COSUMNES RIVER COLLEGE
Cultural Competence and Equity Committee
Proposed Itinerary
December 9, 2010
1:00 – 2:30 PM in LRC 125
1. Greetings and welcome – Kathryn greeted Winnie LaNier, Rochelle Perez, Chris Impinna,
Christina Alvarado, Bach Le and Kathy McLain. The minutes were approved by consensus.
2. Cultural Events Proposal update – Kathryn indicated that the subcommittee had approved
the Black History Month proposal without change and had received and approved an
amended Native American Gathering proposal. Women’s History Month proposal is under
review.
3. Book Sale – Kathy indicated that the book sale had raised almost $800 and that the account
has a total of $12,000. The committee concurred that we needed to develop and advertise
a process by which people could access these funds. It was suggested that the foundation
board be involved in this process.
4. Discussion of the draft Cultural Competence statement. The committee discussed the
amended statement. Several edits were identified, resulting in the following working
definition.
Definition of Cultural Competence
Culture implies an integrated pattern of collective behavior, including habits, customs, values,
beliefs, and institutions. Cultural competence is an ongoing process of increasing proficiency in
the ability to assess and revise individual and organizational responses as a result of an
expanded understanding of culture. Proficiency describes the ability to respect and value each
person as a unique integration of their experiences and ways of seeing the world. Proficiency is
associated with attributes, knowledge and skills that enable individuals and organizations to
interact positively with all people; respecting and understanding the dynamics of difference.
Cosumnes River College pursues values, attitudes, and practices that promote healthy,
constructive interactions in a diverse community and enable the college to work effectively with
our diverse students. To promote cultural competence and create an inclusive learning
environment, CRC values:
1) Diversity and pluralism
2) Continuous personal and professional development, assessment and revision
3) Awareness of the dynamics of cross-cultural interactions
4) The ongoing pursuit of teaching strategies and student services that better serve diverse
populations
5) An environment of respect, equity, and justice
Kathy will forward this draft to the committee to verify that we are ready to send this
amended definition forward to the president for college-wide review.
5. Update on FLEX panel recruitment – Kathryn reported that Nyenbeku George had agreed to
serve on the FLEX panel. Kathy will ask Min if she is willing to serve. Kathryn is willing to
serve, but prefers to moderate. Winnie suggested we check with Lisa Marchand or Chris
Wagner. Kathy shared an interactive activity that seemed to contribute to the goals of the
workshop. The committee concurred and it was decided that the activity would be
incorporated into the FLEX workshop.
6. The discussion of the email/memo that expands our working definition of cultural events and
clarifies the activities that can be supported available through the committee was tabled to
the next meeting.
7. Future agenda items
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Review of Cultural Event application and report template
Brown Bag Discussions
Multicultural Night?
UCLA Diverse Learning Survey results
Cultural Competence and Equity dialogues in the LRCCD Strategic Planning
Process