Academic Senate looks at training, transition
Central Michigan University Bob Davies (right) and Interim Provost Paula Lancaster (left) deliver their joint report to the Academic Senate during their meeting on Sept. 24. (CM Life | Blace Carpenter)
Central Michigan University President Bob Davies and Interim Provost Paula Lancaster wrote about the launch of a Title IX-related training and a new Inclusive Excellence Training from the Office for Intuitional Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (OIDEI) in their latest joint report for the Academic Senate meeting on Wednesday.
Davies said both trainings teach vital lessons that help students become better at understanding their peers and future colleagues.
“It’s part of understanding some of the rules and regulations that as students, they need to abide by,” Davies said. “There’s also some philosophical discussion points, especially with Title IX as well as with diversity, is how to be a responsible adult. How to be a responsible citizen. How to work with individuals with differences and coming from different backgrounds, and really use it as an opportunity to learn, to engage and to grow.”
The OIDEI created a curriculum development team made up of various faculty and staff members to create both required and optional modules for Inclusive Excellence training. The team is hoping to complete these modules by Oct. 14 so they can be reviewed and made widely available by Oct. 28.
All first-year and transfer students are required to complete a module that "explores concepts of diversity, equity, inclusion, belonging and their relationship with identity."
According to the president's and provost's joint report, all employees of the university are required to complete a Title IX-related traing due to an update in the federal law. Faculty and staff will receive an email on the training, are required to complete them by Nov. 30.
“(The trainings) are taken seriously,” Davies said. “They are a jumping-off point. They are not meant to be the end all be all of everything but really to just provide some foundational-type of things to be mindful and thoughtful of.”
Turnover and plans for “continuity and stability”
In a written response to the Senate, Davies addressed a question from an unnamed faculty member who questioned the recent turnovers in the university’s administration and how the college will maintain “continuity and stability” with the incoming president.
“I can certainly appreciate the concern for stability,” Davies wrote. “In the last year, we did have two abrupt leadership changes on the president’s cabinet, and that can be a jarring experience for faculty and staff.
"I cannot speak to how the university’s next president may change their leadership team – new presidents often make at least some changes to their cabinet in the first year or two of their tenure – however, I hope I can offer an encouraging perspective.”
He continued by stating that there is “no ONE person who is responsible” for the university’s successes and failures, and that the institution relies on the various departments and divisions to complete its strategic goals.
“A university president is going to come in and they are going to analyze the team and make some decisions and those type of things,” Davies said. “I think we have a wonderful president's cabinet. I think it is made up of individuals that are superb in their particular field but also wonderful university citizens and community citizens.
Grants update
Also during the meeting, Lancaster announced that CMU has received more than $4 million in grants since the previous senate meeting. The university received 23 awards, in fact, totaling $4,040,823.
“Our great success continues in this area, and I just want to thank everyone for the work that they’re doing and advancing many, many disciplines on campus ... involving many of our students in that work," Lancaster said. "So congratulations to all of you.”
This grant was awarded to various departments across the college, such as engineering and psychology.
Future Academic Senate meetings will occur at 3:30 p.m. every-other Tuesday at the Education and Human Services Building in the French Auditorium. Livestreams of the meeting and all future meetings can be found on CMU’s website.
