Multicultural Education Work Group

Group Members

Dr. Victoria Haynes - Associate Dean for Multicultural Education (Chair)

Lynn Mad Plume, M.P.H. - Coordinator

As an Indigenous woman I have witnessed firsthand the importance of addressing health inequity for historically underrepresented populations. I grew up on the Blackfeet Reservation and I received all of my healthcare from the Indian Health Service located in my community. I grew up with only one understanding of what healthcare looked like for a person like myself. Today, I have access to a range of services that I never knew existed. It has been an eye-opening journey through the visible inequities that exist within our healthcare systems. Ensuring that we include all peoples in the shaping of our healthcare system allows us to create accessible and quality care for all peoples.

Collette Adamsen, Ph.D., M.P.A. - UND Center for Rural Health

Growing up on the reservation, I witnessed first-hand the health disparities my community faced and how that impacted our Tribal members. These experiences have driven me to dedicate myself to finding ways to address the needs and improve the health of our Indigenous populations. I am very passionate about my work and it is essential to have the support within the organization to accomplish these goals in a meaningful way. By committing to an environment that includes multicultural training allows for diverse voices to be heard and included, which greatly improves the culture, work ethic, and morale of the people within the organization.

Anne Haskins, Ph.D., OTR/L - Department of Occupational Therapy

Our students' future clients-patients will come to them with layers and layers of unique differences and a distinctive "sameness" that affects each person, each context, each task, and each moment in history and the present. Collectively, those differences and likenesses are woven into each being’s actions and views, in the way beings engage in life, make meaning, and connect with others. Diversity is the ultimate teacher for life-long learning, growth, and connection. Within my role as a faculty member at the University of North Dakota and in the Occupational Therapy Program, I seek to contribute to improving health outcomes for all populations through course and curriculum design, person-centered approaches to communication, and building communities of learning and occupational engagement that foster core principles of beneficence for all beings.

Melanie Nadeau, Ph.D., M.P.H. - Department of Population Health

As a Native woman from the Turtle Mountain Band of Chippewa Indians, I feel it is important to be part of the UND campus community’s efforts to create a more equitable campus. One of the goals of UND’s overall strategic plan is designed to foster a welcoming, safe, and inclusive campus climate. As a UND alumna from the 1990s, it is great to be actively engaged in these efforts to address differences among diverse and underrepresented populations on campus. Increasing our understanding of diversity is an active process that requires attention at multiple levels. UND is doing a great job at engaging stakeholders and supporting change to promote healthy people, healthy communities, and overall success of present and future generations. I’m excited to continue being a part of these conversations, working with faculty and students to support and enhance the living, learning, and working environment of every member of our UND community.

Karen Peterson, M.S., MT (ASCP) - Department of Medical Laboratory Sciences

In my role clinical education coordinator for the Medical Laboratory Science program at the University of North Dakota I am committed to promoting the inclusion of students and their experiences and beliefs in their journey of becoming a health care professional. The commitment to inclusion will provide the compassion and understanding necessary to provide quality health care for each patient’s individual needs.

Nicole Redvers, N.D., M.P.H. - Department of Family & Community Medicine

I am a member of the Deninu K’ue First Nation located within northern Canada, and have been pleased to see the University of North Dakota’s School of Medicine & Health Sciences put needed effort into the area of multicultural education. Educational institutions have a deep responsibility to ensure that everyone is welcome and feel safe to learn and grow as individuals and communities. There is much work to be done; however, I am confident that we are opening up the right spaces for not only continuing this important conversation, but also expecting and ensuring action.

Mindy Staveteig, PA-C - Department of Physician Assistant Studies

Diversity means learning, sharing, and respecting our similarities and differences in all aspects of what makes us individuals. This is an opportunity to grow, connect, and begin to understand one another with the goal of fostering cultural competency in both our personal and professional lives. As a faculty member at the University of North Dakota, I support and strive to integrate multicultural education in various capacities within the Department of Physician Assistant Studies. Consequently, the learning and relationships that develop promote the overall well-being of the profession, our students, our patients, and our communities.

Nolan Potter, Instructor/Assistant Athletic Trainer - Department of Sports Medicine

Multicultural education is important to me because not every patient is the same. It is important for unique individuals to bring different views and experiences into the world. My goal is to be able to spread the word on the importance of such differences in the treatment of athletes of all types.