Diversity Action Council 2003-2004
Meeting Summaries

Meeting Summaries 2000-2003

Diversity Action Council Meeting - October 15, 2003

Attendees: Kofi Agorsah & Burt Christopherson (Co-Chairs), Carol Morgaine (FIRD), Elaine Cohn, Agnes Hoffman, Jon Joiner, Veda Kindle, Devorah Lieberman, Polly Livingston, Dalton Miller-Jones, Ed Washington, Karen Abbott Yelle, Shelly Bird (support)

1. DAC Goals, Objectives & Tasks for 2003-2004 as outlined at the DAC Retreat on June 12, 2003.

In order to meet these goals effectively and make the best use of the monthly DAC meetings, subcommittees will be formed for each goal.
Each subcommittee will work on their particular goal and a point person will give updates at each DAC meeting.
The following people volunteered to be on a subcommittee and/or be the point person (at the DAC Retreat or this DAC meeting) or were nominated if they were unable to attend (click here for a complete DAC 03-04 Goal list including possible actions):

GOAL #1: Encourage the Deans to integrate diversity into their respective schools/colleges/units/programs so that diversity can be incorporated as part of their annual goals and support their efforts.
- Point Person: Devorah
- Subcommittee: Gabi & Priya
GOAL #2: Increase the visibility of the Diversity Hiring Resource Team
- Point Person: Elaine
- Subcommittee: Burt, Kofi, Polly, Elaine, Jon, April, Devorah, Karen
- The Connections Group would like to work on involving people of color in the beginning of the search process (i.e. a diverse search committee=Goal #2) and during the interviewing process (i.e. meet the candidates=Goal #3). Therefore, they would like to have the same subcommittee for Goals #2 & #3 but have different point people to report out at the DAC meetings.
GOAL #3: Foster early and ongoing relationships/contact with NEW faculty and staff of color.
- Point Person: April
- Subcommittee: same as Goal #2
GOAL #4: Prepare and post a definition of diversity to the President's Corner (website).
- Point Person: April (since she’s currently working on a definition for Student Affairs)
- Subcommittee - Reiko, April, Devorah
GOAL #5: Develop a communication plan for spreading information about DAC activities.
- Point person & subcommittee: Carol & the Initiatives’ Assistant (via the DAC Newsletter & DLN)
GOAL #6: Continue and improve Educational Diversity Events (Focus on Diversity Series and Film Festival)
- Point Person: Chuck
- Subcommittee - Devorah, Chuck, Burt, Ed, Polly, Elaine, Jon
- We need to work on promoting events to faculty as something they can incorporate into their syllabus.
- We need to define what we mean by “improve” – does it refer to content, attendance, impact – and then further develop the event evaluation form.
GOAL #7: Support and encourage growth of CONNECTIONS
- Point Person: Reiko
- Subcommittee - April, Reiko, Melissa P., Veda, Jon
GOAL #8: Ensure that the campus is aware that DAC meetings are open to all who wish to attend.
- Point person & subcommittee: Carol & the Initiatives’ Assistant (through the DLN)
- The invitation should say that the last 20 minutes of the DAC meetings are open to all (attendance & for comment)
GOAL #9: Implement and support pre-college programs.
- Point Person: Agnes,
- Subcommittee: Reiko, Jon, Carol, Ed, Yves & Paulette and selected students
- Agnes would like suggestions on possible subcommittee student members or people from the community (Urban League, OCHA, PPS)
- Possible faculty members should be from different areas such as the sciences – Dalton will forward Agnes some suggestions
GOAL #10: Continue to co-sponsor diversity events.
- Point Person: Polly
- Subcommittee: Elaine, Karen, Rose & Tonatzin (sp?) from Student Affairs
GOAL #11: Continue the distribution of student & faculty minigrants and improve the selection criteria.
- Point Person: Devorah & the Initiatives’ Assistant
- Subcommittee: Polly, Jon, Burt/Kofi
GOAL #12: Implement measurable criteria to assess DAC activities and events.
- Point Person: Masami
- Subcommittee: Devorah, Dalton (via Psych GAs assistance), Jon, Olivia
- This goal is related to Goal #6 where it indicated that we would like to improve our events / measure the impact on the institution
GOAL #13: Celebrate DAC accomplishments, foster community partnerships and promote DAC services.
- Point Person: Devorah, Burt & Gil (are going to meet with Development on 11/10)
- Subcommittee: Ed, Veda, Polly, Karen, Elaine
GOAL #14: Support the translation of recruitment materials into appropriate languages. - In progress. Materials should be available Fall 2003
GOAL #15: Work with the Grant's office to ensure that diversity is a component in all appropriate grant applications.
- In progress: Devorah will speak with Bill Feyerherm about attending the Nov. or Dec. DAC Mtg

2. Other announcements & updates

DAC Banner – Jon brought a Diversity Action Council banner to the meeting that was created as part of The Party in the Park event cosponsored by the DAC.
- The DAC members will like to sign it at the next DAC meeting as an expression of commitment to diversity at PSU. We would then like to have others sign it at various events (i.e. New Faculty Orientation)
Diversity Liaison Network – The DLN will be basically online this year and Carol will continue to send info to them via the DLN listserv so they can share the info with their areas.
Diversity Newsletter will be published near the end of the quarter – send info/ideas to Carol
Diversity Minigrants 03-04 – Both the Faculty/Staff and the Student Group grant applications are due 11/3
03-04 Diversity Events
- Hewitt Collection – Ed Washington is the Diversity Initiative representative on the PSU planning committee.
  - The collection was brought to Portland by a community group and will be at PSU’s Littman Gallery for two months from the beginning of February through March.
  - They will need a lot of volunteers to be guides for the collection. As the planning proceeds, Ed will give more info on how this important event will be organized.
- Special Connections on 11/13/03 is an event where juniors and seniors of color are invited to learn more about attending graduate school at PSU.
  - There will be representatives from each unit/college and the Student Affairs areas.
  - There will also be a graduate student panel comprised of a graduate student of color from each unit/college and they will talk about what it’s like for a student of color to attend graduate school at PSU.
- Dr. Robert Guthrie is speaking at PSU on 10/31 about “The Historical Contributions of African American Psychologists” – Dalton will send info to Carol to distribute via the DLN and DAC listservs.
- This year’s Focus on Diversity Series was coordinated by a subcommittee of the DAC and sponsored by both the DAC and the International Action Council. The quarterly themes include: Native American Tradition and Culture, Japanese-U.S. Relations, and Caribbean Culture.
- This year, the Diversity Film Fest is part of the Global Village program in the Resident Halls. There will be one film a month shown in the halls and students will be able to earn one credit after submitting a reflective paper. Priya Kapoor is the faculty of record and two graduate students will facilitate the discussions and evaluate the papers.

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Diversity Action Council 2003-2004 Meeting Summaries

Diversity Action Council 2003-2004
Meeting Summaries