WASFAA Ethnic Diversity Action Committee
Conference Call Meeting Minutes
July 9, 2015 2 p.m. PDT
1. Check in
 In attendance: Helen, Jenna, Rachel, Jodie, Dewayne, Robbie
 Who are we and what brought us to EDAC? This could be the focus
of the next quarterly newsletter article.
o Follow-up request: please send a brief blurb about yourself
and a photo (optional) for next newsletter.
2. Report back from EC Meeting
 Request from EC to present a recommendation on whether to
broaden EDAC’s scope in the future
o This is a complex topic we should continue to discuss and
consider in the coming months before making a formal
recommendation
o EDAC is included in both WASFAA’s Policies & Procedures and
in its Bylaws. While the EC can approve changes to the P&P
manual, a change to the bylaws would need to be approved
by the membership. Therefore, EDAC is in the position of
making a recommendation; we don’t have the authority to
make changes to EDAC that would impact the P&P and/or the
bylaws without appropriate approvals.
3. Follow up on action items from last meeting
 What other regional associations are doing
o Helen did some research into other regional associations. All
but SWASFAA included some sort of a diversity committee
with a variety of purposes and responsibilities.
 EASFAA has a Multicultural Diversity Committee
tasked with supporting minority financial aid
administrators, assisting multiculturally diverse
students, and sensitizing the financial aid community
to multicultural diversity issues in higher education.
 MASFAA has a Diversity and Inclusion Committee that
provides direction to its President, EC, and association
on improving programs and policies to enhance and
celebrate diversity, while also making
recommendations to encourage and support diversity
initiatives.
 RMASFAA has a Diversity and Multicultural Initiatives
Committee that explores issues of importance to the
multicultural community and addresses the needs of
RMASFAA’s diverse membership.


SASFAA has a Global Issues Committee that “will
pursue the multifarious focuses of enhancing the
inclusivity of its membership to reflect the
demographics of the student population it serves; will
serve as the diversity subject matter leader and nexus
for other SASFAA committees, and member state
committees with similar focuses, and will pursue these
goals to ensure the best inclusive financial aid
practices to meet the nation’s goal of graduating the
most college students in the world by the year 2020.”
Questions to include on future scholarship applications: we will
discuss this by email.
4. To-do items
 Present a session at the Annual Conference—ideas:
o Include content above and beyond only ethnic diversity
o Tips for supporting students
o Social time/reception
o Supporting underrepresented staff members
o Diversity recruitment of staff and students
 Provide an article for each WASFAA newsletter
o Helen will continue writing articles for each newsletter, but
also invites participation from other committee members who
are interested in writing as well
 Survey: Helen will send this out after the WASFAA newsletter comes
out. A list of questions/topics for the survey was included in the
minutes from the June 11th meeting. Please send any additional
survey questions you think should be included to the group as soon as
possible.
 Produce a promotional publication about EDAC and scholarship
opportunities
o Leo previously offered to help with this project.
5. Other discussion items
 Reviewed WASFAA EDAC purpose and responsibilities in P&P
o The list is pretty extensive and reflects a number of duties
that probably haven’t been performed in many years, if
ever. Helen will follow up with WASFAA members who
have longer experience with EDAC for feedback.
 Jodie volunteered to review other states’ diversity committees
within the WASFAA region and share this information at our next
phone information.