Reach Higher Together

One-pager overview

Plan

Faculty Fellows and Implementation Team Members

Job description for CLAS Faculty Fellows

 

Signature Initiative #1 Experiential Learning and High-Impact Practices

Faculty Fellows: Dawn Hart, Kristin Hedges, Len O’Kelly

Dean Leads: Donovan Anderson, George McBane, Kris Pachla

Team Members: Elizabeth Flandreau, Laura Schneider, Christine Smith

PSS Support: Heidi Nicholson and Mona Silva

 

Signature Initiative #2 Multidisciplinary Collaboration

Faculty Fellows: Majd Al-Mallah, Bradford Dykes, Melissa Morison

Dean Leads: Tammy Shreiner and Dwayne Tunstall

Team Members: Amy Campbell, Anna Hammersmith, Jennifer Stewart, Richard Besel

PSS Support Heidi Nicholson

 

Support Initiative #1 Enhancing Student Success Through Academic Support

Faculty Fellows: Debbie Herrington and Janet Vigna

Dean Leads: Betty Schaner, Dwayne Tunstall, and Keigh-Cee Bell

Team Members: Jamie Owen-DeSchryver, Chelsea Ridge, Holly Lorenz

PSS Support: Mona Silva and Kristin Winfrey

 

Support Initiative #2 Supporting Faculty and Staff Success

Faculty Leads: CLAS committees will work with the Dean’s Office to advance these priorities: the DEIA Committee, the Faculty Development Committee, and Faculty Council.

Dean Leads: Dwayne Tunstall, Michelle McCloud, and Donovan Anderson

Team Members: Nick Lerma, Amy Russell, Doris Penn, and Sara Alsum-Wassenaar

PSS Support:  Heidi Nicholson

 

Support Initiative #3 Supporting Graduate Programs

Faculty Leads: Reps from The Graduate Directors Council – Mark Staves, Kristen Schrauben

Dean Leads: Jennifer Drake and George McBane

Team Members: Bob Downer/Dan Adrian

PSS Support: Kristin Winfrey 

 

General support: Tracey McLenithan

Project Management Support: Monica Johnstone, CAPM®

Resources and Background

Reach Higher Together 2025 Reach Higher 2025 is Grand Valley’s inclusive and iterative approach to establishing a new strategy to propel the university forward over the next four years.

Regular updates on planning are provided to the college via the CLAS Weekly Mailing.

Existing strategic plan of CLAS

SIG Syllabus

The Community Visioning and Strategic Planning Handbook. Denver: National Civic League Press, 2000.

Strategic Planning with Appreciative Inquiry: Unleashing the Positive Potential to SOAR. Innovation Partners International, 2007.

Cathy Davidson, The New Education: How to Revolutionize the University to Prepare Students for a World in Flux 

Adriana Kezar, How Colleges Change: Understanding, Leading, and Enacting Change (Routledge; 2nd edition; August 3, 2018)

Tia McNair, Becoming a Student-Ready College: A New Culture of Leadership for Student Success (Jossey-Bass; 1st edition; July 25, 2016)

Jeffrey Selingo, “The Future Learners” 

David Staley, Alternative Universities: Speculative Design for Innovation in Higher Education (Johns Hopkins University Press; March 26, 2019)

Stanford 2025, “Uncharted Territory: A Guide to Reimagining Higher Education”  

Michelle Weise et al., “Robot-Ready: Human+Skills for the Future of Work” 

The Work of the Future:Building Better Jobs in an Age of Intelligent Machines (MIT)

The Student-Centered College—The Academic Perspective: How are provosts and other academic officers helping students succeed amid Covid-19? (Chronicle of Higher Ed)

What Liberal Education Looks Like--What It Is, Who It’s For, & Where It Happens (AAC&U)

GVSU Fireside Chat: José Antonio Bowen, “Tools for Nudging Student Success” https://youtu.be/A5IdiYJ-50  

Chronicle of Higher Education, “The Truth About Student Success”

• “Improving the Educational Experience” (27-38)
• “Integrating Academic Support” (39-48)
• “Promoting Students’ Well-Being" (49-55)

Strategy and Innovation Group (SIG) 2021

Melissa Morison (CLA) 

Jennifer Stewart (SOC) 

Dwayne Tunstall (PHI) 

Alexis Schewe (CAAC) 

Tracy McLenithan (CLAS) 

Shannon Biros (CHM) 

Chad Frederick (GPY) 

Richard Besel (COM) 

Dan Bergman (BMS) 

Amy Russell (BIO) 

Merritt Delano Taylor (BMS) 

Jen Drake (Facilitator) 

Donovan Anderson (Facilitator) 

CLAS Strategic Planning Group (coordinating committee)

Dean Jen Drake

Associate Dean Donovan Anderson

CLAS Director of Communications and Advancement Monica Johnstone

Administrative Assistant and Assistant to the Dean for CLAS Tracy McLenithan

Summer 2021 SIG

Elizabeth Flandreau

Bradford Dykes

Amy Ferdinandt Stolley

Mikhila Wildey

Colleen Lewis

Christopher Pearl

Mayra Fortes

Elizabeth Gansen

Patrick Anderson

Paul Cornish

Andrew Spear

Brian Deyo

Sigrid Danielson

Dwayne Tunstall

Melissa Morison

Merritt Delano-Taylor

Jessie Vandenplas

Alex Wilson

Agnieszka Szarecka

Abigail Gautreau

Kristin Hedges

Tracy McLenithan

Monica Johnstone 

CLAS Faculty Council (CFC) facilitators 2021

Kristen Meyer (University Libraries) 

Sally Ross (MOV) 

Arthur Campbell (MTD) 

Anna Hammersmith (SOC) 

Ernest Park (PSY) 

Len O’Kelly (COM) 

Christine Smith (PSY) 

Grace Coolidge (HST) 

Jessie Vandenplas (CHM) 

Charlyn Partridge (AWRI) 

Christine Rener (FTLC)

Kristin Hedges (ANT)

Additional facilitators will be posted as confirmed.

Data Analysis Group 2021

Hope Gerson (MTH)

Rachel Campbell (SOC)

Richard Besel (COM)

Donovan Anderson (CLAS/MLL)

Technical Support Group 2021

Heidi Nicholson (CLAS) 

Mona Silva (CLAS) 

Cindy Laug (CLAS) 

Rebecca Casler (ENG) 

Christine Adams (MOV) 

Heidi Feldpausch (AWRI) 

Janine Warfield (PSY) 

Jennie Reed (ENG) 

Jenna Stehouwer (VMA)