CODRE Minutes
03-13-09
Page One
Present: Michael Anthony, James Brown, Valerie Browning, Rhonda Buchanan, Brian Buford, Quita Bunton, Joy Carew, Susan Duncan (for Sharon Larue), Pamela Feldhoff, Demetrius Gray, Robin R. Harris, Vicki Hines-Martin, Harvey Johnson, Irving Joshua, Kimberly Maffett, David Owen, Kathy Pendleton, Charles Sharp, Prafula Sheth, Mary Ann Stenger, Mordean Taylor-Archer, Andrew Williams, Linda L. Wilson, Diane Whitlock and Georgette Moore
Absent: S. Michael Ben-Avraham, Joan D’Antoni, Nannette Dix, Erica Holloman, Linda Lewis, Weiling Liu, Karen Nally, O J Oleka, Kathleen Smith and Wei Bin Zeng
Minutes: A motion to approve the February minutes was made by Irving Joshua and seconded by James Brown. The motion carried.
Chair’s Update: Chair Hines-Martin who serves on the Provost’s Budgetary Affairs Advisory Committee reported on activity of the Budgetary Committee. The process is continuing. There have been focus groups involving students, staff and faculty. The sessions were well attended by faculty and staff but not by students. A lot of good suggestions came from those meetings; that information will be used in addition to what Budgetary Affairs suggested. Reports will go to the Provost.
CODRE Budget: We thought we had a clear discussion on what our budget is. Final numbers should be available by our next meeting.
Nominating Committee: Brian reported that CODRE will need to elect a new chair before Vicki’s term ends on June 30. Three names for chair have to be sent to the President. Names should be submitted to Brian by April 1 if you would like to be chair or if you would like to nominate someone. Ex-officio members are not eligible to run for chair. Brian will talk to members whose terms are also ending to see if they would like to be re-elected.
CODRE Grant Opportunities: Irving reported that thus far only three applications have been received. Commissioners were encouraged to aggressively promote this initiative. Please remind students that the deadline to submit their applications is April 1.
The President’s Exemplary Multicultural Teaching Award: Linda reported that 5 nominations have been received. The Committee will meet on Monday, March 16 to make a selection. Presentation of the award will be on Monday, April 20 at the Speed Museum. The presentation of artwork will be made to the recipient at the May CODRE meeting.
COSW Update: COSW Vice Chair Susan Duncan reported that the COSW is actively involved in updating the Women’s Task Force Report. Also, the committee reviewing Family Friendly policies is scheduled to meet with the Provost on April 8th.
Committee Updates
· Student Concerns: Andrew reported that African American students had had 7 events totaling about $8,800. No non-African American students have submitted applications for funding. It may be that this population of students is not aware of the availability of funds. There is a need for students to work on scheduling request in synch with events. It would be helpful if students submitted requests earlier.
· CET Update: In response to hate flyers that have been circulating on campus, the CET has elected to take a softer approach to the situation. A series of discussions called American Pie is being developed. The Committee will be soliciting student input from the University’s Greek organizations. The timeline for putting everything in place is early Fall 2009. The consensus of the Commission is to go forward with developing discussions. Also discussed:
o The Campus Environment Team met last month. They are working with the COSW to tie in with completing a campus –wide survey;
o UofL was released by the OCR as having met all of the Kentucky Plan requirements. All University department/unit plans are due in by March 31;
· Diversity Programming: Robin advised the Commission that no funds are currently available for diversity initiatives. Several requests for funding have been turned down, most recently Kim Shaver’s request for the Alternative Spring Break program and Erica Stith’s request for “Just Act” Day. Due to lack of available funds, the Programming Committee cancelled their meeting.
· Faculty and Staff Concerns: The Faculty and Staff Concerns Committee met and addressed the following:
o Issues related to Human Resources grievance policies for staff;
o Data gathered with regard to women in administrative positions at the University;
o New unit diversity plans.
· LGBT Update: Brian informed the Commission that he is scheduling Safe Zone Training Sessions. An invitation was extended to the Commission to participate in the welcoming of Christ Hartman, Fairness Director, to the community. The event will be on May 24 at 5 p.m. in the University Club.
Announcements
PROP 8 TO SB 68: LEGISLATIVE ATTACKS ON LGBT FAMILIES: Discussions will be held on Tuesday,
April 7, 2009 at noon in Room 275, Brandeis School of Law. Featured speakers are Vernon Broyles, Presbyterian Center, attorney Bryan Gatewood and Chris Hartman, director, Fairness Campaign;
Minx Auerbach Lecture: The event will begin at 6:00 p.m. in the auditorium of the Speed Museum on Wednesday, March 25. Women’s and Gender Studies will bring filmmaker Anayansi Prado to campus as keynote speaker.
Women’s Book Festival: CODRE’s own Joy Carew will be among the presenters at the Kentucky Book festival this year on May 16, 2009. Her book, “Blacks, Reds and Russians “, will be among those featured. The festival is open to the public and is free (except the luncheon—tickets may be purchased for $6). The luncheon will be held in Ekstrom Library’s Silent Study Room. For more ticket information, contact the Women’s Center.
36th Annual Black Family Conference: The conference is being held this week. Banquet tickets are sold out. There will be a youth rally tomorrow.
Meeting Adjourned.