By Mark Largent, vice provost & dean of Undergraduate Education
The Office of Undergraduate Education has recently experienced some changes I wanted to share with the community. These changes bring new colleagues into our spaces as well as new programs. They also allow us to align some existing programs together in new ways. All of these additions and changes are intended to provide the programs with the stability and certainty they need to be able to support all Spartans to learn, thrive, and graduate.
Residential Initiative on the Study of the Environment (RISE)
Undergrad Ed has been asked to assume responsibility for RISE, the Residential Initiative on the Study of the Environment, for the coming year and to lead a strategic visioning process for its future. RISE fits well with our other cohort programs in the Pathways Persistence Programs, so it will report to Dr. Heather Shea for at least the next year.
Jorhie Beadle will serves as the interim director of RISE. Her career has stretched across multiple education organizations including K12 schools and community colleges. In each of her roles, her work has focused on high impact practices with an emphasis on environmental experiential learning. She joined RISE as the assistant director in 2019, which combined her passion for education and the environment to support first-year students at MSU. During her time at MSU, she has engaged in multiple community and campus collaborations with partners including the Greater Lansing Food Bank Garden Project, the MSU Student Organic Farm, Beal Botanical Garden, 1855 Community Garden, MSU Student Food Bank, and the Native American Institute. Jorhie recently completed her doctorate degree in Educational Leadership. Her continued research focuses on decision making of executive leaders in higher education facing uncertainty.
Lansing Spartan Scholars
We have recruited three dozen students to make up the inaugural cohort of Lansing Spartan Scholars, and we have successfully completed a national search and hired its program director, Cece Sumpter. Lansing Spartan Scholars will join the Transitions and Transfer Student Success unit in Undergrad Ed, which reports to Dr. Portia Watkins.
In her previous roles as a Spartan, Cece served as the Inclusive Excellence Coordinator and HR/Compliance Administrative Business Assistant with Michigan State Athletics. She also served as a Financial Aid Advisor with MSU’s Office of Financial Aid from 2018-2021.
In addition to her work here on campus, Cece has served as a college advisor under Advise MI for the Michigan College Access Network from 2015-2017, and as a graduate student attending Eastern Michigan University, she served as a Student Leader for Gear Up cohorts at Eastern Michigan University and the University of Michigan from 2013-2015. Cece is currently working on her Ph.D. in Educational Administration from MSU after having earned a Bachelor of Fine Arts from Virginia Union University and Master of Arts in Theatre Education from Eastern Michigan University.
MSU College Advising Corps
Uncertainties regarding AmeriCorps’s funding as well as reductions in federal support for some of our regional college access partners has led to a high degree of uncertainty about the future of MSUCAC. After conversations with colleagues from MSUCAC, Student Affairs (where MSUCAC has long been located), and the Office of the Provost, the decision has been made to move MSUCAC to Undergrad Ed, where it will report to Laura Wise.
As a first-generation college student, Manuel Rivera understands the importance of a college education. As an alum of Michigan State University, Manuel has an extensive 25 years in education (elementary, secondary, and postsecondary), having been a college recruiter, academic adviser, career counselor, faculty, and college administrator to name a few. He is an accomplished grant writer ($23 million awarded) and has served on several non-profit Boards; most notably ICHANGE as the Board President.
Before coming back to MSU, he was the Detroit AmeriCorps Youth Success Program Director, a program designed to address and reduce the high chronic absenteeism rate for at-risk youth in Detroit schools. His work with the Urban Neighborhood Initiatives organization led him to success with federal AmeriCorps programs (successfully writing and being awarded a competitive federal grant; an unheard of accomplishment for a program only 3 years old). His experience working with YMCA’s has assisted in his understanding and mastery of building program supports and services from the start of a child’s education and extending into their college education. Manuel holds a Bachelor of Professional Communications from Siena Heights University and a Master’s in Higher, Adult, and Lifelong Education from Michigan State University.
I am excited to welcome these new colleagues and their programs to Undergrad Ed and look forward to working with them to continue to make MSU even better at supporting every Spartan to thrive.