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4/9/11

Association for Diversity

The meeting took place from in Hulbert Hall 409. AFD officers and 17 AFD members were in attendance.

Communication with urban campuses as well as the phone bridge failed so several members outside of Pullman were unable to join in the discussion. We sent a note to Sheree Collins at AMS to ask what went wrong but, as of 4/20, had not heard back. We do apologize to all our members for this inconvenience.

Old Business

  1. Notes from 3/28 meeting were distributed by e-mail attachment to the members list serve, prior to the meeting. There were no suggestions for change at the meeting but if you have any questions or comments please e-mail them to AMRV at amrodriguez@wsu.edu.
  2. Update on AFD Budget: Treasurer Chio Flores stated that the Provost has assigned $15,000 to the association in State Funds geared towards 'Good and Services' particularly directed towards the development of a comprehensive diversity plan for the university. This will allow the association to spend on office supplies, travel, and other justified expenses directed towards this development. All proposals for use of these funds will need to be submitted to Lincoln James and Chio Flores who will, in turn, consult with Donna Clark from the Provost's office.
  3. Update on website: AMRV met with Mike Tate and two members of his office to discuss this development. Christy will be the web designer and manager, and Steve Nakata will take care of the creative component for AFD. We need to come up with content and context.
    • The URL is afd.wsu.edu. Right now we are in WSU Diversity We will be included in the university index.
    • They suggested using the AFW template, with elements from the General Education website (particularly for input on the 'comprehensive plan')
    • The center of the space could include a slide show of faculty and staff that actively support diversity on the various campuses, or it could be an ongoing update on activities similar to AFWs)
    • The left hand bar should have some key items:
      • About AFD (including mission statement, history)
      • Issues and Projects (we could include ongoing and future initiatives)
      • How to join
      • People (with a section for the four officers, and a section for the board members. Each with a picture and a short bio.)
      • Calendar (planned or past activities, with an active link to the minutes from meetings; current activities could be listed as a "what's new" on the right hand side.)
      • Resources (links to other campus groups; links to important information/documents)
    • The right hand bar could be the "What's new or What's Coming Up" as well as have active links of the drafts for the comprehensive plan where we invite people to submit their opinions. A timeline for these submissions (and for all efforts) could be posted here as well.
    • Mike suggested incorporating some video clips on "what is AFD" to give it some interactive pizzazz!
    • We need to appoint a dedicated person that will send any updates to Christy. AFD calls them their 'web wizards'.
    • Members suggested adding links to the University of Idaho and the Spokane campus to incorporate activities there as well.
    • Any submissions to the website will be vetted before publication to ensure that they comply with the stated mission goals of the association.
  4. Update on WSU/Pullman community relations study: Vice-president Lisa McIntyre will be the point person/liaison for AFD with the study committee (led by Dr. Douglas Epperson, dean of CLA).

All members should call her or e-mail all relevant issues/concerns/experiences that they would like to be considered or taken into consideration, and she will present them to the committee. All requests for anonymity will be respected in full.

New Business

  1. Name change for association: proposals were discussed for a more inclusive name that reflects the association's full membership (including staff and graduate students on RA/TA appointment.) There were two suggestions:
    • Association for Diversity (which would allow us to retain the current AFD acronym)
    • Association for a Diverse WSU
  2. The first choice won, so we will change our official name to Association for Diversity.
  3. Diversity concerns of CS and AP members:
    • Given that we didn't have communication with the urban sites, we would like for all CS and AP members to e-mail their concerns to Lincoln James, so they can be addressed/ integrated into the comprehensive plan.
    • In addition, we will contact the APAC group and ask them if they'd like to designate a special representative to AFD.
    • We need to address the issue of silence and fear of retribution, and any concerns shared will be treated as confidential.
    • Budget constraints are an important issue, particularly in view of absence of legal recourse to position eliminations in some cases.
    • Members suggested that faculty/staff concerns in Pullman tend to coincide but that we need to ensure that issues pertaining urban campuses and other sites be included as well.
    • A suggestion was to ask chairs to give release time to staff so they can attend AFD meetings, and to schedule some meetings at noon rather than during regular working hours.
    • The AFD wants to promote more participation by CS and AP members, and it is one of our priorities. The consensus is that the more we stand together, the stronger we are.
  4. Creation of ad hoc committees to review/develop "comprehensive plans" for the promotion of diversity: Please, continue to send your requests for participation in these committees to amrodriguez@wsu.edu. She will compile a list and submit it to the group by the first week of May. The two committees are:
    • Faculty and staff plan
    • Students plan
  5. Creation of ad hoc committee to draft "AFD Policies and Procedures": (Same as #3)
  6. Creation of ad hoc committee to organize a Diversity Summit: (Same as #3)
  7. Development of a cultural diverse calendar: Given the high cost of a commercial digital calendar, Lisa McIntyre volunteered to create our own calendar and make it accessible through the website for members' use.
  8. Other comments:
    • We will explore the opening of an AFD-specific e-mail account, and list it on the website. For now, please continue to contact specific officers directly.
    • We will check on ways to ensure anonymity of comments or issues raised by members.
    • Human Resources may be able to provide us with current WSU demographic data, and on how cuts affect those demographics. These statistics would be provided as aggregates. Lisa McIntyre volunteered to talk to the AG to discuss legality of access to the data, and other privacy issues pertaining website submissions.
    • We will send another article to WSU Today eliciting volunteers for committees. Chio Flores will explore the possibility of another all-WSU e-mail as a justified expense towards building these committees.

The meeting adjourned at 5:10 p.m.; notes taken by Ana María Rodríguez-Vivaldi.

4/9/11
Association for Diversity