Faculty Senate Diversity Committee Report for August 19, 2011

Faculty Senate diversity committee report for August 19, 2011

Faculty Senate Diversity Committee Accomplishments for AY 2011-12

Revised the Faculty Senate Diversity Committee Mission Statement to most appropriately reflect its current core values and endeavors:

“The purpose of the Faculty Senate Diversity Committee is to support the initiatives of all faculty members across the University of Alaska Anchorage Campuses in promoting diverse and inclusive educational experiences.”

Bolstered newly-established Junior-Senior Faculty Mentorship Association (founded by the Faculty Senate Diversity Committee, Spring 2011) by welcoming most recently-arrived faculty members to join, particularly international faculty members. Five FSDC Members/Senior Faculty Mentors met regularly throughout the AY 2011-12 with Junior Faculty Mentees, assisting them with interpretation of guidelines for appropriate Professional File, Activity Report, and Workload Agreement Preparation; Syllabi Design; Committee Service; and Research Publication.

Collaborated extensively with the International and Intercultural Laboratory Task Force and its Co-Chairs in coordinating initiatives on numerous occasions. FSDC Co-Chairs participated in a series of IILTF open fora and met with the American Council on Education Peer Review Team in March 2012. Two FSDC members were active IILTF representatives throughout the academic year, involved in the design and implementation of the six International and Intercultural Learning Outcomes as well as the activities of the IITLF Inventory Subcommittee. The FSDC provided considerable feedback to the IITLF during the formation of the Learning Outcomes in a formal report (October 2011) entitled: Faculty Senate Diversity Committee Summary Report—Response to International and Intercultural Laboratory Task Force Proposed Student Learning Outcomes.

Formally welcomed the new Director of Alaska Native Studies, Dr. Maria Williams, inviting her to present her programmatic and community goals during a meeting, allowing the Faculty Senate Diversity Committee to understand how it could best assist in supporting the goals of the Alaska Native Studies Program.

Actively collaborated and participated in UAA Multicultural Celebrations such as Hispanic Heritage Month, Filipino American History Month, Alaska Native/Native American Heritage Month, Alaska Civil Rights Month, and International Education Week. FSDC fully supported and will continue to support Public Square events at the University of Alaska Anchorage relating to global and intercultural issues through coordination, publicity, promotion, informational dissemination, volunteerism, and attendance.
Worked in tandem with the UAA Office of Diversity and Compliance, the Diversity Action Council, and the UAA Campus Affiliate of the National Coalition Building Institute. Encouraged all community members—most specifically faculty whose membership pertained to the Faculty Senate Diversity Committee and Diversity Action Council—to complete at least one all-day (8-hour) National Coalition Building Institute workshop, either during Fall 2011 or Spring 2012. 1st and 2nd FSDC Co-Chairs co-led the Fall 2011 NCBI Workshop and were workshop Team Members for the Spring 2012 Workshop. An additional FSDC member was a Team Support Member during the Fall 2011 Workshop, and two new FSDC members were first-time workshop participants in Fall 2011.

The FSDC classified the University of Alaska Anchorage Board of Regents’ Diversity-Related Policies according to 1) “those policies which were definitely anachronistic and needed to be revised urgently,” 2) “those policies which required a detailed examination but at a later stage after dealing with the category #1,” and 3) “those policies which were prima facie fine and where there was no reason to suspect any potential dysfunctionality/conflict.” The FSDC offered additional recommendations for wording of Diversity-Related Policies.

In conjunction with the DAC and the voices of members from various campus Student Clubs, the FSDC offered suggestions regarding the Diversification of GERs for the Faculty Senate to consider (November 2011).