ACUI REGION V Edition 12 | 2017
NEWSLETTER
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Hiya, Region V friends! It’s May already! I can’t believe how this semester has flown by. Here at Iowa State, we’re in the midst of a season of change. We are searching for a new director of the Memorial Union, a new university president, and it feels like we are searching for ourselves a little bit too. In this climate of heightened awareness, we are starting to realize that what’s always been done isn’t neccessarily what we should do in the future. So when change is inevitable, now’s the time to look inward and rediscover our values and strengths, and ask ourselves and each other how we can use those assets to promote inclusivity and diversity within a changing student population. Luckily, the articles in this edition of Fun in Flyover Country are arriving just at the time when I need them most. Our Region V leader, David Israels-Swenson, reminds us to take care of ourselves before we can help others. Volunteer spotlight Joe Lattal talks about how he’s promoting inclusivity in his union at Northwestern. Our inclusivity coordinator, Jeni Eltink, explains how to move from a bystander to an upstander. Then, when you’re ready for a laugh, take a look at our recent annual conference in Philly through the tweets of those who were there. So take a moment from student and staff evaluations to flip through this edition of Fun in Flyover Country! Hope you enjoy it! Kristin Erdman, Iowa State University, kerdman@iastate.edu
Upcoming Issues Edition 13, May - July Content Deadline: MAY 5 Publish Date: may 26 Edition 14, Aug - Oct: Region V Conference Preview Edition Content Deadline: Aug 18 Publish Date: Early Bird Deadline ACUI Region V Newsletter | Edition 11
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Contents 4 Message from the Director 5 Call for Programs 6 Student Involvement 7 Awards 8 Volunteering 9 Volunteer Spotlight 10 Inclusivity 12 #ACUI17 20 Regional Leadership Team 21 New Region V Member Institutions 22 Region V Member Institutions
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LetterDAVIDfrom the Regional Director ISRAELS-SWENSON, UNIVERSITY OF MINNESOTA-MORRIS TEACH FROM YOUR SCARS Teach from your scars, not your wounds. This was a piece of sage advice from Dr. Kelly Schaefer as part of the the ACUI Talks program at our recent regional conference. Dr. Schaefer borrowed this phrase from Lutheran Pastor Nadia Bolz-Weber, who applies it to her ministry. This advice seems particularly pertinent right now. I know many people, including myself, who have struggled with the negative messages and attacks broadcast as a part of recent political rhetoric. In this heighted state of tension, it is important that we maintain a level head. It is natural to lash out when we feel threatened or are suffering through the pain of these attacks based on our gender, color, orientation, religion, or nationality, particularly when we know that the students we work with are often experiencing these same feelings. As professionals, however, we need to remember to keep a level of detachment and not bring our pain or wounds to the students we work with. Our role is to facilitate students’ growth and learning, not use them or their healing in place of our own. Self-care has never been more important. We have all heard an airline safety speech before take off warning us what to do in an emergency. “Please be sure to secure your own mask, and then assist those who need help.” The message is clear. What do you do to take care of yourself? This is a hard question to ask, and sometimes an even
Our role is to facilitate students’ growth and learning, not use them or their healing in place of our own.
harder question to answer. Take a look at your day. How much time is devoted to your needs? Do you need to schedule some time for your own self-care? We know that taking a few moments to meditate or reflect provides us with a clear head and renewed focus. When our wounds are still bleeding, it is difficult to share wisdom on how to heal.
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CALL FOR PROGRAMS Call for Programs This new year has kicked off with political controversy. Those issues have shown up on college campuses nationwide. Is your campus responding to student needs in creative ways? Would you like to share your best practices with colleagues? If so, please submit a program proposal for the Region V conference at University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee on October 27 – 28. What is happening on your campus? Are there sessions you are hoping to find at Region V’s upcoming conference? If so, let us know so we can work to meet our region’s needs. Please email our director at dswenson@morris.umn.edu.
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Student Involvement Greetings, ACUI Region V Colleagues! As we near the end of this semester and begin to enjoy the nice weather on our campuses, we want to reach out and encourage student participation in upcoming ACUI events and programs. As we all know, engaged students are successful students. We also know that students who are engaged in ACUI help make the Association even more successful. Here are a few ways in which your students can get involved with ACUI and more specifically, Region V. Register for I-LEAD®! The Institute for Leadership Education and Development (I-LEAD®) is ACUI’s premier student program designed to emphasize the key concept areas of leadership, community development, and change. I-LEAD® offers an opportunity for college students to focus on personal growth and other issues facing our world. The institute prepares students to develop skills that will serve them as leaders in any situation, regardless of role, organization, or environment. June 4-9, 2017, University of Massachusetts-Lowell July 23-28, 2017, Kansas State University
Alyssa Pereira Student Member, Region V Leadership Team
ADVISORY TEAM Another exciting opportunity coming is the hopeful creation of a “student advisory team” comprised of students from all across Region V! This team will meet once a month to discuss hot topics on their campuses and discuss ways in which ACUI can help them as students. We want to know what our students want and need from Region V and we hope that they will get involved in the process. Our goal is to have students from each of the Region V states represented on this team. Please have interested graduate and undergraduate students contact us at alyssa.pereira@ndsu.edu or ke-burke@neiu.edu to get involved today!
Kyle Burke Student Involvement Coordinator
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AWARDS “Igniting Innovation” Award Reminder In an effort to further recognize and promote the important aspect of programming in the college union, ACUI Region V has launched a new award. The “Igniting Innovation” Award for College Union Programming is presented quarterly to an institution, group, or individual for executing an outstanding program, event, or activity that fosters the enhancement of the campus community. The award is based on student involvement, creativity, and the success of the program. Nomination materials must include the online nomination form as well as a summary of the program, addressing title and description of the program (including intended programmatic outcomes). Other supporting documents that may be submitted include: program budget and identified funding sources; evidence of achievement of goals through program evaluations; and supporting documentation of program including, but not limited to: photos, videos, marketing samples, etc. that directly support the program.To be considered, the program must have taken place within the past academic year. Please submit your nominations today at acui.org/region/V.
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Volunteering
RHONDA LAYLO, UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS AT CHICAGO
Welcome to our New Members! We’re so looking forward to working with you to make Region V the best it can be and for you to help us live our values of innovation, fiscal responsibility, connections, educational resources, and inclusivity.
Regional Leadership Team Alyssa Pereira – North Dakota State University , Student Member
Conference Planning Team Dan Abler - Marquette University Simon Franco - University of Minnesota-Morris Will Hoffman - University of Wisconsin-Madison Danielle Kroencke - Southern Illinois University-Edwardsville Joe Lattal - Northwestern University Ali Myszewski - Marquette University Jon Shields - Creighton University Rachel Wusso - University of Wisconsin-Green Bay
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Volunteer Spotlight JOE LATTAL, NORTHWESTERN UNIVERSITY
I Will Seek to Understand Inclusivity has been the lens which guides each program I have been involved in at my union. I think it’s important for the events I coordinate and committees I participate in to aim for goals related to diversity and inclusion because it demonstrates a commitment to welcome all in our community. At Northwestern, there had been a sentiment on campus that the union was a “white space,” but there has been significant progress in eliminating that opinion in the last few years. In planning a summertime live music series, I worked with our union to ensure a diverse group of voices weighed in to curate performers of different ages, races, genders, faiths, and sexual orientations. Representation and diversity were important factors in our planning. The result led to more diverse audiences at the events and perhaps a signal of what community means within our union. I recently read Ta-Nehisi Coates’ Between the World and Me. It is an impactful narrative where Coates is trying to strike a balance of letting his son experience the world for himself while making sure his son avoids the harm of the very real dangers of being black in America. These are challenging times for students in our unions, many of whom suffer internal struggles related to identity, and are shaping their personal values, experiencing new opportunities, being exposed to different perspectives, and being challenged in their beliefs more than ever before. Coates recently said that the book is his truth. I think within our region, inclusion involves respect for every individual’s truth, story, and identity. Inclusivity is an approach that suggests just because someone’s story is different than mine, I respect them, I value them, I will listen, I will seek to understand, and I will demonstrate empathy. As a member of the 2017 Regional Conference Planning Team, I will advocate for our keynote selections to be welcoming and inclusive, urge our session presenters to consider inclusiveness in what and how they present, encourage inclusive community in our recreational programming, and seek vendors and sponsors who uphold these values in their leadership and business decisions. Within our region, all members must value inclusion to make our community stronger.
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Inclusivity
Jeni Eltink, University of Minnesota-Duluth
Going from Bystanders to Upstanders You hear a sexist comment or racist joke or witness someone being intimidated or harassed... You want to say or do something, but you’re not sure how to start or what to say. Later you think, “I knew I should have done something, but I just froze and I couldn’t think fast enough what to say.” Or you’re worried about what a friend or
it. When we talk about “bystander intervention” what we’re talking about is becoming an upstander: someone who has thought about and practiced ways to intervene, support, and speak out to promote an inclusive and welcoming culture and to lower the chances that an assault may take place.
As members of the student union professions, we pride ourselves on creating programs, facilities, and services that welcome all people. We work hard on increasing our intercultural competence and practicing actions that demonstrate our value of unconditional human worth. We support students in their personal and cultural development and help them grow their skills in working with diverse teams. We work hard, y’all. And yet we can unfortunately be sure that colleague might think of you if you draw attention there are still incidents that take place in our student unions that make people feel belittled, to their harmful language or behavior. Now fearful, anxious, or sad. Oftentimes we don’t you’re ready to figure out what you need to do witness these incidents, but by practicing being when you see or hear offending or denigrating an upstander we can prepare ourselves both to things. Congratulations — you’re making the confront them when we see them and to work on move from bystander to upstander. preventing them from happening at all. Efforts at bullying prevention use the language of “bystander vs upstander” to help explain the difference between passively witnessing something and taking action to disrupt or stop
You hear a sexist comment or racist joke... Later you think, “I knew I should have done something, but I just froze and I couldn’t think fast enough what to say.”
Efforts at bullying prevention use the language of “bystander vs upstander” to help explain the difference between passively witnessing something, and taking action to disrupt or stop it.
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Inclusivity
Jeni Eltink, University of Minnesota Duluth Chances are excellent that your campus already has resources in place for helping people move from bystander to upstander. Programs that aim to reduce sexual assault and sexual violence such as Green Dot, STEP UP!, and Got Your Back exist on many college campuses, or your campus may have developed its own bystander intervention program. Talk with your campus educators adapting the bystander intervention training that’s already happening to make it applicable for situations that occur in the student union. You can develop student-union-specific scenarios, then work through basic strategies for intervention, brainstorm possible actions, and practice implementing their actions in live role-play scenes. Bystander intervention training is an excellent activity for an extended staff meeting, student-staff training, or professional development retreat. You will have the opportunity to practice interventions in a safe and supportive environment and to share strategies with one another for intervening in the moment, as well as following up later with the perpetrator and victim. Having the chance to try out a few different responses without the pressure of being in the midst of a real incident can help you figure out what strategies, words, and actions work best for you. As we all know from learning to ride a bike, learning to read, and learning calculus — things get easier with practice. Your chances of freezing up in the moment go down if you’ve taken the time to review how best to respond. Do you have resources to share for bystander intervention in the student union? We’d love to hear from you! Email me at jeltink@d.umn.edu or Tweet me @jenieltink. And hey y’all… Keep up your great work!
If your campus doesn’t have information to share on bystander intervention, the internet is full of helpful resources that you can adapt for the student union and for situations beyond sexual assault and sexual violence. The National Sexual Violence Resource Center has a list of campaigns and programs and general resources on bystander intervention. The Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) has an excellent list of scenarios, interactive exercises, and strategies for assessing and addressing harmful or hurtful behavior on their “Active Bystanders” website. A quick Google search turns up many more helpful resources and examples of college campuses who have taken on the challenge of turning bystanders into upstanders.
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#ACUI17
A review of the 2017 ACUI annual conference in tweets With #ACUI17 in the rearview mirror, let’s look back on some of the conference’s most inspirational, funny, and thoughtful tweets from across the Association to remind us of the highlights and give a taste of Philly to our esteemed colleagues who couldn’t make the trip this year. Can’t stop the feeling! Luckily, Ben Franklin’s Twitter account came in clutch with the inside scoop on all things Philly.
Normal week: Same pants two days in a row. While packing: I’ll definitely change three times a day.
Remember that crazy East-coast blizzard?
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Our Region V colleague Mike Schmit thought carefully about getting himself and his stuff to Philly.
And then we were off! Conferences never officially start until after your first visit to Starbucks...
And you learn something new.
True story: Kristin Erdman’s father-in-law thinks he invented the acronym FOMO (fear of missing out). So many hugs at the Region V meeting! And some nice representation on this year’s Conference Planning Team.
And some of us dusted off our Twitter accounts.
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And then we were off to America’s first student union!
I think every one of us took these exact same photos in this extraordinary space.
As the first words appeared on the screen, we realized the keynotes at #ACUI17 were going to be captioned.
Our first keynote, Dr. Shaun Harper, was warmly welcomed back to the Association, where he started his career.
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We learned some alternate facts about racial climates in our student unions.
Only at ACUI would 10 people tweet about logo projection.
Next up...
At the statement that all of us in attendance have felt like they don’t belong, our own Inclusvity Coordinator Jeni Eltink reached out.
We kicked off the next morning with ACUI Talks focused on inclusion, starting with Laci Green, an activist, producer, and YouTuber who focuses on college-age sex education. Me too.
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Davin Searls then signed to us a view of the world from the other side of hearing bias.
As always, good advice abounds at the educational sessions.
The next morning brought the FUNd Run/Walk/Roll, and then the Honors reakfast, where Region V was well represented!
Jeni and Corbin traded shout-outs.
Pro presenter tip: a Harry Potter reference is always well-received.
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Even this newsletter had 15 seconds of fame! The Community Builders Panel brought the best and brightest of young Philly entrepreneurs.
The more innapropriate amongst us had a good laugh. I think it’s safe to say that everyone in that room now wants to be besties with Ariell Johnson. She was even on an Iron Man comic cover!
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The Because I Said I Would keynote delivered laughs, tears, and all the feels.
The Voice of God should have an Australian accent from now on!
The closing banquet started off right.
We waited anxiously for the announcement of the night’s biggest award winner...
Jeni and Corbin traded shout-outs.
And it was one of our own!!!
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J Scott Derrick said goodbye. Jeff Pelletier said hello.
We had one last round, packed up, and headed home.
Pro tip: Giant styrofoam letters are hugely popular...
And can provide extra inspiration!
in u o y See eim! Anah ACUI Region V Newsletter | Edition 11
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Regional Leadership Team Regional Director
Volunteer Coordinator
Web/Social Media Coordinator
David Israels-Swenson University of Minnesota–Morris dswenson@morris.umn.edu (Oct. 17, 2016—December, 31, 2018)
Rhonda Laylo University of Illinois - Chicago rlaylo2@uic.edu (Oct. 17, 2016—Oct. 29, 2018)
David Lemon University of St. Thomas lemon@stthomas.edu (Oct. 17, 2016—Oct.20, 2017)
Student Involvement Coordinator
Membership Coordinator
Educational Programs Coordinator
Kyle Burke Northeastern Illinois University KE-Burke@neiu.edu (Oct. 17, 2016—December, 31, 2018)
Jason Hancock University of Minnesota - Twin Cities hanco005@umn.edu (Oct. 17, 2016—Oct. 29, 2018)
Cathy Passananti Southern Illinois University —Edwardsville cpassan@siue.edu (Nov. 8, 2015—Dec. 31, 2017)
Business Manager
Awards & Scholarships Coordinator
George Micalone Iowa State University micalone@iastate.edu (Nov. 8, 2015—Dec. 31, 2017)
Allen Womble University of Illinois - Chicago awomble@uic.edu (Oct. 17, 2016—Oct. 29, 2018)
2017 Regional Conference Coordinator
Online Learning Coordinator
Seth Dohrn Iowa State University sdohrn@iastate.edu (Nov. 8, 2015—Dec. 31, 2017)
Lisa Watkins Uni. of Illinois @ Urbana-Champaign watkinsl@illinois.edu (Oct. 17, 2016—Oct. 29, 2018)
2018 Regional Conference Coordinator
Communications Coordinator
Paul Wraalstad North Dakota State University paul.wraalstad@ndsu.edu (Oct. 17, 2016—Oct. 29, 2018)
Kristin Erdman Iowa State University kerdman@iastate.edu (Nov. 8, 2015—Dec. 31, 2017)
Inclusivity Coordinator Jeni Eltink University of Minnesota-Duluth jeltink@d.umn.edu (Jan.1, 2014—Dec. 31, 2017)*
Corporate Partnerships Coordinator Rex Tolliver University of Illinois–Chicago jrex@uic.edu (Dec. 21, 2015—Nov. 30, 2017) *Second Term
Connect With ACUI Region V /ACUIRegionV
@ACUIRegionV
acui.org/region/v/
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New Members Welcome to our newest ACUI REGION V members! Doane University
Crete, Grand Island, Lincoln, Omaha campuses in Nebraska For 144 years, Doane University has occupied a distinguished place in liberal arts and sciences higher education in the Midwest. Doane University is known for its leadership in higher education, grounded in the university’s commitment to academic excellence, innovation, community, and a special sense of place for each individual.
South Dakota School of Mines and Technology Rapid City, South Dakota
Founded in 1885 to provide instruction in the region’s primary industry, mining, today the South Dakota School of Mines & Technology has evolved into one of the leading science and engineering universities in the region. The South Dakota School of Mines & Technology (SD Mines) is committed to excellence in science and engineering academics and research, and to developing the next generation of leaders and problem-solvers.
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MEMBER INSTITUTION MAP
1.
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MEMBER INSTITUTION LIST ILLINOIS 1a. DePaul University 1b. Elmhurst College 1c. Northeastern Illinois University 1d. Northwestern University 1e. University of Illinois-Chicago 1f. University of Chicago 2. Illinois College 3. Illinois State University 4. University of Illinois-Urbana-Champaign 5. Millikin University 6. University of Illinois-Springfield 7. Southeastern Illinois College 8. Southern Illinois University-Carbondale 9. Southern Illinois University-Edwardsville 10. Northern Illinois University 11a. Western Illinois University 11b. Knox College
IOWA 12. Iowa State University 13. Simpson College 14. University of Iowa 15. University of Northern Iowa
MINNESOTA 16. Bemidji State University 17. University of Minnesota-Morris 18. Minnesota State University-Moorhead 19. University of Minnesota-Duluth 20. St. Cloud State University 21. Minnesota State University-Mankato 22a. Hamline University 22b. Macalester College 22c. Normandale Community College 22d. St. Catherine University 22e. St. Olaf College 22f. University of St. Thomas 22g. University of Minnesota-Twin Cities
NEBRASKA 23. Midland University 24. University of Nebraska-Lincoln 25a. Creighton University 25b. University of Nebraska-Omaha
SOUTH DAKOTA 26. Mount Marty College 27. South Dakota School of Mines and Technology 28. South Dakota State University 29. University of South Dakota
NORTH DAKOTA 30. North Dakota State University 31. University of North Dakota
WISCONSIN 32. University of Wisconsin-River Falls 33. University of Wisconsin-Stout 34. University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire 35. University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point 36. University of Wisconsin-Oshkosh 37a. University of Wisconsin-Green Bay 37b. University of Wisconsin-Parkside 37c. St. Norbert University 38. University of Wisconsin-La Crosse 39. University of Wisconsin-Platteville 40a. University of Wisconsin-Madison 40b. Madison Area Technical College 41. University of Wisconsin-Whitewater 42a. Carroll University 42b. University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee 42c. Marquette University
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