2014-2015

Social Justice Lecture Series: Dr. Arun Gandhi

• Sep 14, 2014 7:30 PM – 9:00 PM
• Rozsa Center for Performing Arts

Dr. Arun Gandhi

Former Journalist, The Times of India

Born in 1934 in Durban, South Africa, Arun is the fifth grandson of India’s legendary leader, Mohandas K. “Mahatmma” Gandhi. Arun shares lessons of non-violence and peace taught by his grandfather around the world.  For the past five years, he has participated in the Renaissance Weekend deliberations with President Clinton and other well-respected Rhodes Scholars.

Arun is very involved in social programs and writing, as well. Shortly after Arun married his wife Sunanda, they were informed the South African government would not allow her to accompany him there. Sunanda and Arun decided to live in India, and Arun worked for 30 years as a journalist for The Times of India. Together, Arun and Sunanda started projects for the social and economic uplifting of the oppressed using constructive programs, the backbone of Gandhi’s philosophy of nonviolence. The programs changed the lives of more than half a million people in over 300 villages and they still continue to grow. Sunanda died in February of 2007 and the family is working to establish a school in poorest rural India in her name.

Arun is the author of several books. The first, A Patch of White (1949), is about life in prejudiced South Africa; then, he wrote two books on poverty and politics in India; followed by a compilation of M.K. Gandhi's Wit & Wisdom. He also edited a book of essays on World Without Violence: Can Gandhi’s Vision Become Reality? And, more recently, wrote The Forgotten Woman: The Untold Story of Kastur, the Wife of Mahatma Gandhi, jointly with his late wife Sunanda.

Lunch and Learn--Password Security

• Oct 10, 2014 12:00 PM
• MUB Ballroom A1

Do you use the same password for all your online accounts? Do you try to remember five or six different passwords in your head, or, maybe you have them written down on a super-secret slip of paper tucked in your desk drawer? None of these systems are recommended.
The Student Affairs and Advancement Technology Advance Committee invites you to a Lunch and Learn on Friday, October 10 at noon in the MUB Ballroom, A1, for our recommendations on how (and where) to keep your passwords safe. Bring your lunch--we'll provide beverages and cookies.
Please RSVP not later than Wednesday, October 8 by completing this simple Google form.
If you have a mobile device, bring it along for some hands-on help (but certainly not required). Hope to see you there.
Technology Advance Committee

Social Justice Lecture Series: "They Call Me Q"

• Oct 17, 2014 7:00 PM – 9:00 PM
• Memorial Union Building, Ballroom

Qurrat Kadwani

Actress and producer

Qurrant Kawani is an actress, producer, emcee, TV Host and philanthropist.  She is the founding Artistic Director of eyeBLINK (www.eyeblink.org) and the head of the Theatre department. She is a graduate of The Bronx High School of Science and a theater graduate of SUNY Geneseo with a double scholarship recipient for her directing and acting contributions.  Ms. Kadwani has taught a Monologue Writing and Performance Workshop and Acting classes.  She recently appeared as the female lead in Blind Angels at Theatre for the New City.  She has hosted Desi Jams and 100% Desi on Namaste America.  TV appearances also include ABC News’ What Would You Do, As The World Turns, All My Children.  Stage work extends to Baby Taj (TheaterWorks Palo Alto), Perfect Fit, The Women of the Mahabharata, Sankalpan (New Group), First Language (New Group), Inside Out (Abingdon Theatre Company), The Quaking (Abingdon Theatre Company), Falling Man (NYU), The Greeks (Imua Theatre Company), Beneath the Banyan Tree (eyeBLINK).  Film credits include Antigone 5000, The Tailor, One Night Stand, Last Saturday with Morli, Jabeen.  She has emceed events for non-profit organizations such as Your Dil, Lend A Hand India, LRBT, Asha for Education, Chhaya, and SOS India.  She has appeared in print campaigns, industrials, and commercials.  

Ms. Kadwani’s one woman show They Call Me Q!  received the Best Actress Award at the Variations Theatre Group: Harvest Festival 2012 in NYC and Best Play Award at the Maui Fringe Festival 2013. To date, she has performed her solo play over 50 times.  In December 2013, United Nations Unicef invited Ms. Kadwani to perform.  Non-profit charity organizations such as Sankara Eye Foundation, Lend A Hand India, and Sapna NYC have presented her solo play as benefit fundraisers.  

She received additional performances after NYC Fringe as part of Encore Series: Solo in the City, awarded to only 6 solo shows. They Call Me Q! has been nominated for Best Fringe Solo Play by Broadway World DC and Best Solo Performer by MD Theatre Guide.

Sizzling Subjects and Tantalizing Text

• Nov 12, 2014 11:00 AM – 11:50 AM
• Memorial Union Building, Ballroom B

• Allison Carter and Kara Sokol
• Wednesday, November 12, 11am
• MUB Ballroom B

We all get flooded with email and mail--most of it “junk.” So, how do you get your message across? Join us and learn how to write subject lines that get noticed and text that inspires action. We’ll cover tips, tricks, and best practices--then you’ll put your creativity to work to practice what you’ve learned. Whether you're writing emails or traditional letters, you’ll learn how to strengthen your communications.

Useful Mediation Techniques for the Workplace

• Nov 12, 2014 12:00 PM – 12:50 PM
• Memorial Union Building, Ballroom B

Beth Lunde-Stockero and Jill Hodges

Wednesday, November 12, noon

MUB Ballroom B

Can’t see eye to eye? According to Mahatma Gandhi, “An eye for and eye will only make the whole world blind.” Don’t lose an eye!  Join us to learn about the art of managing conflict through mediation. 

Mediation provides an effective structure for difficult conversations by using a facilitator to jointly resolve concerns. The process is very effective because it starts and ends with what people truly care about.

This session will walk you through the basic parts of the mediation process and will give you one more effective tool in your conflict management box.

Collaboration at Work: Reaching Across Boundaries to Get Things Done

• Nov 12, 2014 1:00 PM – 1:50 PM
• Memorial Union Building, Ballroom B

• Ruth Archer

  Wednesday, November 12, 1pm

  MUB Ballroom B

  Applying a few foundational principles to your collaborative efforts can make collaborating fun. First, establish some ground rules to foster an environment of mutual respect where individual agendas are acknowledged and ideas are freely shared. Next, lead the group to set goals that are mutually agreed upon and benefit all, develop a shared problem solving process that taps the collaborators' resourcefulness, and encourage evidence-based decision making that’s transparent to all participants. Finally, create a visual plan with clearly assigned responsibilities to facilitate implementation, and follow-up regularly to intercept possible issues and get results.

The Five Pillars of Physical Well-Being

• Dec 11, 2014 11:00 AM – 11:45 AM
• Memorial Union Building, Ballroom B

Living a physically healthy and satisfying life is based on learning to consciously manage the “Five Pillars of Well-Being.” The Five Pillars are 1) Breathing, 2) Movement, 3) Structure, 4) Relaxation and 5) Mindfulness. Learning to integrate the Five Pillars with each other and with everyday activities is a challenge most people have never been taught. In this presentation the Five Pillars will be introduced and illustrated. Exercises to develop each of the Five Pillars will be presented. 

Striving for Perfection: Leveraging your Personal Infrastructure to Achieve Flow

• Dec 11, 2014 12:00 PM – 12:45 PM
• Memorial Union Building, Ballroom B

Theresa Coleman-Kaiser, Assistant VP for Administration

There is a difference between being really busy and being truly productive and effective.  To be successful, we need to figure out what our strategic priorities are, and then create systems and business practices that flow value toward those strategic priorities.

At the individual level, the starting point in this pursuit is hansei kai, or a forced, deep reflection on what is important. This allows us to then weave these priorities into a personal infrastructure that supports the pursuit of perfection.

Tools that will be explored in this presentation come from the Lean thinking and practice, and from time management, leadership, and personal effectiveness best practices. Participants will leave with an understanding of how to develop their own personal infrastructure to manage themselves as they pursue strategic priorities in their work.

Emotional Intelligence

• Dec 11, 2014 1:00 PM – 1:45 PM
• Memorial Union Building, Ballroom B

Michelle Luse, Undergraduate Psychology Program Advisor, Department of Cognitive and Learning Sciences

Dale Carnegie said, “When dealing with people, remember you are not dealing with creatures of logic, but creatures of emotion.” Emotions influence the way we think and behave, and are essential to how we interact with others. Emotions are powerful and require a high level of self-mastery to manage appropriately. Our ability to successfully manage emotions as well as respond appropriately to the emotions of others is emotional intelligence (EI). Emotional intelligence is required in the development and maintenance of healthy relationships with family, friends and colleagues.

We will begin the session with the exploration of the six universal emotions, love, anger, fear, sadness, surprise, and disgust. Next, we will discuss how emotions can affect our thinking, behavior as well as shape our relationships. We will then explore the role and importance of EI in our lives. We will discuss the major theories, components and development of EI. This session will conclude with EI strategies you can implement in your social and work relationships.  

MLK Banquet: Dr. Daymond Glenn

• Jan 19, 2015 6:00 PM – 8:00 PM
• Memorial Union Building, Ballroom

The 26th annual MLK Banquet guest speaker will be Dr. Daymond Glenn, Vice President for Community Life and Chief Diversity Officer
Warner Pacific College, Portland, Oregon

DR. DAYMOND GLENN is the Vice President for Community Life and Chief Diversity Officer at Warner Pacific College in Portland, Oregon. In his role as Vice President for Community Life & Chief Diversity Officer, Dr. Glenn oversees Student Affairs, Campus Ministries, and the Office of Diversity. Dr. Glenn has held administrative and faculty posts at various colleges where he has taught undergraduate and graduate courses on multicultural education, educational theory, and race and education.
Dr. Glenn approaches education from a critical perspective, and he is concerned with addressing the disparities that exist between groups in schools and society. Dr. Glenn is particularly interested in examining how knowledge is constructed and cultural values are normalized, understanding the impact of unjust power and unearned privilege, and transforming unjust, oppressive, and marginalizing situations into those that are socially just, equitable, and liberating for all people in schools and society.
Dr. Glenn’s research interests include the college experiences of undergraduate Black males attending predominantly White institutions, conceptualizing, rethinking, and addressing multicultural education, critical multiculturalism, college diversity policies, and hip-hop culture. When not engaging in educational research, Dr. Glenn tries to constantly pay attention to popular culture’s impact on schools and society.
Dr. Glenn is the author of Critical Condition: Black Males and Multiculturalism in Higher Education. In his book, Dr. Glenn discusses the challenges, complexities, and possibilities of Black males and multiculturalism in predominantly White institutions of higher education. Dr. Glenn is hard at work on a second edition of his book that examines hip-hop’s role in understanding the plight and predicament of Black males in schools and society.
Dr. Glenn holds a Bachelor’s degree in Social Science form Portland State University, a Master’s degree in Educational Administration from Lewis & Clark College, and a Doctoral degree in Educational Leadership from Lewis & Clark College.

For free tickets to the banquet, contact the Center for Diversity and Inclusion (CDI) at (906) 487-2920, or stop in the Hamar House (Building 13).

Stop People from Wasting Your Time

• Feb 05, 2015 12:00 PM – 1:00 PM
• Online

Featuring Dorie Clark, a strategy consultant, speaker, adjunct professor at Duke University's Fuqua School of Business, author of Reinventing You: Define Your Brand, Imagine Your Future and the forthcoming Stand Out, and frequent blogger.

Complimentary Video Webinar

Everyone is incredibly busy—with initiatives, meetings, emails, phone calls, and more. But too often, we fail to get the most important things done, and are distracted by others who don't respect our time.

How can we stop people from wasting our time? What specific steps can we take to regain control of our schedules so we can think big and take control of our careers?

On February 5, in a live, interactive Harvard Business Review video webinar, leading business thinker Dorie Clark—author of Reinventing You—will share specific, practical steps for better controlling your time, and preventing others from wasting it. These techniques can help managers become more efficient and change the culture within their organizations.

If you know you can't work any harder, but can definitely work smarter (especially by preventing others from wasting your time), join Dorie Clark and HBR on February 5 to learn how. Invest just one hour and dramatically improve your personal and organizational productivity for years to come.

What can we do as administrators, faculty, and staff to understand and support students from China?

• Feb 24, 2015 9:00 AM – 11:00 AM
• MUB Ballroom A2
• With over 1,000 international students on the campus, Michigan Tech has seen a significant increase of students from China in our enrollment. This is indicative of the university moving in the right direction toward a diverse, inclusive and collegial environment reflected in Goal 1 of our strategic plan. As the make-up of our student population is changing we are encouraged to provide a rich cultural environment and a welcoming campus.
• Mr. Antonio (Tony) Reyes is a Fulbright and Ronald E. McNair scholar with over a decade of experience in the international education sphere. His 2-hour workshop will help in understanding the cultural, social and economic aspects of China and how they influence our students' experiences, interactions and expectations at Michigan Tech. Mr. Reyes is proficient in Mandarin Chinese and has over 4 years of experience living, studying and working throughout China. He is the founder of Black Life China and holds a Master of Arts degree in International Studies from University of Washington with a focus on Chinese business, culture and historical relationship with black foreign communities.
  
  The Center for Diversity and Inclusion and International Programs and Services will host Tony Reyes as part of the Visiting Women and Minority Lecturer/Scholar Series (VWMLS), funded by a grant to the Office of Equal Opportunity Compliance and Title IX from the State of Michigan's King-Chavez-Parks Initiative.

Book Discussion Group: The Happiness Advantage

• Feb 25, 2015 4:00 PM – 5:00 PM
• Mar 05, 2015 4:00 PM – 5:00 PM
• Memorial Union Building, Alumni Lounge B
• Book Discussions: Wednesday February 25 & Thursday March 5 at 4:00PM
  
  This year's book discussion group choice is "The Happiness Advantage: The Seven Principles of Positive Psychology That Fuel Success and Performance at Work" by Shawn Achor.

  "Most people want to be successful in life. And of course, everyone wants to be happy. When it comes to the pursuit of success and happiness, most people assume the same formula: if you work hard, you will become successful, and once you become successful, then you'll be happy. The only problem is that a decade of cutting-edge research in the field of positive psychology has proven that this formula is backwards. Success does not beget happiness. Based on the largest study ever conducted on happiness and human potential (a survey conducted by the author of more than 1,600 students), Harvard lecturer Shawn Achor shares seven core principles of positive psychology that each one of us can use to improve our performance, grow our careers, and gain a competitive edge at work. He reveals how happiness actually fuels success and performance, not the other way around. Why? Because when we are happier and more positive we are more engaged, creative, resilient to stress, and productive. "The Happiness Advantage" will appeal to anyone who wants practical advice on how to become happier and also more successful."

Become a Google Master

• Mar 10, 2015 11:00 AM – 11:50am
• Admissions Welcome Center - Edwin C. Davis Hall

• Online Registration: http://goo.gl/forms/GLNPLMEPl8

Earn your black belt in Google by joining Jeremiah Baumann, certified Google Educator, as he covers advanced topics in Google Search, Gmail, Calendar, Google Drive, and more!

Presenter: Jeremiah Baumann

Banner Tips & Tricks

• Mar 10, 2015 12:00 PM – 12:50 PM
• Admissions Welcome Center - Edwin C. Davis Hall

• Online Registration: http://goo.gl/forms/5BOkZiulYU

Do you know how to easily navigate back to a previously viewed Banner form? Want to know how to set-up a place for commonly used Banner forms? Could a quick flow help make your routine data entry easier? Come to this session to hear some tips and tricks to using Banner. In addition, we will leave plenty of time for you to ask us your Banner related questions.

Presenters: Karen Giddings & Shellie Hubert

A Social Media Discussion

• Mar 10, 2015 1:00 PM – 1:50pm
• Admissions Welcome Center - Edwin C. Davis Hall

• Online Registration: http://goo.gl/forms/hxdTeJVi9D

An unscripted discussion about social media as it relates to you and to your department. Bring your questions, engage in conversation, and look forward to taking away some tips and ideas for honing your social media presence.

Presenters: Joel Vertin & Quentin Franke

Social Justice Lecture Series: Mariahadessa “Ekere” Tallie

• Apr 03, 2015 7:00 PM – 9:00 PM
• Memorial Union Building, Ballroom B

Writer – Educator – Herbalist – Mother

Mariahadessa Ekere Tallie is a writer, educator, and performer. She has been a featured speaker at universities, festivals and events throughout Europe and North America. She is the Poetry Editor of the literary magazine African Voices. Her work deals with silence, sexism and racism and it has been published in Crab Orchard Review, BOMB, Paris/Atlantic, Go, Tell Michelle (SUNY), Listen Up! (One World Ballantine) and Revenge and Forgiveness (Henry Holt). Tallie’s work has been the subject of a short film “I Leave My Colors Everywhere.” Her first collection of poetry, Karma’s Footsteps, was released by Flipped Eye Publishing in September of 2011. She is the recipient of a 2010 Queens Council on the Arts grant for her research on herbalists of the African Diaspora. She has taught literature and composition  at York College and Medgar Evers College in New York City.

Mariahadessa's Website

Halfway There - A Retirement Check Up

• Jun 03, 2015 9:00 AM – 10:30 AM
• Dow 641

Professional Development Benefits Workshop
presented by TIAA-CREF Representative

Do you know where you need to be in your retirement savings? Are you saving enough or should you be saving more? Join us to discover different investment vehicles and how they can work to help you reach your retirement goals.
Employee's with MPSER's are welcome to attend. MPSER's folks could choose to open a supplemental retirement account with TIAA-CREF

Charting Your Course - A Financial Guide for Women

• Jun 03, 2015 10:30 AM – 12:00 PM
• Dow 641

Professional Development Benefits Workshop
presented by TIAA-CREF Representative

Learn about basic retirement saving skills and how to create your own retirement savings plan. Evaluate your financial health, set goals, and learn how to help make your money work harder for you.
Employee's with MPSER's are welcome to attend. MPSER's folks could choose to open a supplemental retirement account with TIAA-CREF or Fidelity.