Office of Culture, Access and Belonging

A Message from the CANR Associate Dean of Culture, Access and Belonging, Dr. Antomia Farrell

The Office of Culture, Access and Belonging (OCAB) creates and maintains an accessible, inclusive and supportive community for all who learn, work, and teach in the College of Agriculture and Natural Resources, MSU Extension and AgBioResearch.

We aim to foster a culture where every member of the College of Agriculture and Natural Resources (CANR) feels valued and inspired to achieve individual and common goals. We have the opportunity as faculty, staff, alumni and students to celebrate differences and work together to further integrate diversity, equity and inclusion into our culture, so it becomes who we are and what we do every day.

-Dr. Antomia Farrell

OCAB Events

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OCAB News

MSU scientist honored with research award from North American Regional Science Council

Published on December 2, 2024
Craig Carpenter was presented the award on Nov. 15.
Empowering futures: MSU CANR students awarded Dean’s Choice Award

Published on August 27, 2024
CANR students Natali Gonzalez and Lavonnes Bolds were recently selected as recipients of the MSUFCU CANR Dean’s Choice Award, a scholarship aiming to address the issue of access in higher education

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CANR DEI Strategic Plan

OCAB Newsletters & Features

Awards

2023-2024 You Belong Here Awards

The You Belong Here DEI Champion Award recognizes faculty and staff who are nominated by students, faculty and staff in the College of Agriculture and Natural Resources. This award honors those who live the CANR Office of Culture, Access and Belonging Statement through their work and space. The CANR Office of Culture, Access and Belonging established the award to provide an opportunity to identify DEI champions the CANR community regularly engages with. You Belong Here Champions support a culture where every member of our college community feels valued and inspired to achieve individual and common goals, with an uncommon will.

Champion Faculty Award Recipient: Dr. Callista Rakhmatov
Champion Staff Award Recipient: Stephanie Chau
Champion Graduate Award Recipient: Sharron (Ronnie) Miller
Champion Undergraduate Award Recipient: Lex Stuart

CANR Digital Badges

The goal of the OCAB Badge Project is to help collectively recognize, acknowledge and be inspired by the amazing work each department, school and unit contributes to and implements as a way to build lasting diversity, equity and inclusion.

Platinum 2023-2024 Badge:

Animal Science
Biosystems and Agricultural Engineering
Community Sustainability
Entomology
Fisheries and Wildlife
Food Science and Human Nutrition
Packaging 
Plant, Soil and Microbial Sciences
MSU Extension: AABI
School of Planning, Design and Construction

Gold 2023-2024 Badge:

Agricultural, Food, and Resource Economics
Forestry 
Kellogg Biological Station
MSU Extension: CFEI 
MSU Extension: HNI

Definitions for Culture, Access and Belonging

Culture: A system of shared beliefs and values established within an organization or a group of people.

Access: Ensuring that all faculty, students, and staff have equal access to opportunities and resources, regardless of their abilities or disabilities; requires removing physical and psychological barriers that prevent people from accessing and participating in society to reach their fullest potential.

Belonging: The feeling of security and support when there is a sense of acceptance, inclusion, and identity for members of different groups. It is when an individual can bring their authentic self to MSU CANR, AgBioResearch, and MSU Extension.

OCAB Mission

The mission of the Office of Culture, Access and Belonging (OCAB) is that it will serve as a resource that faculty, staff and graduate students within the units of the CANR use to:

Develop intentional efforts to recruit and retain diverse faculty, staff and graduate students
Enhance teaching, research and outreach

To this end, OCAB works with relevant departments to recruit diverse students, faculty, and staff; to support the professional development of members of our community from diverse and historically underserved backgrounds; and to represent and advocate for diverse representation in academic and professional fields in agriculture and natural resources.

Explore the programs, events, and resources we maintain to support our mission.

Goals

OCAB works with CANR and departments to assess the climate, coordinate discussions and plan different recommendations and actions. The overall goals include influence in the workforce, workplace and marketplace.

Workforce: Attract and retain people and partners who bring their own unique perspectives and experiences.
Workplace: Create a high-teaming culture to deliver ambitious results.
Marketplace: Model inclusion in our college, campus, industry and surrounding community.

Short Statement

Diversity, Equity and Inclusion are important, interdependent components of everyday life in the College of Agriculture and Natural Resources (CANR) and are critical to our pursuit of academic excellence.

Our aim is to foster a culture where every member of CANR feels valued, supported and inspired to achieve individual and common goals with an uncommon will. This includes providing opportunity and access for all people across differences of race, age, color, ethnicity, gender, sexual orientation, gender identity, gender expression, religion, national origin, migratory status, disability/abilities, political affiliation, veteran status and socioeconomic background.

Full Statement

For the College of Agriculture and Natural Resources, Diversity includes characteristics of race, age, color, ethnicity, gender, sexual orientation, gender identity, gender expression, religion, national origin, migratory status, disability/abilities, political affiliation, veteran status and socioeconomic background. It also includes differences in backgrounds, ideas, thought, values and beliefs. Embracing differences make us better learners, teachers, leaders, scholars, researchers, extension educators, employees and students. This is operationalized by embedding equity in all of our structures and practices.

Equity requires providing justice, fairness and access to opportunities and resources for all members of the campus community. In creating and sustaining a climate where equity and mutual respect are intrinsic, we are nurturing a success-oriented, cooperative and caring college where we attract and retain people and partners who feel comfortable contributing their unique wisdom, perspectives and experiences.

To be an Inclusive college is to respect everyone, value differences, acknowledge the impact of differences and to capitalize on those differences by drawing on the intellectual strength that produces innovative solutions from the synergy of our people. Our aim is to foster a culture where every member of CANR feels valued, supported and inspired to achieve individual and common goals with an uncommon will.

Land Acknowledgement

It is also important to take into consideration the land on which Michigan State University resides. See the Guide to Land Acknowledgements.

Foundational Principles

In keeping with the responsible pursuit of our land grant mission, we acknowledge that the work of CANR takes place on Indigenous lands and in Indigenous spaces. Within the Great Lakes region, CANR resides on the ancestral, traditional, and contemporary Lands of the Anishinaabeg—Three Fires Confederacy of Ojibwe, Odawa and Potawatomi people. CANR is committed to affirming Indigenous sovereignty, histories, perspectives, experiences and knowledges.
Our disciplines have not been historically and are not currently representative of the diversity of perspectives and backgrounds that make up Michigan, our nation and our world.
The future of our agriculture and natural resources disciplines depends on our ability to incorporate emerging, as well as historically marginalized people and perspectives into our science, our teaching, and all of our work to meet current and future challenges.
As individuals, we all carry our identities into our personal and professional interactions. We encourage our community members to seek out opportunities to learn from those with perspectives different from their own.
All of our work relies on our individual and institutional ability to build authentic and trusting relationships and partnerships across all aspects of human differences.
The capacity to create inclusive environments is a professional leadership skill, and we strive to provide opportunities for our professionals to develop those skills.
The processes CANR utilizes to admit, grade, recruit, hire, retain, evaluate and grant continuing status and/or tenure to our faculty staff and students are opportunities to embed principles of equity in our structures.
The skills required to create and sustain inclusive environments and to work in diverse environments are vital to the success of our graduates in the future of CANR disciplines and professions.