Diversity Action Committee Implementation Plan for Diversity, Equity and Community

Get involved! All the subcommittees are working committees and open to all interested in contributing ideas and work on a short-term basis or on an ongoing basis. Town meetings will be held by each subcommittee during November to discuss specific plans and ideas and seek input and volunteers. See BELOW for dates. Feel free to contact either of the co-chairs of DAC or any of the subcommittee chairs with ideas, questions, or volunteers to help. This is an all-community effort!

Kay Fowler and Ruma Sen, DAC Co-Chairs

Kay Fowler, Faculty, SSHS, Co-Chair, kfowler@ramapo.edu
Ruma Sen, Faculty, CA, Co-Chair, rsen@ramapo.edu

Rena Bacon, Faculty, TAS, rbacon@ramapo.edu
Virginia Bonnett, Support Staff, TAS, vbonnett@ramapo.edu
Amy Bravo, Professional Staff, Cahill Center, abravo@ramapo.edu
Pat Chang, Acting Vice Provost for Budget and Personnel, pchang@ramapo.edu
Paula Straile-Costa, Faculty, AIS, pstraile@ramapo.edu
Karl Johnson, Faculty, SSHS, kjohnson@ramapo.edu
Yvette Kisor, Faculty, AIS, ykisor@ramapo.edu
Shirley Knight, Library Faculty, Library, sknight@ramapo.edu
Missy Long, Professional Staff, Office of Specialized Services, mlong@ramapo.edu
Vincent Markowski, Chief, Security, vmarkows@ramapo.edu
Christine Komoroski-McCohnell, Adjunct Faculty, AIS, ckomoros@ramapo.edu
Edna Negrón, Faculty, CA, enegron@ramapo.edu
Jonelyn Rae P. Planillo, Student Rep/SGA
Mandolin Restivo, Acting Director of Student Activities and the Women’s Center, mrestivo@ramapo.edu
Michael Ricciardi, Director, Athletics, mricciar@ramapo.edu
Michael Riff, Director, Center for Holocaust Studies, mriff@ramapo.edu
John Thompson, Director, Facilities/IFTE, jthompso@ramapo.edu
Jose Vallejo, Professional Staff, Admissions, jvallejo@ramapo.edu
Babette Varano,Professional Staff, OIRP, blanni@ramapo.edu
Tanya Washington, Professional Staff, Residence Life, twashin1@ramapo.edu
Kathy Zeno, Faculty, ASB, kzeno@ramapo.edu
Sue Zhang, Professional Staff, OIRP, xzhang@ramapo.edu

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The Diversity Action Committee is active again this year. Mini town meetings will be held over the next two weeks to present the current plan of each subcommittee and to invite input from the campus community. We also seek volunteers to work with any subcommittee of your choice in achieving the objectives. Click on the link at the top of this page to refer to the DAC Implementation Goals.

Dates for Mini Town Hall Meetings:
11/13 Tuesday 1-2 p.m., York Room
RECRUITMENT AND RETENTION subcommittee (Rena Bacon, Chair)

11/15 Thursday 1-2 p.m., SC 137
CURRICULUM/PEDAGOGY and RESEARCH/SCHOLARSHIP subcommittees (Paula Straile-Costa and Yvette Kisor, Co-Chairs)

11/16 Friday 1-2 p.m., SC 219 Friends Hall
EXTERNAL OUTREACH subcommittee (Ginny Bonnett and Amy Bravo, Co-Chairs)

11/21 Wednesday 9-10 a.m. Women’s Center
INTRA/INTER GROUP RELATIONS subcommittee (Mandy Restivo, Chair)

Key 2007 activities: 
Ombudsperson: The most significant goal established last year by the Diversity Action Committee was the creation of a new position for an Ombudsperson for Diversity.  This was also a primary goal for the Minority Faculty and Staff Association and the two groups have worked together throughout this year to bring this goal to fruition.  Meetings throughout the spring defined and refined the goals of the position, what the position would look like (based on extensive research into national guidelines for ombudspersons and how the position is defined at other colleges and universities), and resulted in a detailed job description.  A smaller joint group (Edna Negron, Warner Wada, Ed Eloi, Marta Vides, and Kay Fowler) continued working on this project this summer, meeting with various campus administrators to reach an agreed upon job description and begin a search to fill it.  President Mercer committed to establishing the position although, due to financial constraints, the position is beginning as a half-time position.  He charged a search committee chaired by Ed Eloi of MFSA and that committee is now in the process of seeking qualified candidates.  Other members of the search committee include: Virginia Bonnett (DAC), Pat Chang (Administration and former DAC co-chair), Christine Komorowski McCohnell (DAC), Rosa Mulryan (Administration and former DAC member), Marta Vides (MFSA), Warner Wada (MFSA), Sue Zhang (DAC).  The search is now underway and the ad will be placed shortly.  The job description for the ombudsperson is attached to this report. An open town meeting will be scheduled later for the campus community to discuss the nature and goals of the ombudsperson position. Watch for the date.

Co-sponsored campus events:  This fall the DAC has co-sponsored several events in response to the Jena 6 events as well as cosponsoring the recent Lynn Manning presentation.  We will be continuing to develop and to co-sponsor various diversity-focused events throughout the year.

First Year Training:  DAC member Kathy Zeno of ASB developed a 90-minute training module on diversity for First Year Seminar students and this week all First Year Seminar students are undergoing this training.  DAC members (Rena Bacon, Kay Fowler, Shirley Knight, Ruma Sen, and Kathy Zeno) will facilitate the large sessions with the First Year Staff member and the Peer Facilitators facilitating the breakout sessions and interactive exercise that follows.

Dangerous Discussions/Faculty Resource Center:  The Dangerous Discussion series is continuing this fall with several new programs:  “Psychological Disabilities” offered by Nancy Carr of OSS and Judy Green of Counseling; “Contemplative Pedagogy” offered by Jim Morley of SSHS, and “Accommodations for Students with Disabilities” offered by Nancy Carr, OSS. 
In spring 2008, the series will include sessions on “Class in Class” to be offered by David Greene and on “Autism” by Lisa Lutter and Nancy Carr.

Transfer Students/Enrollment Management: The subcommittee on Student Recruitment/Retention (chaired by Rena Bacon) has done a great deal of work in assessing the needs of transfer students and the way to better support these students.  They have been meeting throughout the spring, summer, and into this fall with Jackie Skrzynski, Danny Jean and others to gather data, understand the issues and identify strategies.  This semester they are adding an examination of how DAC can assist in efforts to do Enrollment Management in a way that best supports diversity goals.  Peter Rice, the new Director of Admissions attended the October meeting and gave us an introduction to some of the issues and Ricardo Ortegon, the new Vice Provost for Enrollment Management is meeting with the subcommittee and will meet with the full DAC in November to carry that conversation further.  DAC is in the process of selecting a representative to serve on the new Enrollment Management Task Force. 

Second Diversity Convocation: On Monday, Jan. 28, 2008 at 6-7:30 p.m. the Second Diversity Convocation will be held in SC 219 (with overflow rooms set up in SC 136-138 with a video feed and facilitators).  The speaker will be Dr. Terrence Roberts, a psychologist and one of the Little Rock Nine.   A 15 year old eleventh grader when he joined eight other students and became one of the first nine black students to go to a formerly segregated public high school in Little Rock, Roberts is now co-chairperson of the Master's in Psychology Program at Antioch University. A graduate of California State University at Los Angeles (BA), and UCLA (MSW), Dr. Roberts obtained his Ph.D. in psychology from Southern Illinois University in Carbondale, Illinois.  A much sought after speaker, Dr. Roberts also heads a management consultant group dedicated to improving human relations in the workplace.
For more information about Dr. Roberts, go to: http://www.littlerock9.com/troberts.html

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