Meeting Minutes
Diversity Committee
Meeting, March 27, 2007
Present: Eleanor Block (Chair), Eboni Francis, Deidra Herring, Rebekah Kilzer, Beverly McDonald, Duke Morgan, Cyndi Preston
Absent: Amanda Clark, Linda Gonzalez, Charles Smith
A thorough discussion of the position description followed and suggestions for changes were made. Once the proposals for locations where the new Resident Librarian can work have been received (the deadline is March 30, 2007), the Executive Committee will review all proposals and the successful department will be notified. The members of the Diversity Committee would like to have input before the final decision on the successful proposal is made. Deidra and Eboni will be talking to Linda Gonzalez next week about the proposed changes to the Resident Librarian job description and will stress our interest in seeing the proposals. Eleanor Block will also talk to Linda and/or Joe Branin about considering our input in this decision. The Diversity Committee will see this position description again before it is finalized.
Absent: Amanda Clark, Linda Gonzalez, Charles Smith
Minutes
The minutes of the March 13, 2007 meeting, which were taken by Amanda Clark, were approved as read.Arabic ReadAloud program
The Arabic ReadAloud program is scheduled for Thursday, April 12, 2007, 3 p.m.-4 p.m.in the new Wexner Center Cafe: Cam's on Campus. The speakers will be Joseph Zeidan and Hanan Kashou from the Department of Near Eastern Languages and Cultures and Rafah Asadi, a student. Donna Distel will do the publicity. Committee members are encouraged to attend this presentation, if they can.
Resident Librarian position
Deidra Herring prepared the draft of the Mary P. Key Diversity Residency position and led the discussion on this document. The first part of the document is the specific position description. Since the department hosting the 2007 diversity position has not been determined yet, Eboni Francis' job description for FAES and Instruction was used as an example. This information will be updated once it is known where the new Resident Librarian will be working. The next two sections, Mentoring and Professional Development, are new and the final section, Qualifications, is general information that will be revised if needed.
A thorough discussion of the position description followed and suggestions for changes were made. Once the proposals for locations where the new Resident Librarian can work have been received (the deadline is March 30, 2007), the Executive Committee will review all proposals and the successful department will be notified. The members of the Diversity Committee would like to have input before the final decision on the successful proposal is made. Deidra and Eboni will be talking to Linda Gonzalez next week about the proposed changes to the Resident Librarian job description and will stress our interest in seeing the proposals. Eleanor Block will also talk to Linda and/or Joe Branin about considering our input in this decision. The Diversity Committee will see this position description again before it is finalized.
Somali presentation
On March 9, 2007 the Lantern, the student newspaper of the Ohio State University, had the following headline: "Somali event a no-show despite best efforts." Cyndi Preston first spotted this article, then she and Eleanor discussed it via email, then, at their March 13 meeting, the Diversity Committee discussed the possibility of sponsoring this presentation. As of today, March 27, Cyndi is still waiting to hear from the speaker, Danielle Smith.
Multicultural Center
Eleanor asked for volunteers to go with her to visit the Multicultural Center and explore how the Diversity Committee and the Multicultural Center can work together to present programs. Amanda Clark, Deidra Herring and Duke Morgan agreed to go with Eleanor. The date for the visit is set for the week of April 9, with a specific day and time yet to be determined. They will be meeting with Nicole K. Nieto, Coordinator, Women Student Services, Multicultural Center.
2007/08 University Libraries Cumulative Assessment of Progress Toward Meeting Goals of Diversity
Linda Gonzalez has turned in the information for this year's annual diversity report and has forwarded the report, entitled "2007/08 University Libraries Cumulative Assessment of Progress Toward Meeting Goals of Diversity," to the Diversity Committee. This year the report covered the last five years instead of asking for an action plan. Representatives from the University Diversity Council will meet with the OSUL Executive Committee and the Diversity Committee to talk about our report which was submitted in December 2006. The meeting will be held on Monday, April 9, 2007 at 9:30 a.m.-11:30 a.m.
in Room 5826 Ackerman. The entire OSUL Diversity Committee is invited to this meeting as well as all members of the Executive Committee.
National Conference on Diversity, Race & Learning
The 13th Annual National Conference on Diversity, Race & Learning will be held at the Fawcett Conference Center, Ohio State University, on Tuesday, May 1, 2007. Several members of the Diversity Committee went to last year's conference and felt that it was very valuable. All of the members present at today's meeting would like to go to this national conference. Registration fees for last year's conference were assumed by the Libraries. Eleanor will talk to Linda Gonzalez about the availability of funding for this year's meeting.
Next meeting
The next scheduled meeting will be Tuesday, April 10, 2007, 1:15
p.m.-2:15 p.m. in Room 414, Science and Engineering Library. The
meeting scheduled for April 24, 2007 has been cancelled.