Meeting Minutes
Diversity Committee
Meeting, May 9, 2006
Present: Eleanor Block (Chair), Amanda Clark, Linda Gonzalez, Deidra Herring, Beverly McDonald, Duke Morgan, Cyndi Preston, Charles Smith
Absent: Eboni Francis, Virginia Reynolds
The packet of information from the 12th Annual National Conference on Diversity, Race & Learning contained a list of selected student organizations at Ohio State University with ties to diversity (e.g., Somali Student Association). Each organization listed has the email address of a contact person. We may want to have representatives from several of these organizations talk to the Diversity Committee about a possible program. We could tie this to using the library, for example, what we have and how we approach people. Another possibility would be to contact the Office of International Education.
It was decided that: yes, we will meet May 23; the possibility of June meetings will be decided at the May 23 meeting; and, yes, we will go ahead and schedule meetings for 2006-2007. The meetings will take place on every other Tuesday, at 1:30 p.m.-2:30 p.m. We will continue to meet in Room 124, Main Library. After Main Library is closed, we will be re-scheduled at another location. The summer may include monthly meetings to discuss our plans for Fall Quarter 2006.
Absent: Eboni Francis, Virginia Reynolds
Minutes
The minutes of the April 11, 2006 meeting were approved as written.Evaluations of resident librarians
Gerry Greenberg, Chair of the Appointment, Promotion and Tenure Committee, contacted Eleanor Block about evaluations of the residents. The committee members stressed the importance of the FAR and the need for an evaluation (required to get an increase in salary). We felt that, while a FAR could not be mandated, it was a very good idea and highly encouraged as something that the residents should do. Eleanor shared these views with Gerry.
National Conference on Diversity, Race & Learning
Four members of the Diversity Committee, Eleanor Block, Duke Morgan, Cyndi Preston and Charles Smith, attended the 12th Annual National Conference on Diversity, Race & Learning, which was held at the Fawcett Conference Center, Ohio State University on May 2, 2006. The theme for the conference was "2006 & Beyond: Creating a Diversity Collaborative" and there were two main speakers: Angela E. Oh, opening keynote address and Kweisi Mfume, closing keynote address. There were also three concurrent breakout sessions held at different times throughout the day with a choice of eighteen workshops/facilitated discussions. Six workshops/discussions were allotted to each of the three breakout sessions. Everyone thought that the conference overall was very good, especially the opening speaker, Angela Oh, but felt that some of the workshops/ discussions did not meet their expectations. Eleanor noted that a list of the attendees would have been helpful.
Workshop on Diversity
It is too late to plan and present a workshop on diversity during Spring Quarter 2006. We now hope to hold this workshop during the first part of Summer Quarter 2006 (late June-mid July). Eleanor will continue to work with Pat Hall, the Assistant Director of the Multicultural Center, to determine the date, the place (Pat Hall must tour the facility in advance) and the length of the workshop (i.e., full day or less).
The packet of information from the 12th Annual National Conference on Diversity, Race & Learning contained a list of selected student organizations at Ohio State University with ties to diversity (e.g., Somali Student Association). Each organization listed has the email address of a contact person. We may want to have representatives from several of these organizations talk to the Diversity Committee about a possible program. We could tie this to using the library, for example, what we have and how we approach people. Another possibility would be to contact the Office of International Education.
Diversity Committee meeting dates
The last scheduled meeting for this year (July 2005-June 2006) is May 23, 2006. Should we met then? Should we meet in June? What about scheduling meetings for July 2006-June 2007 since Main Library, our regular meeting place, will be closed for renovation.
It was decided that: yes, we will meet May 23; the possibility of June meetings will be decided at the May 23 meeting; and, yes, we will go ahead and schedule meetings for 2006-2007. The meetings will take place on every other Tuesday, at 1:30 p.m.-2:30 p.m. We will continue to meet in Room 124, Main Library. After Main Library is closed, we will be re-scheduled at another location. The summer may include monthly meetings to discuss our plans for Fall Quarter 2006.
Diversity Committee membership
Three members of the committee, including Eleanor, have terms that end in June 2006. Eleanor has agreed to continue on the committee as chair and other committee members will let Eleanor know what their decision is about continuing membership past June 2006. Because Eleanor may retire before her term is up, we need to appoint a vice chair/assistant chair to help and to provide continuity if/when Eleanor leaves. The vice chair should be someone who has Diversity Committee experience. Other membership topics mentioned included the size of the committee, the needs of the committee, how we select members, how we should advertise for these positions and the continuing membership of the Resident Librarians. Discussion of these membership issues will continue at the next meeting.
Next meeting
The next meeting will be Tuesday, May 23, 1:30 p.m.-2:30 p.m. in Room 124, Main Library.