Lanthorn, Vol. 51, No. 62, June 5, 2017 Grand Valley State University

Grand Valley State University ScholarWorks@GVSU Volume 51, July 11, 2016 - June 5, 2017 Lanthorn, 1968-2001 6-5-2017 Lanthorn, vol. 51, no. 62, June 5, 2017 Grand Valley State University Follow this and additional works at: https://scholarworks.gvsu.edu/lanthorn_vol51 Part of the Archival Science Commons, Education Commons, and the History Commons Recommended Citation Grand Valley State University, "Lanthorn, vol. 51, no. 62, June 5, 2017" (2017). Volume 51, July 11, 2016 - June 5, 2017. 62. https://scholarworks.gvsu.edu/lanthorn_vol51/62 This Issue is brought to you for free and open access by the Lanthorn, 1968-2001 at ScholarWorks@GVSU. It has been accepted for inclusion in Volume 51, July 11, 2016 - June 5, 2017 by an authorized administrator of ScholarWorks@GVSU. For more information, please contact [email protected]. r 7 ALLENDALE & GRAND RAPIDS. MICHIGAN 2017 JUNE STUDENT-RUN PUBLICATIONS // PRINT • ONLINE MOBILE // LANTHORN.COM SUMMER ISSUE MONDAY, JUNE 5, 2017 // VOL '.1 NO 62 LABOR New app to streamline Promoting Laker successcommunication GV receives grant to support students who have been in foster care between farmers and migrant workers BY JENNA FRACASSI Services, partnered together to co “The coach will support up to 25 without role models or parents. “I’ve been studying these popula ASSOCIA [email protected] author the grant. This was done in an students that have prior experience GV student partners effort to join the statewide initiative with foster care. So whether they’ve tions for so long because I work for rand Valley State Uni Fostering Success Michigan. aged out, are exiting a home or en TRiO programs, so I’ve had students with West Ml resident to versity has recently been GVSU’s Fostering Laker Success tering college, this will be their op over the years who had been in foster develop the tech awarded a $375,000 grant program will provide holistic servic portunity to get the resources and care or were orphaned, and there’s to fund an initiative de es for studenLs who have experienced the support that they need so that just a lot more, I would say, pitfalls BY DREW SCHERTZER G foster care, essentially helping them they persist and graduate.” for those studenLs,” Parris-Bingle [email protected] signed to support students who have experienced foster care. The with whatever needs they have in The Fostering Laker Success said. “They don ’t have safety nets like three-year program, titled “Fos college. There will also be a team of life skills coach is expected to be other people, as far as someone to Farmers need physical labor to tering Laker Success,” is funded peer mentors available to work with hired and trained by the start of turn to if something doesn ’t go well. help them pick certain crops and through the Michigan Department students, and a large portion of the the fall 2017 semester. In college they sometimes vegetables. Migrant workers con of Health and Human Services. grants funds are going toward hiring Parris-Bingle, who has ex don ’t have the emotional sup sequently travel anywhere from Sharalle Arnold, associate direc an independent life skills coach. perience working with foster port that they need to know that Texas to Michigan and everywhere tor of the Gayle R. Davis Center for “The independent living skills care students, said the program sometimes you’re going to fail.” in between looking for work. But, Women and Gender Equity, and coach will be a new hire at GVSU includes a lot of liaison work to arguably, there isn’t currently an Mamie Parris-Bingle, academic that will support case management help students navigate college, efficient way for migrant workers and farmers to communicate. advisor for TRiO Student Support and programming, ” Arnold said. which she said can be difficult SEE I A2 This is why Feliciano Paredes, a resident of West Michigan, has worked with Grand Valley State Uni versity graduate student Xiaomei Huang to develop an app. The app, “AgHelp,” is currently undergoing beta testing and seeks to bridge the gap between farmers and workers. “The biggest pain farmwork ers have is that they come into a new location and don ’t know any one or where to access resources, ” Paredes said. “Now, they can ac cess resources by typing in the city, state or zip code on the app.” Paredes was a farmworker until he was 18 years old. His family of four brothers and four sisters trav eled to Texas, Florida and Georgia, he said. Paredes said many families don ’t always know if the farm they travel to will have work for them to do or housing for them. This gave him the idea to create an app so families could find out this infor mation in advance. The old methods for farmwork ers looking for employment have been word-of-mouth or posting fly ers at local establishments, Paredes said. He thinks this process can be made more efficient through the use of his app. Paredes took his idea and met up with Huang to develop it. “This app will assist migrant farm workers to locate resources more conveniently and help growers find and retain laborers,” Huang said. “It ESTABLISHING A SUPPORT SYSTEM Sharalle Arnold, left, and Marnie Parris-Bingle, right, wrote a grant to establish support systems for students from the foster care system. An independent life skills coach will be hired to work with students starting in the fall 2017 semester. COURTESY | university COMMUNICATIONS SEE APP | A2 DEVELOPMENT GV, Consumers Energy open leadership center on Pew Campus BY KAYLA TUCKER tify skills gaps of employees within the Just some of the key skills that are NE WS@LAN THORN. COM company and then “internally certify” taught in the hub include communica them through educational programs. tion, accountability, trust, team build Grand Valley State University and “We were looking for an area that ing and ethical leadership. Michigan-based Consumers Energy could become the hub for leader “It’s a state-of-the-art facility incor have teamed up and opened a leader ship development, where our lead porating state-of-the-art technology to ship center on the university’s down ers would really be able to separate really create engaging learning experi town Grand Rapids campus. themselves, ... come to a place ences,” Mowrer said. “There’s a variety The John G. Russell Leadership where we would create a whole ex of collaborative work spaces depend Center, located on Front Avenue perience for them, where they could ing on individual or group prefer Southwest just past the L. William really focus on their own roads to ences. We have an interactive space on Seidman Center, will serve as a hub development, ” Mowrer said. the first floor. It’s called ‘Connections, ’ for Consumers Energy employees Mowrer said on average, there are which is really all about the operations I, to learn key leadership skills as they 100 to 150 employees training in the of our company and the service we work in the company. The building hub each week. The programs are provide for our customers. ” is named after a former president of cohort-based, so one group of leaders Matt McLogan, GVSU vice presi Consumers Energy. trains for a week and then comes back dent for university relations, said the “Just the overall flow of the City in four to six weeks to reevaluate. partnership between Consumers En of Grand Rapids was very attractive The programs are taught from a ergy and GVSU started three years ago to the company, and it seemed like “transition-based approach,” meaning when the idea was presented to GVSU the location to build a leadership leaders are shown how to handle lead President Thomas Haas. He then rec center,” said Stacy Mowrer, director ership at each level. ommended it to the Board of Trustees, of learning and development at the “The first critical transition for any which approved it, and construction STATE,VIDI SEP VIC A colorful, interactive walk-through display of the compa leadership center. individual is the first time they be on the hub began in 2015. The doors ny’ s mission and work educates all who come to the center, gvl | kayla tucker come a leader, so that’s what we call opened Friday, April 28, of this year. While Consumers Energy has rently a solid plan of involvement for While the new center is a hub of ac ‘transition one, ”’ Mowrer said. “We’re certainly hoping there are three technical training hubs across students, there is an internship pro tivity right now, the contract between The second critical transition is opportunities for internships (for stu the state, this is the first leadership gram available. the company and the university solidi when the leader starts to lead oth dents),” Mclxigan said. “Consumers training center in Michigan, mean “We have a pretty robust internship fies that after 40 years of being open, er leaders, and the third is when Energy has a long history of hiring ing employees will come from all over program, and I know that Grand Val Consumers Energy will sell the build the leader becomes the leader of Grand Valley graduates.” the state to train in Grand Rapids. ley students have participated in it as ing to GVSU for $1. an entire organization. While Mowrer said there isn’t cur The purpose of all the hubs is to iden well,” Mowrer said. lantljorn WWW JUNE 5, 2017 GRAND VALLEY LANTHORN A2|NEWS (WCVLNEWS & to pitch the app at the Uni want to go out to these different “This app was initially NEWS BRIEFS made to solve a problem, ” iiiiiiiMiiiiMiiimiiminiiitMiiHiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiMHiimimiMiniiiMiiiimiMiiiiiiimiii APP versity of California, Berkley, events and take advantage of CONTINUED FROM AI last month, being only one of these opportunities since their Paredes said.

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