GRAND VALLEY
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EDUCATION
GV again named a ‘Best in the Midwest University’ BY MEGAN WEBSTER MWEBSTER@LANTHORN.COM
Every year, U.S. News & World Report announces its rankings of the best universities across the U.S. Among other popular Midwest colleges is Grand Valley State University, a designated “Best in the Midwest University” and a repeat recipient. According to the U.S. News website, the rankings are based on academic excellence, with hundreds of data points in different categories. Some of the rankings GVSU was awarded, which were publicly released Tuesday, Sept. 12, are as follows: No. 29 in “Regional Universities Midwest,” No. 20 in “Best Colleges for Veterans,” No. 4 in “Best Value Schools,” No. 3 in “Top Public Schools” and No. 57 in “Best Undergraduate Engineering Programs.” Lynn Blue, vice president for enrollment development at GVSU, said these designations are based on a number of different criteria gathered by a survey that is handed out to the universities. “We have to have a good graduation rate, a good retention rate; we get quite an extensive questionnaire to fill out,” Blue said. “They have some questions that they ask, and from that, they then fit that into their criteria and make their judgments.” One of the main reasons U.S. News takes the time to send out these surveys, analyze the results of each one and assign the different designations is to allow prospective families and students to do extensive research on more than 1,000 universities before making any concrete decisions. According to its website, U.S. News is a “digital news and information company that empowers people to make better, more informed decisions about important issues affecting their lives.” A lot of thought goes into making the decision of where to go to college, and these designations are meant to provide a starting point. “This particular ranking tends to look at things that students and families would think important,” Blue said. “Like, what is your retention rate? What is your graduation rate? How selective are you in the admissions process? What are the financial resources of the university? Those are the factors U.S. News uses to rank colleges.” Jodi Chycinski, director of admissions at GVSU, said this designation signifies that GVSU is doing everything it can to give quality and value to every aspect of the university. “It’s a testament to the quality of the institution,” Chycinski said. “So, it’s always wonderful when someone outside the institution recognizes the good work of the institution.” Along with the designations GVSU received, U.S. News also wrote an overview of the university, highlighting different aspects that make GVSU a top contender for prospective students as they begin their research into post-secondary education. This overview includes information such as current tuition rates, total enrollment, a description of the emphasis on student organizations, highlights of the athletic program and the university’s efforts in sustainability. One excerpt from the website reads, “Although it is one of America’s 100 largest universities in terms of enrollment, Grand Valley strives to make a liberal education its foundation for all of its academic programs.” U.S. News also assigns rankings in the categories of “Most Innovative Schools,” “Economic Diversity,” “Most International students” and “A-plus Schools for B Students,” and it also ranks the top schools in the nation on their business and engineering programs. Each month, more than 30 million people visit the U.S. News website for research of all types.
RANKINGS: GVSU Cook-DeVos Center for Health Sciences. GVL | EMILY FRYE
CREATING RESOLUTIONS: GVSU student senate members take a break during their Thursday, Sept. 14, general assembly. During the meeting, student senators discussed the resolution to recognize Indigenous Peoples Day, which calls on GVSU administration to formally recognize the proposed holiday. GVL | MATT READ
GV student senators debate Indigenous Peoples Day resolution ahead of vote Senators in favor of replacing Columbus Day met with resistance BY JOSHUA VISSERS JVISSERS@LANTHORN.COM
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rand Valley State University’s student senate discussed the resolution to recognize Indigenous Peoples Day at the Thursday, Sept. 14, general assembly in preparation to vote on the topic at this week’s meeting. The proposed resolution calls for the administration to formally recognize Indigenous Peoples Day in its calendars, communications and observances, instead of Columbus Day, which takes place Monday, Oct. 9. “I’m so blown away right now,” said student senator Joe Cadreau
after the meeting. The resolution, which he proposed, faced resistance he wasn’t expecting. During the discussion, student senator Brian Branham, who works in James H. Zumberge Hall, questioned the value of the resolution, pointing out that Columbus Day isn’t marked on any official GVSU calendars. “The day exists federally, and that cannot be changed by us,” he said. Cadreau pointed to a set of GVSU-branded planners he brought to the meeting. “You can look at them: Every one of them has Columbus Day,” he said. “I should not be reminded of a genocide every year when I go to fill my planner out.”
“The companies that created those calendars are not funded by the university,” Branham countered. A.J. Carter, a freshman who has been appointed to the senate but has yet to be sworn in, suggested that instead of asking for administrative recognition, the senate could focus on awareness. “I think it would be better to focus our energy on something that’s achievable,” he said. The discussion was ended by procedure after about 30 minutes. The resolution will be up for a vote at the student senate general assembly Thursday, Sept. 21, in the Pere Marquette Room of the Kirkhof Center. “I’m going to try and get as many students here as possible,”
Cadreau said. Outside of the general assembly meeting, Ethan Schafer, in his second term as a student senator, is working with GVSU’s Office of Sustainability Practices to clean up a large pile of scrap metal near the Grand Ravines North County Park, which might be creating a pollution problem. “There’s standing pools of rust,” Schafer said. They’re working to get samples of the soil in the ravines to see how bad the pollution might be and trying to get a grant for funding for the project. Schafer would like to see the ravines preserved. “That’s something very unique to Grand Valley,” he said.
INNOVATION
NEW DEVELOPMENTS: GVSU students Ruth Ott and Natalie Loewengruber work at the Knowledge Market in the Mary Idema Pew Library Sunday, Sept. 17. Kyle Felker, digital initiatives librarian at GVSU, developed an app that allows students to lean more about library resources and have fun while doing it. GVL | EMILY FRYE
‘Library Quest’ app set to guide students through library services BY THERESA MUELLER TMUELLER@LANTHORN.COM
The Grand Valley State University libraries department has a multitude of services to offer for the enhancement of students’ academic experiences. Still, many students do not fully utilize these resources. To address students’ lack of library service use, Kyle Felker, digital initiatives librarian at GVSU, set out on a “quest” to develop an app
that would enable students to learn more about library resources and have fun while doing it. A pilot for the “Library Quest” app was launched in 2012, after Felker and university libraries staff collaborated with an outside source, YetiCGI, to complete the coding. “First, we were about to open a new $65 million library building, and we needed ways to take advantage of the upsurge of interest we knew this would create,” Felker wrote in a blog
post following the app launch. “How could we get people curious about the building to learn more about our services and to strengthen that into a connection with us?” Approximately 500 to 600 students used the app after its initial launch. After the first play period, it was time to reassess and make necessary improvements. The app accomplished its goal of getting students more acquainted with library resources. However,
many student users of the pilot happened to be in junior and senior standing, in which case, the demand for library services among then-users didn’t last long. “I only just heard about Library Quest 2.0 this fall, but I wish I would have known about it earlier,” said Sabrina Williams, GVSU senior. “I feel like there are a lot of (library) services SEE APP | A2