What does a faculty model for developing cultural competency look like and how do we put it into practice? In this workshop, speakers discuss various components of making courses more inclusive through faculty DEI training and through redesigning courses to consider neurodiversity. First, Dr. Susan Keenan walks through the Inclusive Excellence Teacher-Scholar Workshop (IETSW), examining why faculty cultural competency is a central element of their professional development model, and explore activities around developing inclusive classroom practices. Next, participants will build off what they’ve learned as Dr. Marisa Chrysochoou empowers us to enhance the inclusivity of STEM learning environments by adopting a strengths-based approach toward neurodiversity through the incorporation of inclusive assessment strategies that acknowledge the unique strengths and abilities of neurodivergent students.

Speakers:

Susan Keenan, Ph.D.

Associate Dean, College Structures & Student Affairs, University of Northern Colorado.

Marisa Chrysochoou, Ph.D.

Professor and Department Head, Civil and Environmental Engineering, University of Connecticut.

Register for the workshop here.

The Mentoring Institute at UNM's 15th Annual Mentoring Conference, Fostering Diverse Communities of Mentorship: Evidence-Based Practices for Reciprocal Growth is a five-day event that took place from Monday, October 24th, 2022, through Friday, October 28th, 2022, tentatively at the UNM Student Union Building in Albuquerque, NM.

About the Conference: The Mentoring Institute at UNM aims to host a broad constituency, including divisions of higher education, academic researchers, educators, community leaders, administrators, non-profit partners, government agencies, and other professionals.

Who Attends the Conference?: The 2021 Mentoring Conference attracted 400 mentoring researchers and practitioners. 83% of attendees were faculty, staff or students from higher education. The remaining 17% were professionals and practitioners from health care, government, non-profit, and business organizations.

Sponsored by the Midwest Experiences in Mentoring Excellence initiative, these dialogues helped faculty strengthen their mentoring of other faculty in the STEM field through discussion and sharing of best practices across disciplinary and institutional lines. The content reflected the National Research Mentoring Network (NRMN)/ Center for Improvement of Mentored Experiences in Research (CIMER) Entering Mentoring training.

Topics covered were Maintaining Effective Communication; Aligning Expectations; Assessing Understanding; Addressing Equity and Inclusion; Fostering Independence; and Promoting Professional Development. The training attests to the importance of intercultural competency in faculty mentorship.

Designed with the future of the IChange Network in mind, the 2022 IChange Annual Meeting was focused on sustaining the work of it's members and included sessions on supporting faculty, leveraging data for meaningful change, and navigating conflicts that arise from work.

This meeting's agenda balances these important sessions with the launch of IChange 2.0, the next iteration of the network. This year’s meeting also featured a welcome reception hosted with IAspire Fellows, Affinity Groups Team and co-locating with the APLU’s Council on Diversity, Equity and Inclusion.

The IChange Annual Meeting was a unique opportunity to bring together all the campuses working with Aspire’s IChange Initiative to spend quality time in dialogue, building community, and growing with one another.

Midwest Experiences in Mentoring Excellence (MEME) has conducted a virtual workshop "Conversations about Mentoring Junior Faculty and Graduate Students" by Dr. Christina Campbell on April 19th, 2022.

Dr. Christina Alicia Campbell is a first-generation college student from Los Angeles, California. She is a tenured Associate Professor in the School of Criminal Justice at the University of Cincinnati. Dr. Campbell earned a B.A. from San Diego State University in 2006, and a Masters and Ph.D. in Psychology from Michigan State University in 2012. She completed a postdoctoral fellowship in the Department of Psychiatry, Division of Prevention and Community Research at Yale University in 2014. Her passion for research was cultivated as a Ronald E. McNair Scholar and National Institutes of Health, Minority Biomedical Research Support (MBRS) Scholar.

Dr. Campbell's primary research interests include delinquency prevention, risk assessment, juvenile justice, child welfare policy, and reducing racial disparities. In addition to research and teaching, she has mentored scholars pursuing graduate and professional degrees. After over 10 years of service, Dr. Campbell started Academe180, a professional development group designed to provide support for academics transitioning into the workplace. She is also an author and illustrator of a children’s book for adults titled "The ABC’s of Negotiating". This book was designed to teach academics foundational skills for asking for what they need and want while on the job market.

The workshop was conducted on Tuesday, April 19, 2022 at 10am (EST).

The Faculty Women of Color in the Academy (FWCA) conference is a unique educational and professional opportunity for indigenous and women of color in higher education to network, engage, and learn with colleagues from around the country. The 10th annual installment of FWCA featured sessions that explored the topics of leadership, career advancement, personal well-being and scholar activism.

Hosted by the Center of Excellence for Women & Technology at Indiana University, the Annual Summit on Women & Technology is a conference to connect, empower, and celebrate women & technology across a variety of skill levels and topics. The featured speakers for this event were:-

Kari Byron, TV Host and Producer - STEAM Advocate - Author

Ruchika Tulshyan, Inclusion Strategist - Author - Speaker

Lynn Dohm, Executive Director of Women in Cybersecurity (WiCyS)

The IUPUI GMC welcomed Dr. Kenneth Lai Hing from Oakwood University as the 2022 IUPUI Graduate Mentoring Center Trailblazer and Innovator on March 29 and 30. Dr. Kenneth Lai Hing received his BS degree in Chemistry from the City University of New York and his Ph.D. in Analytical/Physical Chemistry from the University of Georgia. After graduating from UGA, he accepted a faculty position as Assistant Professor in the Chemistry Department at Oakwood then a college, HBCU, in Huntsville, Alabama and progressed through the ranks to full Professor.

Dr. Lai Hing's administrative positions include Chair of the Chemistry Department for over 20 years and in the 2016-17 school year was selected as Dean of the School of Arts and Sciences. In the Fall of 2021, he was awarded the latest of three NSF funded HBCU-UP, Implementation grants. Dr. Hing, who has been an excellent mentor to underrepresented students, postdocs, and faculty for many years, spoke about his experiences in mentoring students over the years.

Midwest Experiences in Mentoring Excellence (MEME) has conducted a virtual workshop "A Conversation about Inclusive Mentoring Strategies" with Barbara Johnson on January 13th, 2022.

Dr. Johnson is the Vice President for Academic Affairs and Professor of Student Affairs Administration at Arkansas Tech University. She has worked in academe for over 25 years as both an administrator and tenured faculty member in a cross-section of institutional types. She has established mentoring programs for students of color and currently serves as the Director of the Leadership and Mentoring Institute for the American Association of Blacks in Higher Education.