Hello dear CDEI community,

I started writing this update in January, so although it might be published in February, in my mind, I still get to wish you a Happy 2023! I hope you had a restorative winter and you were able to spend it doing whatever it is that fulfills you. One of my favorite New Year’s traditions in Venezuela is to eat 12 grapes before midnight. The idea is that you make a wish every time you eat one, so you get a wish for every month of the upcoming year. I use it as a way to reflect and be thankful for everyone and everything I have in my life and to continue asking for a better future. I dedicated one of my grapes to this ASEE community.

Thanks to everyone that participated in our all-hands meeting this January. We had great conversations and received thoughtful and constructive feedback. Stemming from that, we have decided to create a survey to get your thoughts about the annual conferences, please find it at the end of this message. Our next meeting will be on April 24th at 2:00 pm (EST), zoom link here.

Here are some updates from our committees and teams:

CDEI Committee Updates & Invitations to Partner

Awards Committee Update

Please be aware that the Constituent Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Award nominations were due to ASEE on February 8. Similarly, the Best DEI Paper Award nominations are due to CDEI on May 16. Learn more here.

If you’d like to be a reviewer for the upcoming awards season or join the Awards Committee, please email Katey Shirey (katey@edukatey.com)

Communications Committee Update

To keep up to date with CDEI, follow us on Twitter (@ASEEDiversity) and our LinkedIn page.   We are also inviting members to join our communications team to support our website and our social media outreach. Visit this page to volunteer to participate.

Please take a moment to read about our January Scholar Spotlight, and if you know of people you’d want to feature, please click here.  Of if you or someone you know would like to write a guest blog, please click here.

Community-Building Update

Our community-building team is looking for volunteers. Our goal is to develop social events to provide opportunities to connect and build community among our members. If you are interested in being a part of this team, please email Homero (hmurzi@vt.edu).

Professional Development Committee Update

Currently, we are focused on reviewing proposals and identifying a speaker for the distinguished lecture/topical plenary. Over the next few weeks, we will submit the session requests for the conference.

Upcoming Workshop 

We are hosting a workshop on February 17, 2023, from 2:00 to 3:30 PM (ET) titled “Contemplative Pedagogies: A Way of Belonging and Becoming in STEM Education” by Dr. Yevgeniya V. Zastavker and Dr. Madhvi Venkatesh. Please refer to this link to view more information about the workshop.

If you’re interested in exploring our previous sessions, take a few moments to check out our website and subscribe to the CDEI YouTube Channel.

If you have any questions, don’t hesitate to contact Brianna Benedict McIntyre (bbmcintyre@vt.edu).

Conference Planning Committee Update

We have been discussing feedback from last year and ongoing plans to organize things for this year. We will have monthly meetings to continue these discussions. The next one is to formulate task assignments based on preference; stay tuned for scheduling.

Anyone who would like to be a part of this year’s conference planning committee for CDEI, please complete this short survey.

You can also email Rachelle Reisberg (r.reisberg@northeastern.edu) to be added to the Conference Planning email list. Note that although we hope you can join us in Baltimore, you don’t have to attend the 2023 conference to contribute.

Celebrating our volunteers

We want to recognize and thank the following committee members that have made outstanding contributions recently:

• Thank you to Christina Alston and Sarah Over for your contributions to improve the rubric for the proposal review for the professional development committee
• Thank you to the folks who have signed up to help with specific conference planning tasks already: Mahesh Aggarwal, Lynn Albers, Caroline Blassick, Leonard Bohmann, Baishakhi Bose, Henriette Burns, Jennifer Cole, Gabriella Coloyan Fleming, Robin Fowler, Aida Ghiaei, Michelle Jarvie-Eggart, Saundra Johnson Austin, Charles Lam, Teresa Larkin, Ibironke Lawal, Carmen Lilley, Bala Maheswaran, Ruby Mehrubeoglu, Mudasser Wyne. It is very much appreciated!

Feedback for the 2023 Annual Conference

As we plan for our ASEE 2023 annual conference, the ASEE CDEI commission would like to hear from you. Please respond to a few short questions so we can communicate some of your needs to ASEE to plan and provide a fulfilling conference experience for all our members. Please fill out this survey.

An Open Invite

We invite all ASEE members to advance the mission of CDEI through participation and involvement in our commission. Please visit this website for more information on how to get involved.

Thank you for your enduring commitment to this work, both in your own organizations and through participation in CDEI efforts. Our community is built on the collective efforts of all of you as individuals.

Cheers,
Homero