Diversity Advisory Committee, seated from left: Georgene Clark (chair), Petya Petrova, Arlene Sanders, Debarashmi Mitra, Maud Kuykendall, (standing from left) Pierre Pope, Paulette Meikle Yaw, Cetin Oguz, Oliver Mansour, Carla Johnson, Nethel Hector
Diversity Advisory Committee
Goals for 2010-2011
Launch campus-wide “Diversity Awareness Campaign” to promote multicultural awareness and sensitivity and to increase visibility of Diversity Committee.
- Increase/broaden membership of Diversity Committee
- Use more visual communication to promote diversity—posters, displays, etc.
- Create “Diversity Champions” w/ recognition going to individual or department who best promotes academic and social inclusiveness across campus.
Develop and implement plan/strategies specifically for recruitment and retention of minority faculty.
- Provide additional resources for recruitment (advertising, salary, housing assistance, etc.)
- Provide more inclusive “orientation” for incoming minority faculty (i.e., issues specific to this minority, history of Delta State and the Delta, etc.)
- Provide support for those incoming faculty working on advanced degrees (schedule adjustments, course reduction, etc.)
Provide ongoing opportunities for faculty, staff and students to enhance their understanding of diversity and of multicultural sensitivity.
- Convene diversity workshops for faculty, staff, and student leaders (to eventually reach the entire faculty, staff, student population)
- Provide more programming, such as guest speakers and panel discussions that focus on diversity-related issues (e. g. international forum “Beyond Black & White”)
- Offer more opportunities for all campus constituencies to discuss issues of diversity
Enhance curricula to include more opportunities for student engagement in issues of diversity in the classroom
- Promote/publicize/support (already established) ethnic studies minor
- Offer diversity-oriented courses as general education electives
- Encourage chairs to ask/require faculty to include summary statement on syllabus on how diversity is being incorporated into course material
