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College of Human Medicine

Dean’s Advisory Committee on Diversity Minutes 24-25

The committee shall serve as a collective voice to the dean regarding diversity issues in the college including but not limited to input on LCME metrics, implementation of college diversity climate assessments and surveys, strategies to improve the diversity of faculty and staff to address needs across the mission areas, and of departmental and college metrics for diversity, equity, and inclusion. The group will survey and solicit input from the broad college constituency to improve college climate and culture on a regular basis.

  • August
    IN ATTENDANCE

    Elected Members: Omayma Alshaarawy, Emiko Blalock, Sabrina Ford, Malik Khan, Mohamed Salar, Shreesh Sammi, Chioma Torres, Amber Hunter-Harris, Rosemary Adaji, Doyle Ford, Michaila Paulateer, Akhilesh Munagala

    Ex-Officio Members: Aron Sousa, Wanda Lipscomb, Ade Olomu, Lisa Lowery

    Guests: Brian Johnson

    Staff: Allison Tilma


    ABSENT

    Elected Members: Aaron Nichols, Katryna Peacock, Kira Sieplinga, Timothy Michling, Ibukunoluwa Omole

    Ex-Officio Members: Carol Parker, Nara Parameswaran

    1. Call to Order
      1. Meeting called to order at 5:38pm
      2. Confirmation that Dr. Olomu is no longer a voting member of the DACD but is still a participating member in her roles as FEA and interim ADFA.
    2. Welcome & Updates from the Dean
      1. Confirming who are and aren’t voting members on the committee. It is requested attendees change their name on Zoom to indicate voting rights or not.
        1. Members voted into the committee, have voting rights.
      2. Introductions around zoom of committee members attending the meeting.
      3. Updates
        1. The annual whitecoat ceremony was held last weekend and 189 new students received their coats.
        2. MPH program is also starting off and has their highest enrollment in the last 5-6 years.
        3. Working on the implementation of the new Henry Ford departments.
        4. MSU Board of Trustees held their annual retreat and summer meeting in Flint. They enjoyed their time and now know why Flint is so important to CHM.
        5. Rx Kids program is doing well. And this past week the Harris campaign included an economic plan that is very similar to Rx Kids. And thanks to $20 million granted in state funding, Rx Kids is expanding and will be in some communities around Detroit, Benton Harbor, Kalamazoo, and the eastern U.P.
        6. Position searches update:
          1. The Physiology Chair search is concluding, and we are working with the other colleges, that's Nat Sci and Osteopathic medicine to finish that.
          2. Associate Dean for Faculty Affairs search is in its final phases.
        7. Since the last meeting, Dr. Norm Beauchamp has left MSU’s Office of Health Sciences. In the interim, Norm Hubbard and I have had the work from that office divided up between us. This is intended to be a six-month transition period, ending in December. I am an Executive Dean, in the provost's office and have some responsibility for the academic world of the Human Health Colleges. Hubbard oversees clinical areas, and the Henry Ford partnership. He and I are sort of working as a dyad across both of those.
        8. The president has created a Health Sciences Council to address the future of the offices of health sciences and MSU healthcare. They are working to make recommendations to the president and are due by December. More information is available here: https://www.healthsciences.msu.edu/health-sciences-council.
        9. It is the 60th anniversary of the college and townhalls are highlighting the history of CHM, founding departments and programs and also visiting our other campuses across the state. https://humanmedicine.msu.edu/about/60th_Anniversary/index.html
    3. Co-Chair election
      1. Dr. Sousa and Dr. Olomu talked about the job and role of the co-chairs.
      2. Dr. Sousa opened the floor for nominations.
        1. Sabrina Ford, Omayma Alshaarawy, Shreesh Sammi, Malik Khan all volunteered to self-nominate to serve as co-chairs.
        2. Dr. Sousa gave each nominee a minute or so to explain why they want to serve as co-chair.
        3. An electronic poll was administered via Zoom.
          1. Dr. Ford was unanimously elected. There was a tie between Dr. Alshaarawy and Dr. Khan.
          2. A second Zoom poll was issued between the Dr. Alshaarawy and Dr. Khan.
      3. Drs. Ford and Alshaarawy will serve as co-chairs. Dr. Ford took over leading the meeting from Dean Sousa.

    4. Addition of Secretary position for DACD
      1. The committee discussed if this position is necessary and what the responsibilities of this role would be. It was suggested and encouraged this would be a good role for a student member to serve in.
      2. Dr. Ford opened the floor for nominations.
        1. Doyle Ford volunteered to self-nominate. No other volunteers came forward.
        2. Motion made to approve Doyle as secretary, seconded. No objections were made. Doyle Ford will serve as the DACD Secretary.

    5. Approval of agenda
      1. No objections raised, motioned to approve.
      2. Agenda approved as presented.

    6. New 1964 Year
      1. Dean Sousa reviewed the description of what the 1964 Project is.
        1. He used his dean's package to have two, tenure stream positions a year dedicated to improving scholarship in diversity, equity, inclusion, and addressing our strategic grand challenge to address health equity.
        2. Website: https://humanmedicine.msu.edu/about/leadership/strategic-plan/1964-project.html 
        3. Results from first year (2022-23):
          1. CHM is close to signing our first 1964 candidate, who's a scholar who will be based in Southeast Michigan. She works on health disparities issues in populations from North Africa and the Middle East.
          2. We have another search in West Michigan, really looking at neurodegenerative disease in Hispanic populations. This is the second iteration of that search.
        4. Last year’s winners (2023-24):
          1. A position mostly looking at cardiovascular disparities in the Department of Medicine (in Dr. Olomu’s area) and cardiovascular disparities that are mostly in African Americans.
          2. The other is in biochemistry, looking at cancer disparities in Native American populations.
        5. To evaluate the proposals, there is a rubric that has seven or eight different domains. It's scored like the NIH. And the conversation is like an NIH study section in theory.
        6. The new cycle for submissions is coming up in November. Is there anything the committee wants to do differently or change? Something to think about for next meeting.

    7. Medical Students in Gaza
      1. Dut to current events, medical education is being interrupted for students in the middle east.
        1. Dean Sousa is meeting with others to inquire if there are any options for CHM to help students continue their medical education despite being displaced due to violence.
        2. There are a lot of moving parts and unknowns as this has not been done before.
        3. The committee discussed additional complexities of the situation and will follow up on the conversation at a future meeting.

    8. Planning for Fall
      1. Discussion about planning for civil discourse and freedom of speech, especially with the upcoming November election; concerns raised based on experiences from the 2016 election.
        1. Insights shared about the importance of respecting diverse political opinions in medical education settings.
        2. Emphasis on using university resources correctly and avoiding endorsements of candidates in official communications.
        3. Suggestions for proactive measures, including town hall meetings and creating communication channels (phone trees) to support students and staff across differing opinions.
      2. Faculty and student engagement encouraged to gather diverse perspectives, particularly from those in various roles, to create an inclusive atmosphere for political discussions, while acknowledging historical events that affected campus community dynamics.
      3. Importance of preparing resources for both faculty and students to navigate political discourse respectfully, building a safe environment in classrooms.
      4. Proposal to brainstorm formats for discussions, particularly after the election, to ensure ongoing support within the student body.

    9. Adjournment
      1. No further comments were suggested from the floor.
      2. Motion made to adjourn, seconded.
      3. The meeting adjourned at 6:58pm.
  • September

    IN ATTENDANCE

    Elected Members: Omayma Alshaarawy, Emiko Blalock, Sabrina Ford, Malik Khan, Shreesh Sammi, Chioma Okeafor-Torres, Amber Hunter-Harris, Rosemary Adaji, Doyle Ford, Michaila Paulateer, Katryna Peacock, Kira Sieplinga, Timothy Michling, Ibukunoluwa Omole

    Ex-Officio Members: Wanda Lipscomb, Ade Olomu, Lisa Lowery, Nara Parameswaran

    Guests: Brian Johnson

    Staff: Allison Tilma


    ABSENT

    Elected Members: Aaron Nichols, Mohamed Salar, Akhilesh Munagala

    Ex-Officio Members: Aron Sousa, Carol Parker

    1. Call to Order
      1. Meeting called to order at 5:32pm
      2. Dean Sousa is not in attendance.

    2. Approval of agenda
      1. No one could recall the reason for item, V. Thinking about how we address Title IX issues. It was decided that topic will be moved to next month’s agenda.
      2. The agenda was approved as presented, and item V. will be on the next meeting’s agenda.
         
    3. Approval of minutes
      1. The minutes from the previous meeting were not completed.
      2. Approving minutes from the August and September meetings will be on the October agenda.

    4. Any changes to the 1964 process?
      1. If any changes need to be made ASAP and approved before October.
      2. Look at current RFP - https://humanmedicine.msu.edu/about/leadership/strategic-plan/1964-project.html
        1. There was some confusion of how the 1964 project and 1855 professorship are related and if the 1964 project will now go by the name with the 1855 professorship. Members discussed their understandings.
          1. ACTION ITEM: Members will follow up with Dean Sousa at the next meeting to confirm.
        2. Committee members wanted more time to review the RFP document.
          1. ACTION ITEM: Members will email Allison any suggested changes by Monday, September 30th. Allison will send a reminder email to the committee a week before feedback is due.

    5. Thinking about how we address Title IX issues
      1. Moving this item to the next DACD meeting on October 21, 2024.

    6. Following up to town hall discussion from Friday 9/13/24
      1. Dr. Lisa Lowery was on the town hall for 9/13/24 and gave a recap of the discussion on the town hall that focused on free speech and civil discourse at MSU.
        1. Link to the recording for the Dean’s Town Hall from 9/13/24. https://vimeo.com/showcase/7510030/video/1009834813 
      2. The committee discussed at length about free speech, diversity, politics, and how to address these topics when they come up in a CHM/healthcare setting, as a student, staff, faculty member, or future practitioner.
      3. The committee agreed they would like to develop action items in future meetings to address what additional kind of training is needed, both on the faculty and student levels.

    7. Planning for Fall/Spring
      1. Any programming?
        1. The committee agreed that the conversation from today’s meeting could produce an interesting spring session and would be better discussed after the elections in November. (Not in the heat of the moment.)
        2. Supporting post doc students more was briefly discussed, and the Research Office is currently working on that to help with grant writing.
        3. The committee discussed how to help students who come to them for help and might have a disability and need accommodations. Also, the stigma/fear that sometimes comes with the willingness to self-disclose. MSU has the RCPD office that is a great resource and is shared with students at orientation. If you have a strong relationship with a student needing help, use that connection to help extend the student’s trust to someone who will know how to best help the student. (Drs. Lipscomb and Lowery both confirmed they are in roles to help the students.) A suggestion was made to incorporate into curricula to understand about more how disabilities function, and in a way that destigmatizes them.

    8. Comments from the floor
      1. No additional comments were offered.

    9. Adjournment
      1. The meeting adjourned at 6:58pm
  • October
    IN ATTENDANCE

    Elected Members: Omayma Alshaarawy (Co-Chair), Mohamed Salar, Chioma Okeafor Torres, Liz Stanton, Julia Terhune, Tim Michling, Doyle Ford (Secretary), Michaila Paulateer, Chelsea Lopez, Apoorva Dayananda

    Ex-Officio Members: Aron Sousa, Wanda Lipscomb, Lisa Lowery, Carol Parker

    Guests: Brian Johnson

    Staff: Allison Tilma

    ABSENT

    Elected Members: Emiko Blalock, Sabrina Ford, (Co-Chair), Malik Khan, Aaron Nichols, Katryna Peacock, Shreesh Sammi, Kira Sieplinga, Amber M. Hunter-Harris, Rosemary Adaji, Ibukunoluwa Omole, Akhilesh Munagala

    Ex-Officio Members: Adesuwa (Ade) Olomu, Nara Parameswaran

    1. Call to Order
      1. The meeting was called to order at 5:35pm.
      2. Dr. Alshaarawy will lead the meeting.

    2. Approval of agenda
      1. No objections raised, motioned to approve.
      2. Agenda approved as presented.

    3. Approval of minutes
      1. August 19, 2024; Attachment A
        1. No objections raised, motioned to approve. The August minutes were approved as presented.
      2. September 16, 2024; Attachment B
        1. No objections raised, motioned to approve. The September minutes were approved as presented.

    4. Welcome new members:
      1. CHM Staff reps: Liz Stanton (serving 2nd term and is from Pediatrics and Human Development) and Julia Terhune (serving 1st term and is from Admissions and Academic Affairs).
      2. New ECE Students: Chelsea Lopez (East Lansing) and Apoorva Dayananda (Grand Rapids).
      3. The DACD now has a full committee roster.
      4. Dr. Lipscomb reminded the committee that she and Dr. Lowery are on this committee as ex-officio members and do not have voting rights on this committee and may be less vocal as it is the committee members that should be advising the dean.

    5. Follow up on 1964 project and questions.
      1. Dean Sousa provided clarification. Folks who are hired through this 1964 project are still part of CHM’s 1964 cohort, but they can also be called 1855 Professors as the 1964 project aligns with the Provost’s office appointments for 1855 Professors.
      2. Dean Sousa reviewed the previous submissions that were chosen and where they are at in the search process of filling the roles for the proposed researchers.
      3. The proposed feedback on the 1964 RFP was shared and reviewed. The dean also covered the rubric for evaluating the submissions. The DACD will need to provide at least three volunteers to serve on the review committee for the submissions, preferably folks who have had previous NIH or grant review experience before, but student members are welcome to gain the experience.
      4. Dean Sousa asked the committee for a motion to endorse the RFP so it can be sent out to college faculty.
        1. Motion made to approve RFP, seconded. None opposed, the RFP passes unanimously.
      5. Dean Sousa asked for DACD members to volunteer to serve on the review committee. Interested members should email Dean Sousa or Allison Tilma.
        1. Action item: Allison will send an email to the entire DACD committee asking for folks willing to serve on the committee. Interested parties should include their name, position, and department.

    6. Civil discourse
      1. The college has shared a variety of materials discussing civil discourse.
      2. Dr. Lipscomb shared that the college is working on putting together a program that will be led by Dr. Len Fleck and Dr. Sean Valles from the Center for Bioethics and Social Justice. The tentative date and time are scheduled for Friday, November 1st from 12:45-1:45pm.

    7. Elections in November
      1. Dr. Lipscomb shared that there has been significant time spent talking about what to do the week of the election. The current plan is to have as many people available as possible, make it known who is available and when, and continue to provide visible support to students in their small groups.
        1. Michigan is still a 50/50 swing state. The point of sharing about civil discourse is to teach students, faculty, staff, and others to be able to discuss issues with different thoughts and opinions with civility and be respectful that we can agree to disagree.
        2. Dr. Lowery shared a resource from a recent program she attended on heated discussions.
          1. The document is provided at the end of the minutes.
      2. The question was presented if the DACD has shared its information widely with the student body following meetings. Discussion followed and it was addressed that there isn’t anything at the present. The discussion turned to what is the best way to communicate this kind of information to the students, so they actually access and view it. Using the minutes was suggested and including links to resources discussed at the meeting.
        1. i.e. The Dean’s Town Hall on Civil Discourse: https://vimeo.com/showcase/7510030/video/1009834813
        2. Additional resource: https://uhw.msu.edu/News/electionstress

    8. Planning for Fall/Spring
      1. Any programming?
      2. Following from the previous discussion, the creation of a student newsletter was suggested.
      3. Past projects were discussed to help generate ideas.
      4. Dean Sousa brought up title VI and current incidents at MSU. He informed that the committee that he will seek advice and discussion from the committee on how the college talks about it and addresses concerns. Religious Discrimination at Schools
        1. Examples of concerns shared were ensuring students have proper surgical coverings that will accommodate their need for not removing cultural attire. A hijab head covering was provided as an example.
        2. Another concern shared was a lack of SIM training for students on how to act and examine patients while still being aware and sensitive to cultural differences. (The specific instance referenced how to examine and treat female Muslim patients who wear hijabs.)
      5. Referencing back to how information is disseminated to students, discussion included considering the modality used. Anything shared with students needs to be short, bulleted, or listed and include links. Another suggestion was to include a link on JIT for students to take them to a new page with committee updates relevant to them.
      6. Dr. Lowery acknowledged the lack of training in the SIM. This led to further discussion on how other religions are represented (or not) in teaching atmospheres and if students could be comfortable talking about it.
      7. Dean Sousa shared that there's a difference between working on things like cultural humility, and how to work with different patient populations and the specific ethical principles involved in refusing care, particularly blood products, kids. Also leaving space for people who do not have a religious belief. These ideas are all great topics for further discussions.

    9. Comments from the floor
      1. No additional comments were made.

    10. Adjournment
      1. The meeting adjourned at 6:52pm.
  • November

    IN ATTENDANCE

    Elected Members: Omayma Alshaarawy (Co-Chair), Sabrina Ford, (Co-Chair), Malik Khan, Chioma Okeafor Torres, Rosemary Adaji, Tim Michling, Doyle Ford (Secretary), Michaila Paulateer, Akhilesh Munagala, Chelsea Lopez, Apoorva Dayananda

    Ex-Officio Members: Aron Sousa, Wanda Lipscomb, Lisa Lowery, Adesuwa (Ade) Olomu, Nara Parameswaran

    Guests: Brian Johnson

    Staff: Allison Tilma


    ABSENT

    Elected Members: Emiko Blalock, Aaron Nichols, Katryna Peacock, Mohamed Salar, Shreesh Sammi, Kira Sieplinga, Liz Stanton, Julia Terhune, Amber M. Hunter-Harris, Ibukunoluwa Omole

    Ex-Officio Members: Carol Parker

    1. Call to Order 
      1. The meeting was called to order at 5:33pm 
      2. Dr. Sabrina Ford is leading the meeting. 

    2. Approval of agenda 
      1. No objections raised, motioned to approve, seconded. 
      2. Agenda approved as presented

    3. Approval of minutes 
      1. October 21, 2024; Attachment A 
        1. No objections raised, motioned to approve, seconded. 
        2. The October minutes were approved as presented. 

    4. Follow up on selecting 1964 project review committee members 
      1. RFP was released a week or so ago and are due by December 15, 2024. Hopefully all the submissions can be reviewed by February 1, 2025. 
      2. The DACD will provide 3 committee members for the review committee and Dean Sousa will appoint 2 members. 
        1. DACD volunteers: Omayma Alshaarawy (experience last year), Malik Kahn (new), Doyle Ford (student, first yea, will observer), Chioma Okeafor (new). 

    5. Post election conversation/check in 
      1. The dean acknowledged there are a range of responses to the election, which the college does not have an official opinion on. But the college does have a lot of programs that are focused on things that really matter in the health of the people, and in our communities. It's still appropriate to be working on areas where there are health disparities, that's where there's the most need. And it's perfectly fine for us to work toward making sure that there are physicians to take care, and scientists who will take care of communities. 
      2. The dean also referenced back to a prior meeting where language was discussed and if the college needed to defend or adjust the language the college uses. It is likely this will be another conversation and meeting topic in the following months. 
        1. Action item: Think about how language used. It will be added as an agenda topic for a future meeting. 
      3. A student member shared concerns he has heard from other students about what comments are posted on social media. The committee discussed and agreed that social media is directing users in a certain direction that isn’t the most useful or accurate. 
      4. Other shared concerns were of being worried how to make a future in epidemiology or public health, NIH funding for research, and how quickly things can change or be affected by an executive order. 
      5. Dean Sousa reminded the committee that this is the time where people of science and academics should be speaking out on their area of expertise if the government is moving in a direction that is not in the best interest of the people. (Example used was the policy on the polio vaccine.) 

    6. Title VI – Aron 
      1. Title VI is a part of the Civil Rights Act that says that you can't create a hostile environment based on national origin race, a couple of other things, and courts have sort of included religion as well. 
      2. There have been incidents of CHM students reporting mistreatment based on religion, and this is reportable under the anti-discrimination policy for MSU. Dean Sousa asked the committee how to address the learning and work environment with keeping title VI in mind.
      3. Title VI is similar to title IX, but there hasn’t been as much education and outreach provided as has been the case for title IX, especially regarding religion. Religion seems to be a more sensitive topic and there is more of a fear to discuss it and risk being offensive. 
      4. It’s acceptable to have difficult conversations and learn about differences to understand them better. 

    7. Comments from the floor 
      1. It was shared that it felt like MSU and CHM did a good job preparing for the election. 
      2. The committee discussed more programming ideas for the spring semester. The decided it would be helpful to wait until the January meeting to discuss more programming ideas. The committee agreed to cancel the December meeting. 
      3. Michaila Paulateer shared a newsletter she created to help increase sharing the DACD information with other students. Dr. Lowery will follow up with Michaila offline to figure out how to best use the newsletter. 
      4. Title VI will be an agenda item for the January meeting. 
      5. No further comments were offered. 

    8. Adjournment 
      1. The motion was made to end the meeting and was seconded. 
      2. The meeting adjourned at 6:44pm.