Culture and Inclusion Committee

Purpose | Projects | People | Subcommittees

Purpose

The W.K. Kellogg Biological Station’s Culture and Inclusion Committee—CIC—was formed in 2017 to coordinate resources, trainings and other opportunities for growth in areas related to diversity, equity, inclusion and justice.

To help create an atmosphere where all feel welcomed and comfortable to work, study, live and play, the CIC seeks to make diversity, equity, inclusion and social justice central to KBS’s culture—through research activities, educational programming, outreach efforts, and hiring and professional development practices.

Concepts

We understand…

• Diversity as the backgrounds, experiences and perspectives of the people that make up our community.
• Equity as the opportunities that we offer to those in our community.
• Inclusion as how we treat those in our community.
• Justice as the right of everyone in our community to a safe, healthy and sustainable environment, in the spaces of work, study, research and recreation.

Charge

We strive to:

• Recruit diverse people and partners, by:
  • Developing relationships with organizations that serve historically-excluded groups to create targeted recruiting opportunities
  • Providing input on personnel searches (or any hire that requires a search committee) to insure that broadening participation is prioritized
  • Publicizing and promoting training in inclusive hiring
    
    
• Empower people who are here so that everyone’s voice is valued, by:
  • Making sure that different groups at KBS have proper representation on all relevant committees
  • Using annual climate assessment to gauge community priorities/issues and develop procedure for them to be heard by and responded to from the community
  • Advocating for annual town hall meetings

• Create a physically and emotionally supportive environment for everyone at KBS to foster a sense of community belonging, by:
  • Providing input on new and existing KBS policies that may impact DEI efforts
  • Supporting leadership in upholding the values of DEI at KBS
  • Advocating for ADA and gender-inclusive improvements to KBS buildings
  • Disseminating resources on local mental health services 
  • Increasing awareness of issues relating to DEI throughout all university operations from marketing, student recruitment, faculty hires, programming, facilities, culture, and services. 

• Build our community’s capacity to advocate for DEI so that people at all levels feel informed and trained, by:
  • Advocating for mandatory DEI trainings for the entire KBS community
  • Offering additional voluntary workshops or trainings on DEI topics
  • Pursuing internal and external funding opportunities that support DEI efforts
  • Seeking recognition for members of the KBS community who have moved DEI efforts forward

Projects, initiatives and events

Past initiatives

2024

• Improved restroom accessibility by converting a gendered restroom to all-gender while we wait for new facilities to be built
• Published diverse applicant advertising list
• Facilitated cross-unit communication by reserving colloquium spots for non-academic unit updates
• Created KBS activities bulletin board
• Hosted a “Beyond the Land Acknowledgement” workshop led by MSU’s Dr. Emily Sorroche
• Offered a FieldFutures training on preventing RVSM in the field
• Offered a 4-part mentorship training to new mentors of undergraduate students, led by in-house certified Center for the Improvement of Mentored Experiences in Research (CIMER) trainers
• Hosted a KBS Town Hall to discuss and solicit suggestions and feedback on the topics of KBS infrastructure, inclusion, diversity, RVSM, and tension between units; disseminated feedback to relevant groups at KBS

2023

• Hosted two ADVANCEGeo trainers at KBS for an Improving Workplace Climate training
• Offered a FieldFutures training on preventing RVSM in the field
• Created the KBS Gear Library to provide free outdoor gear for undergraduate and other field researchers
• Shared report on KBS Culture and Inclusion Survey with KBS community
• Updated the KBS Culture and Inclusion Committee’s purpose and charge
• Received an MSU Creating Inclusive Excellence Grant (CIEG) to fund our field methods workshop geared towards broadening participation in field research

2022

• Received the Organization for Biological Field Station’s 2022 Advancing Equity Award
• Received the MSU Excellence in Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Award
• Administered the 2022 KBS Climate Survey to all employees
• Received an MSU Creating Inclusive Excellence Grant (CIEG) to fund DEI trainings and purchase new field safety gear

2021

• Sponsored a training on creating an inclusive culture, in June
• Supported an online Cultural Intelligence Training, presented by Brook Wilke in March
• Updated the KBS Code of Conduct
• Furthered previous CIC recommendations on hiring practices by organizing a seminar on inclusive interviewing and hiring and applying recommendations to the faculty hiring process

2020

• A December bystander intervention training was led by Sophie Walters and Lydia Weiss of MSU’s Prevention, Outreach, and Education Office
• In March, KBS policy changed to require RSVM training for all staff, including temporary and on-call employees
• Melissa McDaniels and Judy Brown-Clark presented a faculty mentor training in late January
• Cultural Intelligence, or CQ, training presented in early January by Brook Wilke and Danielle Zoellner.

2019

• Dr. Angela Hall, associated professor in MSU’s School of Human Resources and Labor Relations, presented implicit bias training to the KBS community in November.
• Brook Wilke and Danielle Zoellner attended Cultural Intelligence Center’s CQ Train-the-Trainer workshop for training and certification to conduct the Developing CQ workshop.
• Submitted a list of recommendations for faculty hires to the KBS interim director and faculty committee.
• Developed an email listserv of KBS Active Employees, intended to improve communication within our institution.
• KBS was a sponsor of the 2019 Diversity Forum at ESA SEEDS‘ annual meeting.
• As part of summer 2020 programming for undergraduate students, created affinity groups for women, LGBTQ+ students, interfaith and science, people of color and first-generation students.
• Relationship Violence and Sexual Misconduct, or RVSM, training held in May, presented by MSU’s Prevention, Outreach, and Education Office.
• Shared report on KBS Culture and Inclusion Survey with KBS community.
• January workshop presented by Dionardo Pizaña, who gave a cultural competency training aimed at improving workplace culture.

2018

• Organized KBS’s Inclusive Science Series (November 2018), which focused on identifying opportunities for increasing diversity and improving KBS academic programs based on lessons from other institutions. Workshops were facilitated by Deborah Johnson, director of MSU’s Diversity Research Network, and instructed by Checo Colón-Gaud, University of Southern Georgia; Deborah Goldberg, University of Michigan; and James Nieh, University of California–San Diego.
• Created and administered KBS Culture and Inclusion survey. Responses represented almost 65% of the full- and part-time employees and students at KBS.
• Awarded a Creating Inclusive Excellence grant from MSU.

People

Current members and representative areas

Anne Bronikowski
Faculty | she/her

Misty Klotz
Non-academic staff | she/her

Sarah Roy
Administrative staff | she/her

Elizabeth Schultheis
KBS Long-term Ecological Research program | she/her

Jamie Smith (co-chair)
Academic staff | she/her

Carol Waldmann Rosenbaum 
Graduate student| she/her

Morgan Clark (co-chair)
Graduate student| she/her

Alexa Guerrera
Postdoc| she/her

Sam Stynen 
Graduate student| he/him

Past members

Robin Waterman (2022-25)

Nameer Baker (2020-24)

Cinnamon Mittan (2022-24)

Andy Fogiel (2023-24)

Christine Sprunger (2022-23)

Mir Zaman Hussain (2022-23)

Kyle Jaynes (2021-23)

Alisha Shah (2021-22)

Cara LaLumia (2020-22)

Lisa Duke (2020-22)

Ekrem Ozlu (2021-22)

Elena Litchman (2020-21)

Lindsey Kemmerling (2019-21)

Holly Vander Stel (2019-21)

A. Carter (2020-21)

Nick Haddad (2017-19)

Ally Hutchens (2017-19)

Robert Logan (2017-19)

Sarah Evans (2018-20)

Caro Córdova (2018-20)

Sarah Reimer (2018-20)

Brook Wilke (2018-20)

Danielle Zoellner (2019-20)

Subcommittees

Accessibility

Create a structure for sharing resources for accessible design and remediation for virtual and physical spaces, supporting accessibility-related projects, and helping to communicate suggestions for accessibility-related improvements.

Welcoming

Develop and share resources to support new employees during the transition to working at KBS.

• For new graduate students
• For new postdoctoral research associates
• For new staff and technicians

Hiring

Offer resources and make recommendations for implementing inclusive hiring practices.

Funding

Seek out and apply for funding opportunities to enhance and expand KBS diversity, equity, and inclusion initiatives.

Summer Undergraduate Programs

Implement new application review practices, expand application pool for programs, host trainings on inclusive hiring and interviewing and on research mentoring.

Purpose | Projects | People | Subcommittees

In loving memory of Andy Fogiel, whose passion for community touched so many lives. Your commitment to KBS is an inspiration to us all. Your kind heart and friendship will be forever remembered.