Minutes
PEC/EPP Diversity Committee
Wednesday, October 8, 2014
Members in attendance: Jamaine Abidogun, Karen Engler, Ashley Leinweber, Carol Maples,
Sarah Nixon, Debra Price, Nate Quinn, Michele Smith, Steve Willis, and Rebecca Woodard;
Chair: Margaret Weaver; Guests in attendance: Gilbert Brown
Updates:
Jamaine Abidogun shared about the Nigeria Scholars Delegation and the three events on
Sept. 21, Sept. 26, and Sept. 29. The program was an outgrowth of Abidogun’s Fulbright
last year. It was made possible through a Public Affairs grant and the U.S. Embassy. The
program highlighted cross-cultural competencies, as well as Special Education and
Disability Studies. An MOA is being prepared that would bring Special Education faculty
here and develop study away opportunities for MSU faculty.
The diversity book club will begin on Oct. 16, 4:30-6. The club will be reading Enrique’s
Journey (led by Sarah Nixon). Copies of the book are available in the FCTL.
Gilbert Brown confirmed that COE will assume the duties of coordinating the Diversity
in Education for Transfer Students scholarships. He recommended that the PEU Diversity
Committee faculty members take on the duties of serving as mentors for the scholarship
recipients. Brown expressed interest in developing a proposal (to be submitted to the
President) for a modest reward package for mentors including a meal plan to dine with
recipients in the residence halls. He emphasized the need for stronger faculty leadership
within the Division for Diversity and Inclusion (DDI) because scholarships are not an
administrative responsibility: “We need to provide a seamless web of academic support
services for recipients.”
Discussion items:
Administration and Coordination of Diversity in Education Scholarships: Last year
was the first year that the Diversity in Education scholarships were separated out from the
Multicultural Leadership scholarships. The application and interview process is the same
for both of these scholarships. Students who apply for a Multicultural Leadership
scholarship and are Education majors are automatically considered for a Diversity in
Education scholarship. Both of these scholarships are coordinated through Juan Meraz’s
office and funded through a general pool of money for multicultural initiatives. Diversity
in Education scholarships for graduate students are funded through different sources: the
Graduate College and needs-based financial assistance.
Confusion was expressed about the Diversity in Education scholarship and the Diversity
in Education for Transfer Students scholarship. The PEC Diversity Committee only
conducts interviews for the Diversity in Education for Transfer Students scholarship.
Concern was voiced about having adequate oversight of the Diversity in Education
scholarship process. Sarah Nixon, Jamaine Abidogun, and Steve Willis agreed to
participate in the interviewing process for these scholarships on Feb. 21.
Recruitment of Scholarship Candidates: Currently, nothing is being done to publicize
the Diversity in Education for Transfer Students scholarship. The publicity has been
word-of-mouth at recruitment fairs. Last year, Charlotte Hardin would identify potential
candidates at Crowder and OTC and encourage them to apply. Chris Craig (in another
meeting) explained that MSU has had difficulty attracting transfer students from St.
Louis. Michele Smith, who is chairing the COE Recruitment Committee, confirmed that
nothing is done to recruit these particular students. She suggested that a brochure be
created for the Division of Education to share during recruitment fairs. A question was
raised about how students can apply for the scholarship: is the application process online
like other scholarships?
PEC/EPP Diversity Committee Membership: Discuss ensued about the need to amend
the description of the committee membership in the PEC Bylaws so that it more
accurately reflects the actual membership of the committee. Several changes were
suggested: taking out the University Equal Opportunity Officer, taking out the
requirement that all voting members on the committee be PEU members, and revising the
language regarding student representatives. Multiple questions were considered: How
many student representatives should be on the committee? Should there be a requirement
for both an undergraduate and a graduate student? Must the student organization be
devoted to historically underrepresented groups or is “from historically underrepresented
groups” a statement about the student representatives? Should we contact SGA for
nominees? Might scholarship recipients serve as the student representatives? After much
discussion, the following was drafted for consideration at our next meeting:
Membership on this committee shall include the University Equal Opportunity
Officer, the Director of the Multicultural Services Office, one representative from
each of the PEU education programs (colleges with more than one program shall
appoint at least one representative), representatives from student organizations of
historically underrepresented groups, two Diversity scholarship recipients, and
community members.
The membership of this standing committee shall consist of at least one COE
faculty PEU member and at least one PEU member from outside the COE. The
chairperson and chairperson-elect must be members of the PEU. If the
chairperson of a PEC standing committee is not a current PEC member, he or she
will become an ex-officio member of PEC without voting privileges. Each college
not represented by the chairperson or chairperson-elect must have a PEU
member from the College appointed upon consultation of the two PEC members
and the Executive Committee. All voting members must be members of the PEU.
None may hold administrative appointments.
Other Issues: Committee members were curious if anyone knew what the diversity
initiatives are in all of the departments. There seems to be a significant lack of
coordination, especially when/how/why public schools are informed of events. Can we
brainstorm recommendations on a much larger scale?