Join the English department as we celebrate recently published creative writing (and recently completed MFA and PhD degrees in creative writing) by GRCC English department faculty. Event details Tuesday, March 25   6:30-8 p.m.   GRCC ATC Piazza A buffet of snacks and beverages will be served. 6:15 p.m. - Time to mingle and visit the buffet table. 6:30 p.m. - Readings begin, featuring five GRCC faculty writers, listed below. 7:15 p.m. - Q & A with authors: On Writing and a Writer’s Education. After sharing their work, faculty readers will discuss their writing as well as the education and life of a writer.  Featured poetry and prose authors Alyssa Jewell – Poetry Maryann Lesert – Fiction Rachel Lutwick-Deaner – Creative Nonfiction Mursalata Muhammad – Poetry & Creative Nonfiction Geoff Peck - Fiction This event is sponsored by the GRCC English department and Transfer Bridges to the Humanities, U-M. For author information visit the English Department Spring Reading webpage.  

Last fall, we announced a new partnership with Junior Achievement, and now we’re excited to offer GRCC employees a unique volunteer opportunity at BizTown on Wednesday, March 5.  BizTown is a simulated town where fifth and sixth grade students immerse themselves in a full-day, hands-on experience focused on financial literacy, career exploration and understanding how communities grow and thrive. GRCC proudly has its own storefront in BizTown, alongside several other local businesses. As a volunteer, you’ll play a key role in guiding students through this dynamic learning experience. Volunteers will be assigned to a specific storefront on the day of the event, helping to bring the BizTown experience to life.  Spots are still open! Event details Date:    Wednesday, March 5 Time:    9:45 a.m. - Volunteer Arrival              10-11 a.m. - Volunteer Training              11-3 p.m. - Volunteer* Where: Huizenga Family JA Free Enterprise Center              4090 Lake Drive SE              Grand Rapids, MI 49546 Attire:   Show your GRCC spirit and wear GRCC attire. *There will be a break for lunch. Please bring a water bottle and sack lunch or snack with you. How to volunteer First, get approval from your supervisor to ensure appropriate office coverage, etc. Register to volunteer by using Junior Achievement’s  volunteer form . You will be prompted to create an account prior to signing up. Review and sign the  Junior Achievement volunteer release form  and bring it with you on March 5. Fill out GRCC’s  Application for Leave of Absence  form indicating “ community service leave”.  The Leave of Absence form must be approved by your supervisor before March 5. To report this time on your timesheet, please indicate the hours you volunteered in the (CF) column on the paybook form and include  “community service leave”  in the note’s column.  Professional development hours PMA and APSS employees may record up to five hours of professional development for wellness activities, volunteering or community board/involvement related to GRCC work. So, APSS and PMA employees can count this toward PD hours if they haven't already recorded five hours for any of the above activities. If you have any questions, please feel free to contact Anne Momany at annemomany@grcc.edu

The City of Grand Rapids has notified GRCC that road construction on Division Avenue, from Michigan Street to Fulton Street, will begin on March 3, 2025.  While the intersection of Lyon St. and Division Ave will remain open for the time being, the intersection of Fountain St. and Division Ave. will be closed. GRCC staff, students and visitors should plan for possible disruptions to normal traffic patterns and plan accordingly. We recommend allowing extra travel time and exercising caution when navigating the area.

The Diversity Lecture Series provides GRCC stakeholders and members of the Grand Rapids community with tangible access to society’s most prolific scholars, thought-leaders, activists and innovative artists. The lecture series aims to connect members of the community with people that hold a compelling interest in shaping a culture of inclusion and social justice. For over twenty years, the diversity lecture series has helped attendees consider different perspectives through cultural engagement, critical thought and civil discourse.  Lectures are free and open to all. American Sign Language interpreter or closed caption service available. For more information contact WCIMA@grcc.edu. Remaining line-up Mandice McAllister, DEI Manager   When: March 13, 2025, 5:30-7 p.m. Where: Caulkins Science Center Center 168, room 348 Claiming Your Place: How to Belong on Your Terms Human beings are hardwired for connection and belonging. However, being the only —or one of the few—in predominantly majority spaces can be an isolating experience. Through powerful storytelling, this session will take attendees on a journey from the early days of school to the corridors of higher education and into the professional world, exploring the challenges of feeling out of place and the invaluable lessons learned along the way. Together, we will explore practical strategies to build resilience, create community, and achieve authentic belonging. This session is about empowering you to embrace your unique identity and leverage your experiences to thrive, no matter where you are. About Mandice Mandice McAllister is the Diversity, Equity + Inclusion Manager for Warner Norcross + Judd LLP, a leading law firm with over 230 attorneys and nine offices throughout Michigan. Within her role, she provides strategic leadership for the firm’s internal and external DEI-related programs and processes, helping to create and sustain a more diverse, equitable, and inclusive workplace. She earned her Bachelors of Arts in political science from The Ohio State University. Mandice was 2023 Crain’s Grand Rapids 40 Under 40 honoree, a 2021 finalist for DEI Champion of the Year at the EPIC Awards for the Grand Rapids Chamber of Commerce and was honored as a 2022 Diversity Business Leader by Corp! Magazine. She serves as a board member for the Comprehensive Therapy Center, Arbor Circle and the Greater Michigan Chapter of the National Black MBA Association. Robin Wall Kimmerer, Plant Ecologist, Educator & Writer, MacArthur Fellow | Partnership with GRCC Library   When: March 20, 2025, 5:30-7 p.m. Where: Virtual- link will be provided before the event Robin Wall Kimmerer is a mother, scientist, decorated professor and enrolled member of the Citizen Potawatomi Nation. She is the author of Braiding Sweetgrass: Indigenous Wisdom, Scientific Knowledge and the Teachings of Plants, which has earned Kimmerer wide acclaim. Her first book, Gathering Moss: A Natural and Cultural History of Mosses, was awarded the John Burroughs Medal for outstanding nature writing, and her other work has appeared in Orion, Whole Terrain, and numerous scientific journals. In 2022, Braiding Sweetgrass was adapted for young adults by Monique Gray Smith. This new edition reinforces how wider ecological understanding stems from listening to the earth’s oldest teachers: the plants around us. Robin’s newest book, The Serviceberry: Abundance and Reciprocity in the Natural World (November 2024), is a bold and inspiring vision for how to orient our lives around gratitude, reciprocity, and community, based on the lessons of the natural world. Robin tours widely and has been featured on NPR’s On Being with Krista Tippett and in 2015 addressed the general assembly of the United Nations on the topic of “Healing Our Relationship with Nature.” Kimmerer is a SUNY Distinguished Teaching Professor of Environmental Biology, and the founder and director of the Center for Native Peoples and the Environment, whose mission is to create programs which draw on the wisdom of both indigenous and scientific knowledge for our shared goals of sustainability. In 2022 she was named a MacArthur Fellow. As a writer and a scientist, her interests in restoration include not only restoration of ecological communities, but restoration of our relationships to land. She holds a BS in Botany from SUNY ESF, an MS and PhD in Botany from the University of Wisconsin and is the author of numerous scientific papers on plant ecology, bryophyte ecology, traditional knowledge and restoration ecology. As a writer and a scientist, her interests in restoration include not only restoration of ecological communities, but restoration of our relationships to land. She lives on an old farm in upstate New York, tending gardens both cultivated and wild.

GRCC’s SLT met on Friday, Feb. 21. Here is a recap of the meeting.  Presentations Lakisha Beck presented Get to Know a Department: Student Records. The Goal 1/ Priority 3: Inclusive Learning Environments update was presented by Amy Lyn and Vicki Janowiak. Nora Neill and Stacia Barczak gave a presentation on Goal 3/ Priority 3: LIFT. The Goal 4/Priority 1: Community Economic Forecasting update was presented by Mark Champion. Announcements GRCC is participating in the Campus Race to Zero Waste and has recycled 3599 lbs of materials - in Week 1. There is a Grand Rapids Pride Center training on March 7. Please sign up on the  Grand Rapids Pride Center Training  form. Information was shared about the student garden club -  Staying Rooted. GRCC employees are volunteering at Junior Achievement's BizTown on March 5 from 10 a.m. - 3 p.m. See the Employee News article on how to volunteer. GradFest will be held on March 25 (Piazza) and March 26 (Lakeshore) - look for signage for more details.  Look for emails about this year's Cap and Gown Scholarship. There will be a health Minds Survey report out on March 19 from 3-4:30 p.m. in SCC 234. A Michigan Immigrants Rights group presented at a recent All Advisor's Department meeting. If you would like more info, reach out to any of the Advising Department Heads or Program Directors. Remember that Budget and Space Requests and Department Plans are due on March 1. Several mid-year budget items were approved at the recent BoT meeting. TLDE will host presentations on UDL on March 7 (2 p.m.) and 14 (11:30 a.m.- 1:30 p.m.) - look for more details in the upcoming TLDE Top 3. Next Steps  Please share the following information with your department colleagues: Slides:  February 2025 SLT Meeting Video: SLT 2-21-25 I am looking forward to learning more about the work and progress of the Strategic Initiative Teams at our next meeting. We have 4 presentations planned for our March 21 meeting.  And, again, thank you for your continued support of our strategic planning work. Jennifer Batten, Ph.D. Associate Provost- Instructional Support and Institutional Planning The purpose of the Strategic Leadership Team (SLT) is to provide a forum that enables a wide variety of college constituency groups the opportunity to provide input into the present and future direction of the College.  This team will guide the development and on-going implementation of our strategic plan, review benchmarking data, study budget realities and offer recommendations for budget priorities.

Kaitlin Oster’s journey of love, loss and writing is deeply intertwined with the story of her grandparents' wartime letters.  After receiving a box of letters her grandfather wrote to her grandmother while he was a prisoner of war during World War II, Oster transcribed and adapted them into the serialized story, “Letters to Loretta.” This deeply personal project not only helped her process her own grief but also uncovered a remarkable love story that spanned a lifetime.  Read the full story in the  Suffolk Times . 

Please share and encourage the students you teach and support to complete the  GRCC Scholarship application . They can fill out a single application to be considered for over three hundred scholarships! These scholarships can provide them with free money to help cover 2025-26 GRCC tuition, books and fees.  Students can also apply for GRCC scholarships on our  Scholarships   webpage. The priority deadline is March 15, 2025 . 

The Admissions Team will be hosting two Open Houses this Spring - at the Main Campus and the Lakeshore Campus.  Lakeshore Campus Saturday, March 29 10 AM-noon  RSVP using the Lakeshore Campus Spring Open House 2025 - Department Sign Up Main Campus Saturday, April 19 9 AM-noon  RSVP using the Main Campus Spring Open House 2025 - Department Sign Up  The Open House is an event where we invite prospective students and families to campus to showcase all GRCC has to offer. It is an opportunity for prospective students to engage with faculty and staff and get to know GRCC a little better! We would love to have your department represented at the Resource Fair. This is a fantastic opportunity to connect with potential GRCC students, answer their questions, and showcase your department! If you can attend, please sign up using the links above. We will provide breakfast treats for staff and guests!  We are also looking for help for the Main Campus Open House.  This is a large event with several hundred guests expected and we can always use extra assistance. If you are available to work the event, please let us know via email. We need greeters, runners and general smiling GRCC staff around to mingle with our guests. Thank you for your consideration. If you have any questions, please feel free to contact Omar Gonzalez, Chanell Rigterink or Lori Cook. Thank you for your support of this important event!  

This training is for all GRCC community members.  All are welcome (until we reach capacity).   Friday, March 7 10 a.m. - noon  108 Sneden, GRCC Please sign up on the Grand Rapids Pride Center Training form. Areas to be covered Cultural humility The necessary foundation and tools to have self-reflection and learn from others’ cultures, recognizing power imbalances and differences, and honoring others’ beliefs and values. Create safe spaces for all A better understanding of the benefits of creating inclusive environments. Communication tools Teaches practical communication tools to encourage positive relationships across your organization. Deepened empathy Awareness and understanding of unique challenges faced by the 2-SLGBTQ+ community.