September 10, 2018

In attendance: Fantasy Lozada, Amanda Silvester, Jared Keeley, Nao Hagiwara, Jeremy Barsell, Stephanie Romo, Christina Barnett, Bryce McLeod, Rachel Boutte, Jennifer Joy-Gaba, Jean Corcoran

 

  • Speaker Series
      1. Nao Hagiwara drafted schedule and budget for speaker series
      2. Contact MSG and see if we are able to secure “I’m Psyched” program for 2019
      3. Will have to coordinate with Corey & Christian about booking space for speaker series events.
      4. Salmawit suggested the use of Andre Norman to bring him to speak and have a meet and greet afterward
        1. $500 honorarium and $200 refreshment budget proposed for initial event
        2. Nao and others will inquire about speaker fees, schedule, and general message of his talk
        3. Plan B: Do an open dialogue with students and faculty
          1. Introduction of committee members
          2. Introduce our anonymous feedback form
          3. Field questions about what they would like from us in the future
      5. How to encourage attendance
        1. Call out attendance positively in faculty and student evaluations
        2. Be more personal with invitations by requesting RSVP and engaging
        3. Get social media and departmental advertisement rolling as soon as possible
  • Student Survey
    1. Student Concerns
      1. Students calling for more representative diversity
      2. Lack of awareness of how to report difficulties or how to get support
      3. How to communicate
      4. Opportunities for student-faculty discussions in less formal ways
      5. How to mediate student-to-student conflict
      6. Fear of speaking up in classroom settings (lack of faculty engagement when conversation becomes challenging)
      7. Clear acknowledgement on sociopolitical climate
    2. Possible Action Items
      1. Student speakers or perspectives series or newsletter/blog
      2. Film series/documentary series with discussion afterward
      3. Make Google form more visible
      4. Ombudspersons Corey & Beth Heller
        1. More focus on sending that information out
      5. Diversity Office Hours
      6. Providing guidance on having difficult discussions in classrooms with internal or outside training
      7. Providing different interaction methods
      8. Timely statements and newsletter spotlight
  • Action Items Agreed Upon to Enact
    1. Diversity Committee Newsletter
    1. Amanda, Bryce, Stephanie, Jennifer, Christina–Subcommittee to be merged with Communications Subcommittee
    2. Will discuss current events, provide introduction to diversity committee members, introduction to our mission, and link to resources such as Google Form for anonymous feedback
  2. Engage faculty in how to deal with difficult conversations in the classroom
  3. Hosting Event with Student & Faculty that encourage social interaction
    1. Game Night
    2. Documentary & discussion film series
    3. Creation of new Subcommittee: Social Engagement Subcommittee: Rachel, Jared, Jeremy, Fantasy volunteered
  4. Committee Office Hours
    1. Meet at a neutral safe space, just to hear and listen in a small group on individually
    2. Student-faculty pair and will be announced on newsletter during first publishing
  5. Current Event Statements
    1. Discussed revisiting guidelines for speaking on current events
    2. Addressed challenges of getting out statements in a timely manner, how to craft them efficiently, and how to expeditiously get department approval for these statements
      1. For now, we will continue our current process, but continue to work on alternate avenues to foster communication and solicit feedback

 

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