Working Group: Monica Harris, Vicky Wright, Melanie Rabine-Johnson, Jason Cronkrite, Laura Kastler

Objective A1: We will initiate investigating the needs of students in our college through best practices in research and inquiry by increasing intentional contact with students

Recommended strategies to reach objective:

• Examine existing methods of surveying/inquiry efforts
• Implement survey process that addresses gaps in data
• Facilitate student focus groups on a regular basis that culls more qualitative data
  • Conduct targeted surveys and focus groups to gather insights on students’ academic, social, and personal needs. 
• Implement feedback loops that allow students to share their experiences and needs throughout the semester, ensuring real-time responses.

Objective A2: We will initiate supporting the experiential learning program (community-based learning/internship programs) for each CECI Major

Recommended strategies to reach objective:

• Learn more about career-exploration, experiential learning programs for each CECI Major
  • Identify the percentage of students completing a major-specific workplace-based experience
  • Describe the impact of workplace-based learning for students in CECI Majors
• Support the needs of Internship Coordinators for each CECI Major
• Support the efforts of Academic Advisors as they guide students through considering career-exploration, experiential learning programs for each CECI Major
• Implement feedback loops that allow students to share their experiences and needs throughout the semester, ensuring real-time responses.

Objective A3: We will initiate understanding and developing a robust CECI Alumni Network/Community

Recommended strategies to reach objective:

• Explore alumni needs/wants from institution after they graduate
• Expand alumni support beyond Alumni Relations: Education Alumni Affinity group to include support for all CECI alumni
• Identify the shared community among our alumni 
• Nurture the community
• Connect students to community
  • Develop a CECI Alumni Event that connects graduates from all CECI Majors
• Implement feedback loops that allow students to share their experiences and needs throughout the semester, ensuring real-time response 

Working Group: Clay Pelon, Breeann Mann, Annukka Thelen, Pakky Gerkin, Scott Rood, Scott Berlin

Objective B1: CECI will finalize (with faculty input) college level standards for personnel actions.

Recommended strategies to reach objective:

• Standards should be approved by vote of tenure track faculty.
• New Standards should be finalized before Fall 2025.
• Voting on new standards should occur before Winter 2026.

Objective B2: Promote faculty and staff success and retention through investment in professional development and support for faculty and staff in all stages of their careers.

Recommended strategies to reach objective:

• Seek to increase annual investment in professional development funds for faculty and staff.
• Offer and support professional development opportunities for faculty and staff at various stages of their careers in all aspects of academic life (teaching, scholarship, and service).
• Foster supportive and flexible work environment for faculty and staff.

Objective B3: Create and support opportunities to increase capacity of faculty and staff to address needs of diverse students.

Recommended strategies to reach objective:

• Create DEI strategy to promote inclusive culture that attracts and retains diverse students, faculty, and staff.
  • CECI Anti-racism and Social Justice Committee
• Establish a feedback system to create continuous improvement in this area.
• Set and monitor target numbers for this work.
• Completion of relevant professional development activities (such as workshops, conferences, certifications, or advanced training related to discipline)
  • GVSU Inclusion and Equity Institute
  • Provide funding for external professional development (ex: NCORE)

Objective B4: Strengthen community engagement through strategic partnerships and collaborative initiatives.

Recommended strategies to reach objective:

• Establish and/or strengthen strategic partnerships with local businesses, government agencies, non-profits, birth-12th grade schools and districts, etc. 
• Increase opportunities for students to engage in high-impact learning experiences within the community.
• Incentivize and value faculty and staff activity that fosters mutually beneficial relationships that elevate the college’s role as a community leader. 

Working group: Rui Niu-Cooper, Aaron Yore-VanOosterhout, Katie Scheuerle, Priscilla Kimboko, Joshua Sheffer, Jade Bowman, Laila McCloud

Objective C1: Increase awareness of CECI information for adult learners

Recommended strategies to reach objective:

• Streamline communication (including but not limited to CECI websites) for prospective adult learners.
  • Front-load program information in a welcoming environment; incentives might need to be offered to those who are providing such welcoming occasions/activities.
    • Offer information sessions at various times and modalities to accommodate work schedules of adult learners.
    • Ensure there is clear and accurate communication/referrals/resources from the beginning, to encourage prospective students to transition into enrolled students.
    • Offer clear, detailed cost breakdown of tuition and other fees, and perhaps offer some of these a la carte — that is, adjust tuition to student needs.
• Articulate the breadth of programs within CECI, beyond classroom teaching professions
• Advocate for broader inclusion of students, including those who are currently under some form of state supervision, such as probation, parole, or incarceration. This advocacy can be both internal (e.g., a ban the box campaign for our student applications) and external (e.g., adding a specific component to the REP4 initiative).
   

Objective C2: Build new programs, or modify/expand existing programs, to meet adult learners’ needs

Recommended strategies to reach objective:

• Create microcredentials (certificates, badges) that attract non-degree-seeking students, some of which may lead to more degree-seeking students.
• Determine what employers need from their employees: e.g., is there a void CECI could fill?
   

Objective C3: Increase resources and effective communication channels for adult learners

Recommended strategies to reach objective:

• Compile existing resources available to adult learners to make these more visible for students in CECI.
  • Encourage faculty and staff to act as “translators” of university requirements and bureaucracy.
  • Consider adding an adult learner ombuds.
• Recognize adult learners are a much more diverse body of students – in terms of age, life experience, educational goals/needs, etc. – than “traditional” undergraduates.
  • Survey adult learners regarding their needs and how they think the university or program can support them better (e.g., for learners with full-time working status, family and community obligations, extracurriculars they are engaged in, etc.).
  • Target orientation to meet the needs of adult learners.
  • Offer introductory courses designed to reach as broad a range of educational backgrounds and technology skills as possible.
  • Work with university offices to establish specific scholarships for adult learners.
  • Tie learning objectives to learners’ skill levels, needs, and interests.
  • Encourage programs to develop prior learning credit options/policies/procedures.
• Incentivize faculty to offer courses at “non-traditional” days/times.
   

Objective C4: Enable student agency over their experience to the greatest extent possible.

Recommended strategies to reach objective:

• Offer more comprehensive services/resources for adult learners.
  • Offer a specified study time/space for collaborative homework completion — this can be a confidence booster during their first term back in the classroom.
  • Partner with local nonprofit organizations and agencies to provide housing assistance, employment assistance, child care, etc.
  • Offer opportunities for GVSU Services to connect with students who may only be engaging in “virtual” settings.
• Create/identify community-building activities for adult learners.
  • These can be tailored for adults in particular programs and circumstances, such as discipline-specific clubs, family-inclusive events, or a support group for people reentering society.

Objective C5: Increase resources (knowledge, awareness, and skills) for faculty to advise and teach adult learners.

Recommended strategies to reach objective:

• Offer continuing support for faculty and staff who serve adult learners.
  • Offer instructor training to support both course instructors and adult learners regarding specific learning needs, e.g., motivating students, highlighting coursework’s practical application.
  • Maintain periodic check-ins among faculty and staff serving adult learners, to talk through difficulties, challenges, joys. (Perhaps FTLC could facilitate and support this with CECI.)
• Encourage and support high-impact learning opportunities that are practical, applicable, and allow for networking (i.e., work within the community).
• Encourage independent exploration while ensuring access to materials, methods and resources.

Working group: Raymond Higbea; Rick Geisel, Mary Bair, Mohammad (Didar) Hossain, Christopher Kierkhus

Objective D1: Increase Faculty Scholarship Internal to CECI

We will create a system to support faculty research through voluntary groups and mentoring activities, while also establishing regular venues for celebrating scholarship, such as Brown Bag lunches and an Annual Symposium.

Recommended strategies to reach objective:

• Establish voluntary Faculty Learning Communities (FLCs) for faculty to share progress and challenges related to scholarship.
• Schedule quarterly informal Brown Bag lunches, with virtual options, for faculty to present research in progress.
• Schedule an Annual Research Symposium to showcase faculty scholarship (completed and work in-progress).

Baseline: Fall 2024 = No formal research support structure or celebration of scholarship.

Target: Implement one FLC and launch quarterly brown bags by fall 2025, with an annual symposium scheduled by Winter 2026.

Objective D2: Increase Community Engaged Research

We will enhance community engagement in research projects through partnerships with local organizations, fostering mutual learning and application of scholarship to address community needs.

Recommended strategies to reach objective:

• Establish a Community Research Advisory Board for CECI.
• Conduct structured assessment with key stakeholders and identify community needs/issues.
• Develop 1-2 new collaborative research initiatives with local community organizations, ensuring projects are relevant to community needs/issues.

Baseline: Identify existing community engaged research projects by Winter 2025.

Target: Complete stakeholder assessment and start one new initiative by Fall 2026.

Objective D3: Increase Student Research

We will create a supportive framework for student engagement in research through mentorship opportunities and structured presentation platforms.

Recommended strategies to reach objective:

• Make faculty and students aware of GVSU funding opportunities for both graduate and undergraduate student research, using the CECI Dean’s office newsletter.
• Schedule a preparatory workshop leading up to Student Scholarship Day, focusing on effective research dissemination techniques (poster, presentations).
• Attend and support undergraduate and graduate research showcase events
• Create peer mentoring program with experienced students and those who want to engage in scholarship.

Baseline: Fall 2024, establish baseline number of CECI students who presented at 3-minute thesis or Undergraduate Scholar Day.

Target: By Winter 2026, increase student participation in research by 15%.

Objective D4: Increase Dissemination of Research outside CECI

We will increase college-level funding support for scholarship dissemination.

Recommended strategies to reach objective:

• Identify funding for a dedicated CECI budget line for disseminating research at national/international venues.
• Develop transparent criteria and an application process for funding distribution.
• Create tracking system for CECI funded publications and presentations.

Baseline: Fall 2024, No formal budget line in CECI to support scholarship.

Target: Identify source of funding and develop application criteria by fall 2025, with first round of funds to be distributed by Winter 2026.

Working group: Jennifer Marson, Dianne Green-Smith, Patricia Stow Bolea, Chasity Bailey-Fakhoury, MaryJohn Adkins-Cartee, Kelly Margot, Star Zetocha, Janelle Grant-Ashbaugh

Objective E1: Advance the core mandate of higher education by improving human and environmental health and well-being, which are determinants of learning, productivity, and engagement (as adopted by GVSU through the Okanagan Charter).

The Culture of Care initiatives work to sustain inclusive practices as part of the core work of the College across all areas of endeavor, including teaching, scholarship, service, governance, leadership, professional development, and administration.

Recommended strategies to reach objective:

• Revise personnel policies and Faculty Workload Reports (FWRs) to:
  • create manageable workloads
  • reward those who work toward commitments in all disciplines that incorporate addressing social, environmental and economic determinants of health and improving equity, mental and physical well-being, social justice, respect for diversity, sustainability and food security (excerpt from Okanagan Charter), not just those who meet/exceed traditional achievement measures
• Adjust faculty workload descriptions and expectations to officially value and create space for increased advocacy and activism to disrupt systems of oppression, while increasing the sustainability of this work through promoting work-life harmony.
• Create a college culture of compassion, well-being, equity and social justice; improve the health of the people who live, learn, work, play and love on our campuses; and strengthen the ecological, social and economic sustainability of our communities and wider society.
  •  For example, policies need to center the whole person’s (physical, mental, and social) well-being.

Objective E2: Promote work-life harmony when assigning work and evaluating faculty.

Recommended strategies to reach objective:

• When the college or unit asks faculty to add a new task/job to their workload, a reduction in current tasks/jobs under that faculty’s purview is required.
• The college and unit respect and promote boundaries around faculty time.
  • For example, on LIFT evaluations students are asked if faculty respond in a timely manner - faculty should not be expected to respond within 24 hours on a weekend even though students might want this.

Working group: Kathy Bailey, Neal Buckwalter, Mei Mah, Paul Stansbie, Kevin Holohan, Barbara Lubic

The alignment of the CECI mission of Educating leaders and professionals to engage, enrich, and transform communities with the GVSU Reach Higher 2025 community engagement goals.

• Relevant programs full of learning opportunities that can be applied to the pressing concerns and problems of our communities and the world.
• Personalized assistance for students to identify and develop a network of mentors and advisors from among faculty, staff, peers, employers, alumni, and community members that form an extended GVSU learning community.
• Community engagement practices that demonstrate reciprocity of learning.

CECI Values

• Interdisciplinary and Lifelong Learning
• Teaching Excellence, Applied Scholarship, and Impactful Service
• Equity, Social Justice, Inclusive Society, and Social Responsibility
• Ethical Leadership and Democratic Governance
• Collegial, Collaborative, and Consensus Building Culture
• Strategic Innovation for Improvement
• Engagement with Student and Community Stakeholders

Objective F1: Develop community engagement in community outreach projects through collaborative and mutual beneficial partnerships with local, state, national and international organizations.

Recommended strategies to reach objective:

• Identify key CECI community collaboration partners through a structured assessment with key stakeholders and identify community needs/issues.
• Co-identify 1-2 new collaborative initiatives with local community organizations, ensuring projects are relevant to community needs/issues.
• Develop a CECI wide community advisory committee with key external partners

Baseline: Develop an assessment instrument of current community partnerships and impact identify potential focus groups for needs analysis.

Target: Develop the instrument by the close of Summer 2025. Information delivery early Fall 2025.

Objective F2: Align curricular goals with experiential learning opportunities which enhance learners' understanding of pressing issues in our communities and across the globe.

Recommended strategies to reach objective:

• Develop guidelines and peer support models for implementing community-based learning experiences in courses, student organizations, and other extracurricular activities.
• Identify potential funding systems to support the community engagement across CECI.

Baseline: Identify and analyze current CECI community engagement, partners, and future partnership opportunities. Gather information about current community engagement funding and identify additional funding opportunities.

Target: CECI course and program reviews related to community engagement by Winter 2025.

Objective F3: Set community engagement standards for CECI community members (students, staff and faculty.)

Recommended strategies to reach objective:

• Develop Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) for community engagement for CECI faculty and staff.
• Identify how the community engagement KPIs will be measured in faculty and staff performance evaluation.
• Develop rubrics for course related student community engagement and/or real world issues

Baseline: Review KPIs and reward systems for community engagement work across GVSU and other US regional state universities.

Target: Draft student rubric Fall 2025 semester, revision through winter 2026 for implementation Fall 2026. Write CECI KPIs for community engagement Winter 2025 for review Fall 2025 and implementation Fall 2026.

October - November

Each unit and committee will volunteer 2 people to one of 6 working groups. Average of 6 persons on each group. Vacancies will be filled by volunteers.
Each working group will propose 1 to 3 items for consideration.

• objective
• strategies to reach objective
• baseline data
• measurable goals with target dates

Other groups or individuals may also propose items for consideration

December

Proposals are published for written comment.

February

Proposed items are sent back to authors for editing, based on comments

March

• Town Halls held to discuss proposed items.
• Faculty Council and Dean screen proposals for compatibility with university mission and policies.

April

Proposed items are voted on by faculty and staff.