Events, Training, Talks, Workshops, etc.
Faculty & Staff Events
Part I of CSU’s DEI Foundations. In this training you’ll learn CSU’s definitions of diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI); discuss why pursuing DEI is a best practice for any organization; and practice listening and storytelling as skillsets for understanding how we can better support our peers. Register through CSU’s training site.
Thursday, September 22, 2022 1:00 pm – 3:00 pm
Monday, October 31, 2022 10:00 am – 12:00 pm
Wednesday, November 30, 2022 9:00 am – 11:00 am
Part II of CSU’s DEI Foundations. This interactive session will explore unconscious bias: what it is, how it forms, how it can affect ourselves and our peers, and what we can do to mitigate our own unconscious biases moving forward. Register through CSU’s training site.
Thursday, September 29, 2022 1:00 pm – 3:00 pm
Monday, November 7, 2022 10:00 am – 12:00 pm
Wednesday, December 14, 2022 9:00 am – 11:00 am
Part III of CSU’s DEI Foundations. In this session participants will study the cycle of socialization, investigating how they came to hold certain beliefs about different populations through messages from family, media, and more. Participants will also discuss which social identity groups they are part of and how being a member of these groups impacts their lives. Register through CSU’s training site.
Thursday, October 13, 2022 1:00 pm – 3:00 pm
Wednesday, January 25, 2023 9:00 am – 11:00 am
Part IV of CSU’s DEI Foundations. Building on the content from Social Identities, participants will interrogate how being a member of various social identity groups exposes different people to systems of oppression, benefiting some groups while harming others. Participants will explore the three levels of inequalities: individual, institutional, and structural. Register through CSU’s training site.
Thursday, October 27, 2022 1:00 pm – 3:00 pm
Wednesday, February 1, 2023 9:00 am – 11:00 am
Part V of CSU’s DEI Foundations. In this session participants will learn how to include more inclusive language in their day to day lives, as well as come to a better understanding of what microaggressions are and how we can work to learn more about and limit them in our interactions with others. Register through CSU’s training site.
Thursday, November 10, 2022 1:00 pm – 3:00 pm
Wednesday, February 15, 2023 9:00 am – 11:00 am
Part VI of CSU’s DEI Foundations. In this culminating session of the Creating Inclusive Excellence program, participants will use everything they have learned in previous classes about microaggressions, unconscious bias, identity, and oppression to make an action plan for how to move forward incorporating these learnings into their daily lives, how to keep learning, and others tools for intervening in problematic situations. Register through CSU’s training site.
Thursday, November 17, 2022 1:00 pm – 3:00 pm
Wednesday, March 1, 2023 9:00 am – 11:00 am
Student Events
In the meantime, consider signing up for the Employee DEI trainings which are open to graduate students and staff:
Employee DEI Trainings
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Resources
CSU Resources
- Bias Reporting || Colorado State University
- Employee DEI Trainings || Office of Inclusive Excellence
- Educate Yourself Blog || Office of Inclusive Excellence
- DEI Contacts || Walter Scott, Jr. College of Engineering
- Diversity, Inclusion, and Belonging Module for All Students || Race, Bias, and Equity Initiative @ CSU
- ENGAGE Series || Walter Scott, Jr. College of Engineering
- Student Resources || Walter Scott, Jr. College of Engineering
Accessibility
Higher Ed
- Code-Switching and Assimilation in STEM Culture || Annareli Morales, Curtis L. Walker, Dereka L. Carroll-Smith, Melissa A. Burt
- NSF-Funded Initiatives Promotes Diversity within STEM Faculty Ranks || Diverse Education
- Higher Ed's Most Common Rationale for Diversity Favors White Students More than Black || Diverse Issues in Higher Education
- Ally to Accomplice || Pitt Libraries
- New Approaches to STEM Engage Traditionally Underrepresented Students || Diverse Education
- Decolonizing our Classroom Starts with Us || PBS Teachers Lounge
- Two Hispanic brothers wanted to go to college in Colorado. Here's why only one made it. || Chalkbeat
Mentoring Resources
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2021-2022 Departmental Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Strategic Plan
The SE Department’s DEI committee has four working groups, each with the task to focus on an area of DEI progress that aligns with WSCOE and University-level goals. The current working groups are:
- Faculty Hiring and Recruitment: Chrissy Charny, Mary Gomez, Jim Cale, Steve Simske, Steve Conrad
- Department Climate: Cailin Simpson, Hugh Nguyen, Erika Miller, Katharyn Peterman
- Staff/Faculty/Student Cultural Competency: Ingrid Bridge, Dan Herber, Marie Vans
- Outreach-Engagement: Cailin Simpson, Tom Bradley, Katharyn Peterman
Working Group Goals
Engage Systems Engineering faculty and staff in intentional efforts to increase recruitment and hiring of individuals from groups underrepresented in the Engineering field.
AY22 GOAL 1: Continue in our understanding of faculty, staff, and student perception of department climate.
GOAL 1a: More specifically, learn about any barriers to community or success our first semester students are facing so we can change things proactively instead of reactively.
GOAL 1b: Separate exit surveys into on-campus and online students for a clearer picture of the differences in student experiences.
AY22 GOAL 2: Continue and develop new opportunities for student-student connection and faculty-student connection.
AY22 GOAL 3: Implement literature-based best practices for fostering community within distance education classrooms, mentoring, and advising.
Increase cultural competency of all Systems Engineering (SE) faculty, staff, and students to promote and support an inclusive department/research/academic climate with a theme this year of developing an understanding of the importance and potential for incorporating DEI-focused changes in the classroom.
The goal for AY21-22 is to meaningfully engage with new organizations that are not well represented in the Systems Engineering department.
Committee Members
DEI Committee Members
DEI Student Sub-Committee Members
- Hugh Nguyen (co-chair) – Distance D.Eng.
- Cailin Simpson (co-chair) – Distance Ph.D.
- Anicet Adjahossou – Distance Ph.D.
- Anmar Al Rikabi – Distance Ph.D.
- Ibtasam Arshad – Distance Cert.
- Basheer Bristow – Distance Ph.D.
- Ahmed Elhadeedy – Distance Ph.D.
- Robert Hawkes – Distance M.S.
- Tim Kemp – M.S.
- Jayesh Narsinghani – M.S.
- Frank Nguyen – Distance Ph.D.
- Raymond Paulson – Distance Ph.D.
- Angie Robinson – Ph.D.
- Aleksandra Scalco – Distance Ph.D.
- Gautham Sekar – M.S.
- Vanja Vlajnic – Distance Ph.D.
- Arthur Worlobah – Distance Ph.D.
DEI Student Sub-Committee Member Profiles
Hugh Nguyen (co-chair)
Current Residence: San Diego, CA
Education: B.S. Electrical Engineering, UCSD; M.S. Electrical Engineering (SDSU); M.S. Systems Engineering (CSU)
Employment: 22 years in engineering (10 years in private sector, 12 years in Government)
Previous DEI experience: Asian and Vietnamese Student Associations at UCSD and SDSU; student member in SDSU Admission Advisory Committee; chaired the Culture Advisory Board at Northrop Grumman; member of First Line Supervisor Council at Naval Information Warfare Center Pacific
Hobbies: Gardening, fixing stuffs, hiking, traveling
Cailin Simpson (co-chair)
Current Residence: Minneapolis, MN
Discovering Systems @ CSU: I met Dr. Ron Sega through networking and he introduced me to the program and Dr. Simske.
Why a Ph.D.? I have always enjoyed solving problems by looking at the “big picture” and how things should work together to achieve the “big picture” – I had no idea that is what SE was. But once I found out, I was hooked!
DEI: I am passionate about representation of people that come from different backgrounds in engineering. It is important to have true diversity of thought when solving the world’s most intricate problems.
Hobbies: I love spending time with my partner and dogs by doing activities outdoor like hiking, canoeing, and sailing.
Anicet Adjahossou
Current Residence: Denver, CO
Discovering Systems @ CSU: I attended a UN conference in Seattle Lake City where I learned about many discoveries, leading to solutions to global challenges in infrastructure, water, health, energy and the environment, made at the CSU, and then I contacted Professor Neil who introduced me to the CSU’s SE Department.
Why a Ph.D.? What inspired me to pursue the Ph.D. program at CSU is to learn about new applications of systemic processes in society that improve the world we live in.
DEI: What motivated me to be a part of the DEI student committee is to contribute to creating environments conducive to feedback, supporting diversity and being open to student humanity. Volunteering my time to help others in need, enriching diversity and inclusion in order to reduce redundancy and conflicting thinking within the community.
Employment: I work in UN humanitarian operations and help refugees and people in need. In addition, humor, telling stories of the great kings of Africa and their contributions to the development of the continent.
Frank Nguyen
Current Residence: Orange County, Southern California
Why a Ph.D.? What inspired me to pursue the Ph.D. program at CSU is the need to integrate the multiple disciplines into a unique system to solve the complex problems.
DEI: What motivated me to be a part of the DEI student committee is because of the great value of diverse team that everybody can share and learn from each other in order to grow stronger together.
Hobbies: I play ping-pong and guitar at home when I do have free time.
Aleksandra Scalco
Current Residence: Charleston, SC
Discovering Systems @ CSU: Professional mentors introduced me to the CSU SE department
Why a Ph.D.? What inspired me to pursue the Ph.D. program at CSU is the need to solve a real-world problem.
DEI: What motivated me to be a part of the DEI student committee is a natural extension of the joy of witnessing and supporting everyone in realizing their individual gifts, particularly when it comes to STEM (but whatever they chose to pursue in life). I am also a member of the Executive Diversity Council (EDC) at my workplace.
Mentorships: I actively mentor young adults (high school – college) who are developing their own life’s journey and careers. This is either by formal internships or actively engaged (e.g. weekly touch points by telephone, email, or Zoom meetings).