to proactively engage with you and work with you on appropriate accommodations. This semester, Passover will fall during our final exams period. No student or instructor who observes this holiday should be expected to take or administer a final exam, especially during the first two observed days. Instructors can work directly with their department chair and dean at the beginning of the semester to determine appropriate accommodations. Additionally, updates to the 2025 calendar and future semesters are reflected on the Office of the Registrar website."

-Thomas D. Jeitschko, Interim provost and Executive Vice President for Academic Affairs

We have created a document to assist in ordering food. This document includes availability of vegan, vegetarian, gluten-free options for many local places around East Lansing. It also includes "do's and don'ts" for ordering food for inclusive groups.

We have created a document to assist in replacing harmful language with more inclusive terminology. It provides many words that may be harmful and what you may use to replace them.

Accessibility Awareness Survey

All NatSci faculty and staff are asked to complete this 3 min Accessibility Awareness Survey. The survey results will be used by the Office of Civil Rights and the Digital Accessibility Coordinator at MSU to evaluate the current landscape of accessibility in our college. Thank you in advance for your participation.

Inclusive Pedagogy

Participation in blended courses 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.

View complete recruitment information here.

Digital Accessibility

Did you know?

Research shows that 71% of students without hearing difficulties use captions when available for videos at least some of the time. Of those students, 75% report using them as a learning tool, and 98% report finding captions helpful (Linder, 2016). Providing captions to meet accessibility standards helps the majority of students, even those that are not hearing impaired.

Schedule a consultation

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

Join MSU IT's Instructional Technology and Development team for the following workshops!

Equity in Evaluation: Building Accessible Quiz Questions

February 21, 11:00 – 12:00. (Virtual)

Join a learning community!

The Equitable Pedagogy: Removing Barriers to Learning community welcomes educators looking to dismantle these barriers. As a community, we will examine and discuss undergraduate student responses to academic challenge and failure. The goal for the community would be to investigate the impact of the interventions, hopefully providing community members with actionable items to take back to their classrooms. Join the iTeachMSU group for more information.