Commission on the Status of Minorities
Meeting Minutes: September 20, 2011
Call to order
James Jackson called to order the regular meeting of the 2010-11 Commission on the Status of
Minorities at 11:05 am on September 20, 2011 in the third floor Psychology conference room in
Old Main.
Attendance
The following persons were present:
Rhonda Bradford – Division of Multicultural Services
James D. Jackson – Black Faculty Liaison Committee
R. Todd Rober – College of Visual and Performing Arts
Patricia Richter – Office of Social Equity
Thomas Robinson – Black Faculty Liaison Committee
Darlene Schoenly – College of Education
The following persons were absent:
S. Pascale Dewey – College of Liberal Arts and Sciences
Veronica Lepore – Graduate Student Representative
Rajeev Kumar – College of Business
Christine Price – Student Services and Campus Life
Louis Rodriquez – Latino Caucus
I. Approval of Minutes
Again, there was not a quorum when the meeting was first called to order, so approval of the minutes
from the two previous meetings of March 24, 2011 and April 19, 2011 were tabled.
II. Welcome
The new chair of the committee, James Jackson welcomed everyone to the first meeting of the new
semester. Darleen Schoenly will be the new representative from the College of Education, replacing
Diane King. The importance of everyone being clear on the mission of the group, T. Rober was
instructed to email the Bylaws of the Committee to everyone.
III. Developments over the Summer
A. Multicultural Center
The budget was cut by 40% (with an equal percentage also cut from the Women’s Center and the
GLBTQ Center). Two of the three staff positions were also cut. T. Robinson is concerned that this
funding cut will mean less programming scheduled, which then could be the first step toward cutting the
center completely. Added to past actions of the administration, this seems to be another systematic slight
toward minority representation and access. J. Jackson believes the CSM should have a tangible response
to this event. If we don’t do something, we are not fulfilling our mission as a committee.
Rhonda Bradford entered the meeting and gave more details about what transpired. The cuts were
announced July 26 after the retirement of Dr. Woodard. Both of the assistant director positions were
eliminated, with one of those people electing to move to student services, and the other moved to a
waiting list. While there are graduate assistants in the center, they are not allowed to do union work, and
so that leaves only the Director and a secretary left to manage the operations of the Multicultural Center.
Of the three SCUPA positions eliminated over the summer, two of those were from the center. (9
manager positions across campus were also eliminated). Eighteen student organizations meet in the
center, and one of the positions cut was tasked with developing leadership skills for students in these
organizations. Grace Hill is also now the director of both the Women’s Center and the GLBTQ Center.
There may be an attitude that we have centers on our campus that other campuses do not have, and so it
is acceptable to let resources to these center slide.
The bottom line is that while more minority students are arriving on campus, retention of these students
is falling. J. Jackson thinks it would be a good idea to invite Bernard McCree, the director of Financial
Aid Services to a future meeting that can give us a better picture of how access to financial aid impacts
the retention of students, especially minority students. T. Robinson indicated that minority student
organizations may have a difficult time getting faculty of color to be advisors because they are
overburdened with mentoring students of color on an individual basis as it is.
B. Institutional Climate Report
No prior notice was given to the CSM that the report was being released. Now that the data is available,
what information does the committee want to request from the report? We will need to make a request
through the IRB process, so we need a specific plan for what data we are asking for, and the purpose.
IV. Other matters
Le Mun Wah is coming to campus on October 5, because his visit from the spring was cancelled due to
weather. He will be making three presentations on campus that day. We need to see that funds that the
CSM promised to help pay for his appearances have been transferred.
We have so many issues that need thoughtful discussion, J. Jackson has called a two-hour strategy
meeting to determine how we can act to get date from the Climate Survey, to craft an immediate
response to the cuts to the Multicultural Center, to determine our budget, and how we should best spend
it, and determine three main goals to accomplish over the academic year. October 11, 2001 from 4-6 pm
was determined to be the best time for most of the committee members.
Adjournment
J. Jackson motions, T. Rober seconds to adjourn meeting at 11:47 am.
Minutes submitted by: R. Todd Rober
Approved: