Samuel L. Stanley Jr., M.D. : Russ, it's always great to be with you. As you say, it's a beautiful day right now in East Lansing, so wonderful we could spend it with everybody outside. That's great. Russ White : Homecoming week, sir, just a great time really once a year at a minimum for Spartans to reflect on how important this place was to them and continues to be, right? Samuel L. Stanley Jr., M.D.: Yeah, Homecoming's a great description for it, isn't it? It's a chance for people to come to th...
Sep 30, 2021•11 min•Season 2Ep. 58
Mark Largent : Welcome. My name is Mark Largent. I'm the associate provost and dean for undergraduate education at Michigan State University. And it is my pleasure to be your host today. I want to start by thanking the Spartan Jazz Quintet for their talent and their time and their contribution to this really wonderful ceremony today. I am so happy to be here. I have to be honest with you. This is a very joyful time as we restart a school year. I am one of those people who started school when I w...
Sep 13, 2021•35 min•Season 2Ep. 57
President Stanley: So, good afternoon everyone. I love the energy we have in this room right now. It's incredible. We've had a great past few weeks of welcoming students, faculty and staff back to campus. For our student athletes, how pleased I am to see them have the opportunity to be back with their teams and coaches preparing for an exciting year. We have plenty to be excited about. The Haller era has begun with a bang. It's true. Our athletic teams have had great starts, highlighted by footb...
Sep 08, 2021•45 min•Season 2Ep. 56
President Samuel L. Stanley Jr., M.D., was joined by Dr. Norm Beauchamp, MSU Executive Vice President for Health Sciences; Dr. Suzanne Lang, Associate Provost and Associate Vice President for Academic Human Resources; and Mr. Rick Fanning, Interim Associate Vice President for Human Resources. The discussion was moderated by MSU Vice President and Chief Diversity Officer Dr. Jabbar Bennett. Dr. Bennett: Hello, and thank you for tuning into our podcast to learn more about MSU's plans and preparati...
Aug 24, 2021•30 min•Season 2Ep. 55
How much funding do we receive and what areas of MSU receive funds in this process? “The number changes a little bit every year, so the number I'm giving right now, which is $287 million is a number that we're getting this year,” says Bertram. “Now that's just in one line for one purpose. That's general operating dollars from the state of Michigan. In addition to that $287 million, AgBioResearch gets about $35 million and MSU Extension gets about $30 million. There are other smaller programs lik...
Aug 20, 2021•36 min•Season 2Ep. 54
What are some tips for adjusting from working from home back to a nine-to five-schedule in the office? First of all, be easy on yourself,” advises Hall . “We've been living in a weird state of reality for the past several months, and so practice some grace and show yourself some grace. We're so used to just rolling out of bed in our sweats and then jumping into a Zoom call, but when you have to get ready for a commute, you have to pack a lunch and you have to let your dog out. Start doing that s...
Aug 19, 2021•28 min•Season 2Ep. 53
“It's great to be back,” Akmon says. “I did work here at the MSU Museum as an undergrad. I did what I like to affectionately refer to as grunt work, painting a lot of walls, helping with a lot of exhibitions, and putting the vinyl on the walls. I was an art history and museum studies student at the time. It's interesting to look back. I really think those were the first steps that actually launched my career. It exposed me to museums in a new way, and I got some theoretical training with some pr...
Aug 18, 2021•15 min•Season 2Ep. 52
Christine So (she/her) is ASMSU 's Chief Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Officer and Senior Advisor to APASO , that's the Asian Pacific American Student Organization. Kelly High McCord (she/her) is Director of Human Resources for Residential Hospitality Services . Dr. Ashley Green (she/her) is Assistant Dean of Administration and Director of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion for International Studies and Programs . And Dr. Jim Lucas (he him) is Assistant Dean of Global Education and Curriculum a...
Aug 16, 2021•45 min•Season 2Ep. 51
The DEI Steering Committee was formed by MSU President Samuel L. Stanley Jr., M.D. in December 2019 and is co-chaired by Wanda D Lipscomb PhD, associate professor of psychiatry and College of Human Medicine senior associate dean for diversity and inclusion and Luis Alonzo Garcia, director of Migrant Student Services. The committee was charged with taking inventory of the university's efforts related to DEI across campus, identifying potential synergies, pinpointing existing gaps and establishing...
Aug 15, 2021•42 min•Season 2Ep. 50
A diagnosis of triple negative breast cancer interrupted Judy's career as an author. “Like for everyone else, it came at the worst possible time. But cancer really doesn't have a great time,” says Pearson . “I was a newlywed. I had met the man of my dreams. My youngest son had launched into a great career as an electrical engineer. And my oldest son is just retired, but he was career Air Force and was about to deploy to Afghanistan. And then I found the lump two months after a clean mammogram an...
Aug 11, 2021•23 min•Season 2Ep. 49
“We're investing $10.8 million in the partnership,” says Fred Stephan, president of Amcor Flexibles North America. “The partnership will create an endowed chair of sustainability professorship. The chair will conduct research into sustainability in the circular economy. In combination with that, we're also contributing towards some necessary building renovations that will offer students a modern facility and access to state-of-the-art technology. And it really is part and parcel of our ongoing s...
Aug 03, 2021•29 min•Season 2Ep. 48
“It's been a remarkable two years, Russ, and I'm so glad that as we look towards the fall to be a part of MSU and the important work that's going on here,” he says. “I think what still stands out the most since I've come is the people - the students, faculty, and staff, and the alums. The commitment and love they show for Michigan State University has been impressive and it's really helped us pull through this past year and a half or so together in a very positive way. “I've had a chance now rec...
Jul 30, 2021•13 min•Season 2Ep. 47
Harris talks about what attracted him to MSU and about some his favorite moments on the football field. And he describes his role as the first director of player engagement for Spartan Football . “It's a position centered around player development, and basically player development is everything off the field that we do with our student athletes,” Harris tells Beekman. “And that spans a wide range of activities, especially with name, image and likeness (NIL) coming out this year and everything th...
Jul 28, 2021•26 min•Season 2Ep. 46
“I've worked in college athletics ever since I was an undergraduate student,” Baker says. “And much of my experience has been working directly with student athletes and coaches and being with the academic support side. As I navigated my career, I understood very early on the importance of working with people in our industry and what our environment and the culture of our department meant for people navigating that space. “Over the course of my career, opportunities like this didn't exist in coll...
Jul 28, 2021•29 min•Season 2Ep. 45
Upon graduation, the Pontiac, Michigan native applied for a position in the Secret Service. While waiting to hear back. He began a career in insurance, which gradually led him into human resources work. Without even realizing it, Cubia was beginning his work in diversity, equity, and inclusion before that work had a name. “What I found along my journey through corporate America is that I was running into people who were just having a hard time being heard, moving through the process, and getting...
Jul 15, 2021•28 min•Season 2Ep. 44
“Historically at MSU students have had a formal record of their credit bearing and learning through the academic transcript. And we at MSU know students are engaging in thousands of opportunities that are non-credit bearing and tied to MSU's undergraduate learning goals. And that has led to the creation of My Spartan Story and the Spartan Experience Record .” Schultz says My Spartan Story initially was a project in MSU’s Hub for Innovation in Learning and Technology started in 2016 with the goal...
Jul 13, 2021•7 min•Season 2Ep. 43
And if that first name sounds familiar, Hannah Zimmerman is the great granddaughter of renowned MSU president John Hannah . She's on campus exploring her great grandfather's archives in the MSU library to learn more about his legacy and how it inspires her. “John Hannah was my great grandfather, and I grew up in his legacy,” Zimmerman says. “I knew growing up about him through the sense that we lived on Hannah land, but I didn't know much about who he was or what he did in his incredible career ...
Jul 13, 2021•15 min•Season 2Ep. 42
“It's been a great partnership over the years,” Emmerich says. “Not only are we at Schupan big Michigan State fans, we're fans of what you do and what your radio station puts out to the greater public. You cover a lot of really important subjects and we are thrilled to be a part of that. “Schupan is a locally owned, Kalamazoo, Michigan based company. The owner is MSU alumnus Marc Schupan and his family. Mark is the CEO and the company has been around for 53 years; it has evolved into an amazing ...
Jun 29, 2021•13 min•Season 2Ep. 41
“You can tell two things from the length of my title,“ says Largent . “The associate provost and dean of undergraduate education's responsibility is to coordinate the undergraduate experience, especially in and around the classroom, across the 169 majors in our 17 different degree granting colleges. My job is, from the central unit, like the federal government, to help coordinate all the activities that go on across the college campus related to undergraduate education and to create a more coher...
Jun 29, 2021•23 min•Season 2Ep. 40
“The basics are pretty much the same, but I think one of the things that's happened in the pandemic is that more people are much more aware of what nursing is about.” Rasch says in response to Beekman’s opening question about how nursing has evolved and what the profession’s future looks like. “When people hear nursing, what they hear or what they visualize is what they see nurses doing, like getting patients' medications, baths, and all of those things while you're in the hospital. People are b...
Jun 29, 2021•37 min•Season 2Ep. 39
“The work we do in the Hub is around designing for change in higher education,” says Gretter . “What that means is we focus specifically on learning experience design. Our work can range from helping faculty members or units redesign their curriculum to creating a new learning experience, like the Apple Developer Academy, which encompasses the whole process of building something from zero to launch in a few years. “ Dr. Grabill started initial conversations with Apple on the academy about three ...
Jun 17, 2021•10 min•Season 2Ep. 38
In this edition of the MSU Today podcast, four MSU scholars discuss the sustained significance and impact of Juneteenth . “I am not one who grew up participating in or knowing about Juneteenth,” says Dr. Tamura Lomax (she/her), Foundational Associate Professor in MSU’s Department of African American and African Studies ( AAAS ). “I didn't learn about it until sometime in high school in California. I lived my life between California and New York. And I'd never heard about it in New York, but in C...
Jun 14, 2021•32 min•Season 2Ep. 37
Regarding CANR ’s rankings in the 2021 Quacquarelli Symonds World Research Rankings , Hendrick is justifiably proud. “It’s an honor for us to be in the top 10,” says Hendrick. “If you look at where we sit within the U.S., we're still in the top handful of programs and always have been. Really, what this measures is our scientific impact, the quality of the work we do, the amount of scholarship we do, and the impact that has globally in terms of both generating basic knowledge and then also apply...
Jun 11, 2021•28 min•Season 2Ep. 36
Jody Conradi Stark , Ph.D, is a board-certified music therapist with over 35 years of experience. Her work and research have contributed to that growing body and has impacted numerous populations including psychiatric, cognitively impaired, autism spectrum disorder, veterans, medical, and hospice. Jody is the site director of music therapy clinical services at the Michigan State University Community Music School, Detroit ( CMSD ), where she partners with the Children's Hospital of Michigan to pr...
Jun 08, 2021•21 min•Season 2Ep. 35
“She has a long and storied career at Michigan State, both as a student and for many years in our central advancement office,” says Spartans Athletic Director Bill Beekman. “And most recently within the College of Music, where she was the principal fundraiser for the Billman Music Pavilion , a truly spectacular facility that sits in the center part of campus, adjacent to the Music Building.” Surian joins Beekman on this edition of MSU Today. Surian describes literally growing up on the MSU campu...
Jun 02, 2021•28 min•Season 2Ep. 34
“We have about 15,000 former athletes who we represent,” says Johnson . “My job is connecting and engaging with them and making sure they feel welcome whenever they come back to MSU. And after they have left MSU, how can we extend an arm to them in their life journey? My job right now is working with all of our coaches and trying to find out how I can do a better job at connecting them with their former athletes and making sure that we are available to them. And I work in the community to see wh...
Jun 02, 2021•19 min•Season 2Ep. 33
“It's fascinating because it's a mix of things that you could have seen coming and stuff that nobody ever imagined,” says Phelan , in talking about the state and future of the automotive industry. “The move toward electrification and reduced carbon emissions seems to really be gathering speed with vehicles that will become mainstream models. And more customers than ever before are considering whether they should get an electric vehicle. That's the foreseeable part of it, although it may have acc...
Jun 01, 2021•41 min•Season 2Ep. 32
She comes to MSU Law from the University of Wisconsin-Madison School of Law, where she joined the faculty in 1989 as a full professor and holds the Evjue-Bascom Professorship. She was a visiting professor at both Georgetown University Law Center and Harvard Law School. At Harvard, she was the first African American woman to teach at the law school. “I've been in the Big Ten for three decades at Wisconsin,” says Greene. “MSU has been a big part of that Big Ten experience. The opportunity to be a ...
Jun 01, 2021•27 min•Season 2Ep. 31
Before talking with Hammersmith, Grossmann and Weinfeld discuss the implications of loosening mask restrictions, the recent ransomware attack on the Colonial Pipeline, and the “enormous” influx of federal dollars into Michigan’s state budget. The money is very helpful to Michigan communities in many ways, but Grossmann cautions that “the spigot is going to be turned off at some point.” Grossmann and Weinfeld also talk about the removal of Liz Cheney from her leadership role in the Republican par...
May 14, 2021•30 min•Season 2Ep. 30
“Kaiser Family Foundation has done some interesting survey work,” says Finkelstein. “Looking at the rates of anxiety and depression type symptoms in 2019 compared to now, there's been a huge bump. Anxiety and depression symptoms and substance use are all on the rise. Interestingly, the suicide rate has not risen to the extent that people were concerned about.” In a conversation last May, Dr. Finkelstein told me she would love for everybody to know how completely normal it is to feel completely a...
May 13, 2021•19 min•Season 2Ep. 29
