October is full of many opportunities to reflect, remember, and celebrate. We are reminded through numerous postings, emails, newsletters, and various meetings we attend. Everything from National Coffee Day to World Mental Health Day, from World Teachers’ Day to Indigenous’ Peoples Day, from National Fine Art Appreciation Day, to Disability Pride Month, and from Filipino American History Month to LGBTQ+ Awareness Month, and numerous important faith observances that resonate with members of the MSU community.
Evidence from the research and our lived experiences clearly shows the importance of understanding what matters to others, especially to the multiple identities we hold. It is also clear that recognizing and offering praise for the accomplishments of our colleagues – large or small – helps create more inclusive and respectful work environments and an authentic sense of belonging for all. Learning effective ways to give feedback, praise and compliments to others is part of building connection, rapport, and community. It also requires paying attention in a busy world to a task well done, a meeting run smoothly, a pedagogical strategy that opened a new way of thinking, or an article shared that got you thinking in new ways. It requires looking up, listening, learning, asking questions, and really seeing the work of those around us.
MSU has many opportunities through which to offer acknowledgements of work well done and gifts of appreciation beyond even sending that nice email or Teams note, which are valued in themselves. Consider actually setting that lunch date with a colleague or sending the note about that interesting talk you attended or thanking the person who gave you a new perspective on a problem. Consider a Spartan Shout-Out or Thank an Educator posting. Nominate a colleague for awards within the university, the colleges, departments, and beyond MSU. While everything well done may not rise to inclusion in MSUToday or a college website, the “simple” accomplishments of what happens all around us all the time cumulatively make us who we are, and who we want to be as a university.