Commission on Diversity and Inclusion

Meeting Minutes of May 6, 2015

12:00 P.M. – 1:30 P.M.

Student Union (Building 58-W), Room 3703A

Present:Commission Members – Dr. JeffriAnne Wilder, Chair; Dr.Judith Rodriguez, Associate Chair; Ms. Alison Cruess, Ms. Edythe Abdullah, Dr. Mary Rose, Dr. B. Jay Coleman, Dr. Christopher Brown, Mr. Michael Neglia, Mr. Shomari Gloster, Ms. Tarah Trueblood,

Ex-Officio Members- Ms. Rocelia Gonzalez, Ms. Kate Tower

Guest– Ms. Hailey Guerra, Ms. Sophie Maxis, Mr. Phillip Simmons, Ms. Andrea Arikawa, Ms. Heather Strayer, Ms. Deatrice Kennedy

CODI Staff–Ms. Cheryl Gonzalez, Ms. Flora Coleman, Ms. Ricarla Jackson

I. Call to Order

  • The meeting was called to order at 12:21 p.m. by Chair Wilder.
  • 19 members/12 members present.

II. Adoption of the Agenda/Minutes

  • Today’s agenda and minutes of June 11 Commission Meeting were moved for adoption by Dr. Judy Rodriguez and seconded by Mr. Shomari Gloster. Chair JeffriAnne Wilder called for a vote. The Committee unanimously approved both.

III. Updates from Chair – Dr. JeffriAnne Wilder

Chair Wilder welcomed everyone. No updates at this time.

IV. Standing Committee/Subcommittee Reports

A. Academic Enhancement – Dr. Judith Rodriguez

  • Recommend to look at comments made about when to have retreat.
  • Come up with a plan of action as it relates to curriculum, faculty and diversity in the coming year.
  • Ms. Edythe Abdullah requested that everyone fill out the survey that was sent by institutional research via email. This is to build an inventory of diversity and inclusion activities that is going on around campus that can be used later for future development, structure and organization. OPS and undecided adult students were the only groups excluded from the survey. Some discussion followed.

B. Recruitment and Retention – Dr. Edythe Abdullah

  • Ms. Abdullah mentioned the 3 sub committees in this area and pointed out that 2 chairs were present.
  • They are trying to move forward with a mentoring program but are assessing the budget to see if it’s feasible.
  • Mentioned that the student recruitment and retention sub-committee has set 4 goals for next year and has had several meetings. However, Mr. Albert Colom has the notes and is not present. She has not spoken with Mr. Tom Van Schoor about his portion.

C. Diversity and Inclusion Initiatives – Ms. Cheryl Gonzalez (on behalf of Mr. Oupa Seane)

  • Ms. Gonzalez recapped Week of One 2015. There was not much participation from

commission members and encouraged this to improve for next year.

  • She went on to discuss the awards. As an applicant, Ms. Tarah Trueblood was asked to

leave the room during this part of the discussion. She described the award as going beyond

scope of duty and previous recipients. Moving forward, she poses the thought of how

strong the diversity and inclusion enhancement award winner will be in the sense of being

a shining example.

  • There were only 2 applicants this year, not as many as previous years. Ms. Allison Cruess went into detail about individual and organization recipients, discussion followed.
  • Because the organization recipients were so close, a vote was posed to award both organizations (AAFSA, Interfaith Center) the award pending budget review with Dr. Tom Serwatka.

V. Old Business

A. Changes to CODI Structure

  • Chair Wilder has given out a hand-out of options for CODI structural changes.
  • Option 1 – keep CODI structure as is.
  • Option 2 – CODI transitions into a governing board/Advisory Council (current model at Penn State University,
  • Option 3 – Executive Director of CODI where the administrative role is connected to the Special Advisor to the President
  • A discussion followed discussing the current structure and other models.

B. Leadership Changes

  • The Chair position for CODI will be appointed by the University President and Associate Chair position for CODI will be elected by the commission for next 2-year team (2015-2017). Current Chair Jeffri Anne Wilder and Associate Chair Judith Rodriguez will no longer be in the position because of time constraints as faculty members.

C. Budget Request for 2015-2016

  • Chair Wilder noted that there is not much of a difference from last year

VI.New Business

  1. Week of One 2016

VII.Presentation – Dr. Sophie Maxis (School Counseling)

  • Ms. Maxis is the 2014 Presidential CODI Academic Research Grant Recipient. Her presentation will be moved to the top of the agenda for the September meeting to a bigger audience.

VIII.Additional Reports or Announcements

  1. Ms. Cheryl Gonzalez brought up the potential theme for Week of One 2016 – Caribbean
  2. Membership renewal will be handled by Ms. Abdullah
  3. Retreat June 6 is only for Executives

IX.Adjournment

The meeting adjourned at 1:32 p.m.