College of Agriculture & Natural Resources Office of Culture, Access and Belonging

The Office of Culture, Access and Belonging (OCAB) offers professional development and training options in partnership with the College of Agriculture and Natural Resources (CANR), MSU Extension and Michigan State University.

OCAB can develop and coordinate training with CANR or MSU experts on the following topics, but not limited to: 

• Best practices in recruitment and hiring 
• Creating an inclusive classroom 
• Cross-cultural engagement 
• Cultural Intelligence (CQ) Training 
• Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Belonging  
• Implicit bias 
• Microaggressions 
• MSU‘s anti-discrimination policies  

OCAB Training: Learning and Development Requests

Do you require a training from our office, if so fill out this form.

There is training available for individuals or groups of all sizes. Please contact us at 517-884-7317 to determine which training would best address your needs.

Multicultural Self-Awareness Workshop

During this two-day Multicultural Self-Awareness Workshop, participants will explore ways in which to view interactions with people different from themselves. The emphasis is on differences rather than similarities. The workshop focuses on the individual and helps explore belief systems about multiculturalism to identify feelings and values from a multicultural perspective.

This intensive learning experience created for MSU Extension employees focuses on increasing awareness of several areas of prejudice, discrimination and oppression, including racism, sexism, classism, heterosexism and ableism. Participants are encouraged to reflect on how they’ve learned to think about human differences and on the widespread tendency to view differences within a monocultural view of “better than/less than” thinking.

In addition to MSU Extension employees, OCAB has funding to sponsor attendance at this workshop for faculty and staff of CANR. See more details on the MSU Extension Organizational Development web page for Diversity and Inclusion.

Leadership in Dealing with Difficult Multicultural Discussions Workshop

The Leadership in Dealing with Difficult Multicultural Discussions workshop provides participants with frameworks and practical experiences to explore how difficult multicultural discussions can become opportunities for transformative dialogue.

Participants learn approaches to positive confrontation and the connections between personal healing, organizational and community change, social justice and authentic relationships across differences. This workshop is open to all MSU Extension staff and community members. See more details on the MSU Extension Organizational Development web page for Diversity and Inclusion.

One-on-One Career Counseling

Students, staff, faculty can make an appointment with our office for general academic or career counseling. 

Support & Mentoring

Students, staff, faculty, and administrators should feel free to come to the Office of Culture, Access and Belonging to express issues and concerns. You will receive a supportive, listening, confidential environment, as well as assistance, advocacy, referrals, and other support to address and assist in helping resolve your concerns. 

Lending Library & Resources

OCAB maintains a lending library of books and DVDs related to our mission that are available for checkout. Materials focus on issues of race and ethnicity in higher education, sexuality and gender, diversity trainings, civil rights history and other topics of general and academic interest. Our library is located in our office at Room 102 in Agriculture Hall. Email anr.dei@msu.edu to request materials or for recommendations.

Checking Out a Book

A searchable list of our current assets are available at the CANR Office of Culture, Access and Belonging Library Cat page. If you would like to checkout a book or additional material from our catalog, you will need to complete this online form. An OCAB staff member will follow up with you on when you can come by the office to check out the material.

MSU Libraries is also an option for physical or virtual copies for checkout.

In addition, OCAB occasionally purchases access to webinars and other online resources for the use of the CANR community. Email contact anr.dei@msu.edu to receive email notice when a new webinar is made available.