DIVERSITY ENHANCEMENT COMMITTEE MINUTES

7:55 a.m. Meeting Begins

9:05 a.m. Meeting Ends

Location: Academic Affairs Lobby Conference Room

  1. September 1, 2010: CALL TO ORDER – Dr. Richard C. Miller

Call to order at 7:55 a.m.

  1. ATTENDANCE – Dr. Richard C. Miller

Those in attendance were Richard C. Miller, Ricardo Nazario-Colon, Kat Michael, Aaron Hughey, Harold Little, Abraham Williams, Tracey Moore, Pam Herriford, Deborah Wilkins, Joshua Hayes, Zubair Mohamed, Martha Sales, Michelle Hollis, Finley Woodard, Quinton Hollis, Monica Burke and Cindy Smith.

  1. APPROVAL OF MINUTES

Minutes from the April 21, 2010 meeting were reviewed and approved.

Due to scheduling conflicts, Jessica Staten and Bea Cobb will be unable to attend the DEC meetings this semester. There was discussion regarding changing the DEC meetings to Friday’s at 8 a.m. It was also recommended that the meetings be shortened to 1 hour and 15 minutes. Dr. Miller will send an email to the committee members asking for input regarding changing the meeting day and time.

  1. HUMAN RIGHTS COMMISSION RESOLUTION (October 14, 2010, 50th Anniversary Celebration)
  1. Dr. Miller discussed this event and asked the committee members to let him know if they would like to attend.
  1. 2011 MLK CALENDAR
  1. A group photo was taken at the DEC meeting and will be included in the calendar.
  1. ODP REPORT
  1. Ricardo Nazario-Colon distributed information regarding upcoming events sponsored by ODP and discussed them at length.
  1. The ODP staff will be participating in the Early Start Mentoring Program which focuses on students who were admitted to WKU conditionally.
  1. AFRAM – AFRICAN AMERICAN FACULTY MENTORING/SOCIAL NETWORK
  1. There was discussion regarding the social networking program. Dr. Saundra Ardrey has asked for financial support of $400 for food, etc. Deborah Wilkins has foundation funds she can contribute, and made a motion to help Dr. Ardrey. There were no objections from the committee.
  1. SREB 2010 ANNUAL COMPACT FOR FACULTY DIVERSITY INSTITUTE ON TEACHING AND MENTORING
  1. This event attracts minority scholars from around the world and will be held in Tampa, FL October 28-31, 2010. WKU participated the past 2 years and four people were hired at WKU as a result of the previous conference.Dr. Miller asked the Deans to submit names of anyone who would like to attend this year. Dr. Miller and Monica Burke from the DEC Committee will be attending and Dr. Miller will fund two more from the committee if anyone else would like to attend.
  1. STATEWIDE DIVERSITY PLAN
  1. Dr. Miller presented documents and discussed at length the Statewide Diversity Plan. The staff recommends the 2011-15 Statewide Diversity Policy and Framework for Institutional Diversity Plan Development be approved and forwarded to the council on Post Secondary Education for Review.
  2. The Final Draft was submitted on 8/13/10. This will be a guide for institutes to create their own policy.
  3. Dr. Miller discussed the 4 areas to be addressed in each campus based plan.
  4. Workgroups will be assigned in the future to work on developing the plan.
  1. REPORT – WKU DIVERSITY PLANNING PROCESS
  1. A retreat was held on May 19, 2010 to assist with diversity planning. The information discussed at the retreat was distributed to the committee members for their review and presented by Monica Burke.
  1. OTHER
  1. Dr. Miller spoke to a reporter from The Hearld who would like to interview several committee members regarding diversity on our campus. Dr. Miller submitted the names of Aaron Hughey, Monica Burke, Ricardo Nazario-Colon and Michelle Hollis.
  2. Several committee members suggested they would like for Sharon Hunter to discuss the Readiness Plan and update the committee on what is being done in the middle schools and high schools to prepare the students for college. Senate Bill 1 requires 50% of students to be reduced in developmental education by 2012.
  3. Ricardo Nazario-Colon suggested that WKU students could be involved in tutoring at the Learning Centers.