Within MSU’s 2030 strategic plan is a core commitment to being accessible and inclusive. In alignment, the Office for Inclusive Excellence and Impact, or IEI, Education Team created the Inclusive Systems series. This six-week program brought together members from the MSU community to explore ways to navigate and shape the systems that affect everyone.
At the end of spring semester, it’s common for many at MSU to shift gears into summer projects. This summer, a group of dedicated students, staff, faculty and community partners participated in a newly launched Office for Inclusive Excellence and Impact educational offering — the Inclusive Systems series.
Each Wednesday — from May 20 to June 24 — more than 30 campus community members gathered in the MSU Union’s MOSAIC Center for Education and Outreach for a combination of discussions, workshops and group activities designed to build community and equip participants with the tools to understand and improve the systems around them.
The Inclusive Systems series became a powerful opportunity for participants to reflect and recommit to a shared sense of responsibility for advancing fairness and human dignity in their work. More so, it became a space to build a supportive community.
“In this series, we zoom out to identify the underlying systems that produce commonalities and differences,” said IEI Assistant Director Ralph Johnson, a program facilitator and attendee. “A big point we help people understand is that change is possible, but it requires the right mindset and emotional resilience, as meaningful change takes time.”
Bringing people together across difference
Throughout the series, participants came together to discuss experiences, identify patterns and gain insight from various viewpoints through facilitated discussions. The program featured an interdisciplinary team of eight facilitators to leverage a variety of perspectives. This model helped to ensure that each discussion was uniquely valuable by providing exposure to a range of styles, voices and experiences. The facilitators fostered spaces for open dialogue where different areas of expertise, cultures and ideologies could merge to explore possible solutions for breaking down differences and reaching new, more productive perspectives.
“Education has always been a place of truth. If those in positions of power, including members of academic communities, can’t have these kinds of conversations in these kinds of spaces, then we, as a civilization, are really in trouble,” said MSU faculty member and program attendee Tonya Fountain.
Johnson was impressed by participants’ creativity and willingness to lean into the process.
“The collective wisdom and expertise in the room was fantastic,” said Johnson. “To see how they leveraged their wisdom to come up with new ideas and solutions for ways that we can affect systems was special.”
Developing skills to navigate conflict
By the end of the program, participants developed key skills in navigating conflict and various viewpoints in and out of the classroom. To apply what they learned, participants received personal booklets to create action plans and make a positive change where they can.
“Following the program’s initial success, my hope is that it is expanded throughout MSU departments, units and colleges, especially ones that may be experiencing conflict,” said Fountain. “Looking at issues systemically, there is less confrontation or pressure because you’re pointing at systems and their design rather than individuals.”
The Inclusive Systems series is one of many initiatives MSU is taking to become a national leader for global and local impact. Through MSU’s commitment to inclusion and interdisciplinary collaboration, programs like this one reflects the collaborative, innovative spirit and uncommon will of the Spartan community.
Expanding offerings available to employees
The Inclusive Systems series builds on the Inclusive Communities and Inclusive Leadership workshops, two additional educational offerings from IEI’s Education Team:
- Inclusive Communities: Helps individuals understand principle-based methods and applicable tools to communicate effectively across differences and be a part of an inclusive community.
- Inclusive Leadership: Helps individuals understand principle-based strategies to create and foster inclusivity within the context of leadership.
- Inclusive Systems: Helps individuals identify, navigate and shape the systems that affect everyone, emphasizing the application of principles for transformative problem-solving.
Information regarding future programming from the IEI Education Team is coming soon. If interested, be on the lookout for Organization and Professional Development offerings.
