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Content This Month
Save the date – Celebration of DI&A at Mines

The fifth annual Celebration of DI&A at Mines returns to campus on Tuesday, April 2. Registration will open next month. At that time, the campus community will be able to register for 45-minute workshops starting at 10:00 a.m. through 3:00 p.m. (break for keynote lunch at noon), a welcome and recognition of the DI&A award recipients from Dr. Kate Youmans and a poster session featuring all major academic departments and campus units and their work to advance DI&A at Mines. At the poster session, student organization leaders will host tables to encourage faculty and staff involvement in their organization and to raise awareness of their work. It is sure to be an enjoyable day! 

Seeking Celebration volunteers and DI&A Fellows reviewers

The DI&A team is seeking volunteers. We have several opportunities for the campus community to engage in DI&A activities.

  • Session facilitators for the Celebration of DI&A: Help the DI&A team run logistics at workshop sessions on April 2nd. Each workshop session will be assigned one volunteer to introduce speakers, help coordinate IT needs and record attendance numbers. To sign up, please fill out this form and select which times work best for you.
  • Keynote Speaker lunch helpers during the Celebration: Keynote Speaker lunch volunteers will help coordinate buffet lines, clear empty food trays and replenish supplies, when needed. To sign up, please use this form and select the “Keynote Speaker Lunch help” option.
  • Evaluating Celebration Diversity Progress Report Posters: From 4:00 – 5:00 p.m. during the Celebration of DI&A on April 2, volunteers are needed to judge the posters. This evaluation committee will be provided with specific instructions and a rubric to rate the posters. Each person will judge between seven-eight posters. To sign up, please email Heather Houlton at hhoulton@mines.edu.
  • DI&A Fellows Selection Committee: On February 12, Mines DI&A will open the Fellows “Request for Applications” (RFA) to recruit the next cohort. The DI&A team is seeking a few volunteers to read proposals and attend interviews for the DI&A Fellows selection process. If you are interested, please contact Heather Houlton at hhoulton@mines.edu.
Nominate a colleague, peer or group for a DI&A award

The annual award nomination window opened earlier this month and runs through February 27. There are many outstanding faculty, staff, students and groups who are worthy of recognition. Consider highlighting their efforts by submitting a nomination not only to elevate their work across campus, but as a word of thanks.

Award recipients demonstrate an exceptional understanding of diversity and inclusiveness as represented by their efforts to:

  • enhance inclusion through positive foster dialogue communication between people of diverse backgrounds,
  • promote an environment free from bias and discrimination,
  • raise awareness and lead initiatives that advance diversity, equity, accessibility and inclusion,
  • support efforts in Mines DI&A Strategic Plan and/or
  • serve as a catalyst for change in diversity, equity, accessibility and inclusion.

Recipients will be recognized at the annual Celebration of DI&A at Mines on April 2.

Safe Zone workshop returns to campus next month

The Center on Colfax's Range Consulting Logo. To the left of the text, there are four solid circles consisting of orange, blue, red, and yellow clockwise.Would you like to learn strategies to support LGBTQ+ students, staff and faculty by creating inclusive spaces and being an empowered ally? You are invited to attend a Safe Zone workshop facilitated by external guest, Johnny Humphrey – Director of Inclusivity Services at The Center on Colfax. Johnny will lead conversation on the following topics:

  • Language and terminology
  • Differences between sexual orientation, gender identity, gender expression and biological sex
  • Importance of pronoun usage
  • Impacts of heteronormativity and cisnormativity
  • “Coming out” and “transition” processes
  • Harmful myths about the LGBTQ+ community
  • Ways to support the LGBTQ+ community through allyship

This three-hour workshop is held on campus on February 20, 1:00-4:00 p.m. in the Student Center Ballrooms, AB. Register by completing a short form: https://bit.ly/SafeZoneWorkshop.

Wednesday with WISEM continues this spring featuring Dr. Jessica Smith

Headshot of Dr. Jessica Smith. She is wearing a white shirt and aqua blazer, pictured near Stratton Hall.

During this signature lunch and lecture series hosted by the Women in Science, Engineering & Mathematics (WISEM) Program, Dr. Jessica M. Smith will share her experiences finding a place at Mines as a social scientist and opening spaces to celebrate the funds of knowledge of first-generation engineering students. She is currently a Dean’s Fellow for Earth and Society Programs and Professor in the Department of Engineering, Design and Society. Dr. Smith was the founding director of the Humanitarian Engineering and Science graduate program. The event is held in Friedhoff Hall at 11:45 a.m. on February 7. Your RSVP is helpful to ensure enough food is available.

Mental Wellness Month wraps up with additional learning opportunities for campus

As part of January Mental Wellness month and Every Oredigger, a campus-wide initiative to encourage well-being, all students, faculty and staff are invited to learn about campus resources and trainings.

Consider attending suicide prevention training this spring. QPR (Question, Persuade, Refer) training provides three simple steps that anyone can learn to help save a life from suicide. Just as people trained in CPR learn to identify signs of a health crisis and help save thousands of lives every year, people trained in QPR learn how to recognize the warning signs of a suicide crisis and how to help.

All QPR training sessions are two hours, and a meal is provided. Upcoming spring dates:

  • For staff and faculty: Tuesday, January 30; Wednesday, March 6th; or Thursday, April 11th from noon to 2:00 p.m. in the Green Center 224.
  • For students: Monday, February 12th; Monday, March 4th; or Thursday, April 4th from 4:00 to 6:00 p.m. in the Green Center 224.

Mines is also offering a one-hour suicide prevention refresher breakfast for any faculty, staff and student who has already attended QPR, SafeTalk, ASIST or Mental Health First Aid training and would like to review the content. To register for any one of these training options, visit: https://www.mines.edu/everyoredigger/trainings/

Becoming an Effective Mentor: A five-part lunch workshop series

Dr. Lakshmi Krishna, a Mines DI&A Fellow, focused the past year on centering inclusive mentoring for advancing DI&A at Mines. An outcome of her project’s work is the creation of a workshop series aimed at providing training for Mines graduate students and postdoc mentors interested in guiding undergraduate students in scientific research.

This skills-based workshop will meet for five weeks, one-hour per week to discuss aligning expectations and maintaining effective communication with mentees, incorporating practices that promote diversity and inclusivity, strategies to foster independence, mentoring challenges and solutions and other aspects of being an effective mentor.

Secure your spot by January 24th to become one of Mines’ first leaders to benefit from insights into excellence in mentoring. The workshop series will be led by Dr. Lakshmi Krishna, Dr. Parisa Bazazi and Dr. Terry Lowe, all of whom are certified by the CIMER Institute to deliver the Entering Mentoring training to the Mines community.

Workshop dates: noon to 1:00 p.m. on Fridays (Feb 9th, Feb 23rd, March 8th, March 29th and April 12th). Participants will be expected to attend all five sessions. Lunch will be provided.

Seeking the next Vanguard mentor – Help support students who will lead the way in making advances in STEM

A group of women are wearing Red "Vanguard Scholars" t-shirts and posing in three rows.

The Vanguard Community of Scholars is a leadership development program for highly motivated students at Mines. The cohort mentor will work with Mines staff, other faculty mentors and student class representatives to determine professional and leadership development programming and community-building socials. Additional responsibilities include:

  • Teach the Vanguard section of CSM 101 in year 1 (Mentor will get ~$800. A curriculum is provided along with two student peer mentors).
  • Mentor a cohort of approximately 28 women undergraduates throughout their four years at Mines.
  • Attend one social or professional development event a month.
  • Make yourself available to the students for mentoring and support.
  • Support spring recruitment efforts for incoming class of students (review and score application materials, answer questions from prospective scholars about Mines).

Mentors receive $1,000 toward their PD account for the spring 2025 semester and beyond, in addition to the stipend provided for teaching CSM101 in fall 2024. Mentors will be supported by Mines staff, other faculty mentors and student peer mentors or class representatives. Apply for this opportunity by February 19.

Meet Serena Lewis – Administrative Coordinator for Diversity, Inclusion and Access

Portrait of Serena LewisQ: What are your responsibilities on the team?
A: I provide administrative support for Mines DI&A programming and initiatives. This includes the DI&A community grant review process, Ambassador workshop scheduling, the DI&A monthly digest, website updates and communications and event planning.

Q: How long have you worked at Mines? Please share a little bit of your professional background.
A: My professional career began with a position as a Registered Nurse in the Surgical Trauma ICU at University of Colorado Hospital. After working in the COVID ICU during the pandemic, I decided to take time away from the hospital setting and worked as a non-profit administrator for an organization that provides mindfulness and emotional intelligence courses. I then worked on clinical research investigating the effect of night shift work on bone health in new graduate RNs on the Anschutz campus. DEI learning and engagement have been an important part of my life prior to and throughout my professional career, which led me to bring my administrative skills to support the DI&A team at Mines in May of 2023.

Q: Why does diversity, inclusion and access matter to you?
A: My understanding of systematic oppression and my own experiences of privilege and marginalization motivate me to engage in this work. My goal is to contribute to spaces where students, staff and faculty encounter fewer instances of harm and experience a sense of belonging and wellbeing.

Q: What are you looking forward to in your work this year?
A: I am looking forward to continuing to learn how I can best serve the Mines community in this role.

Q: What is your favorite Golden or Denver-metro restaurant?
A: Knockabout Burgers

Contribute to next month’s Digest 

Help us highlight the work you or your department is doing across campus to support DI&A at Mines by submitting a brief article to next month’s Mines DI&A Digest. Submissions must be received by the first week of the month in order to make it into that month’s Digest.

Save the Dates 

Hyperlinks = virtual meeting access information. All times are Mountain Daylight Time.  

  • 1/25 @ 9:30-10:30 a.m. Mines DI&A Fellows project presentations. Learn more about the Fellows and their projects.
  • 2/6 @ 4:00-6:00 p.m. MLK Celebration rescheduled, Student Center – Ballrooms ABC 
  • 2/7 @ 11:45 a.m. Wednesday with WISEM featuring Dr. Jessica Smith, Green Center – Friedhoff Hall
  • 2/8 @ all-day #idigmines Giving Day
  • 2/20 @ 1:00-4:00 p.m. Safe Zone workshop, Student Center- Ballrooms A&B
  • 2/22 Every Oredigger Day – Student Recreation Center
  • 2/27 Mines DI&A annual awards nomination due
  • 3/6 @ 11:45 a.m. Women’s History Month lunch, Student Center – Ballrooms ABC
  • 3/11 @ 12:00-12:30 p.m. Mines DI&A Council Monthly Meeting-General. Open to all Orediggers.
  • 3/13 @ 3:00-4:30 p.m. Authentically Me: Women of Color Engineering Panel, Student Center – Ballroom A
  • 4/2 @ all-day Celebration of DI&A at Mines
  • 4/4 Kickstart Connect the Dots

As always, we welcome your ideas, thoughts and feedback at diversity@mines.edu.
Thank you for being a member of an inclusive Oredigger community and an advocate and ally for positive social change.

Diversity, Inclusion and Access