Faculty Diversity Committee Minutes
January 25, 2001
Members present: Kris Bartanen, Bernie Bates, David Droge, Rosa Beth Gibson, Maegan Parker,
Bev Pierson, Mike Valentine, Carrie Washburn.
Guest: Jim Davis
The meeting was called to order at 2:00 PM by David Droge, Chair.
The Minutes for the meeting of December 1 were approved.
Announcements and reports:
1. Davis made several announcements:
On February 20, at 7:30, there will be a discussion on campus entitled "Peace and a New
Jerusalem." This program is being organized by George Tomlin from Occupational
Therapy.
On February 22, Judith Kay (Religion) is bringing Sunny Jacobs to campus to speak on
the death penalty.
The "Vagina Monologues" is scheduled for February 14 and 17.
February is Black History Month. The posters will be out soon.
2. Bartanen reported that new signs have been made to be placed in front of the memorial cherry
trees that honor the students who were taken from the University and interned in February 1942.
The signs will be up the week of February 19, and there possibly will be one or more events on
the topic.
3. Gibson announced that President Pierce has asked Gibson and Kim Bobby to serve on a
committee hosted by Univ. of Washington/Tacoma on the topic of diversity. Gibson will keep the
FDC posted on the committee's activities and discussions.
Business of the day:
Faculty Telephoning Recruiting Project: Valentine reported that faculty callers are finding that
because prospective students are not expecting the calls, the students seem to be at a loss about
what to ask or discuss with the faculty member.
The committee suggests that faculty callers should be reassured that these cold" calls function at
minimum to keep the UPS name in front of prospective students and that a slight yield is to be
expected.
However, the committee believes that the project can be made more effective in view of the
positive effect faculty calls can have. In light of the considerable value of faculty involvement in
recruiting at this level, the committee thinks that a system should be devised that maximizes the
potential of these calls. Two related suggestions were forthcoming: 1) Put a question on the
initial card students send in to the university on which they indicate if they would like a call from a
faculty member; and/or 2) Send postcards to students who will be called letting them know the
call is coming. A further refinement of #2 is to give the faculty the postcards and let them send
them to the students they will definitely be calling. The personal message on the postcard will be
very effective.
Valentine will meet with the admission staff member assigned to this project and convey the
FDC's suggestions. Droge will draft a thank you letter to the faculty callers. This letter will be
signed both by Droge as chair of FDC and by George Mills, VP for Enrollment.
Diversity Statement: The subcommittee reported that they have indeed met and will be ready to
bring the statement to the full committee at the next FDC meeting (February 8). The statement
will center on 3 or 4 key words with a small amount of explanatory text for each key word. The
key words (very tentative) are Acknowledge, Accept, Aspire, Achieve.
Disability Awareness Forum: After some discussion about the best times of day and best days
of the week, the committee decided to hold the forum on Wednesday March 24 at 4:00.
The discussion centered on the purpose of the forum, the type of speakers, the intended
audience, and ways to promote the event and to provide information at the event.
The focus for this forum will be "accessibility." Both John Hickey, Director of Business Services
(for facilities questions) and Ivey West the Disabilities Services Coordinator will be invited to be
on the panel. In addition, the panel will include a moderator and possibly a speaker from OTPT.
People will be invited to speak of their own experiences either as part of the panel and/or during
an open mic for that purpose.
The discussion on the purpose of the forum generated much discussion. The committee agreed
that: 1) The stated purpose is to increase awareness on the campus of accessibility issues,
including "hidden barriers." 2) The audience is the entire campus, not specific groups.
It was suggested that announcements of the event go to faculty, student, and staff senates. At
the event itself, there will be tables with literature. Droge will get in contact with TACID; Valentine
with Ivey West, and Gibson will check out various sources of information from Human Resources.
The subcommittee is still looking for input. Committee members are invited to email Droge
(droge@ups.edu) with further suggestions.
Carrie will check on the possibility of the Associate Dean budget funding the refreshments.
Student Representatives on FDC: Droge will contact Ryan Mello to request a second student
representative for Spring term.
Other Business: Toward the end of the hour, there was discussion about uneasiness on the
part of some in the campus community about events and word usage connected to the "Vagina
Monologues." Bartanen plans to arrange for an open discussion soon to air the issues.
The meeting was adjourned at 2:00.
Respectfully submitted,
Carrie Washburn