Diversity Committee Meeting – August 11, 2005 – Hodges 605
Present at meeting: Kawanna Bright, Molly Royse, Thura Mack, Jill Keally, Gail Watson, Cheryl Drain, Donna Braquet, Tom Smith, Rita Smith, JoAnne Deeken, Roger Weaver, Maribeth Manoff, Linda Flynn, Nathalie Hristov, Sandy Leach, and special guest Bharat Mehra
The meeting opened with an introduction of the new Chair, Kawanna Bright. Kawanna then introduced the four new members to the committee: Cheryl Drain from Library Personnel & Procurement, Gail Watson from Technical Services, Rita Smith from Reference & Instructional Services, and Roger Weaver from Library Training. Special guest Bharat Mehra, Assistant Professor from the School of Information Sciences, was then introduced and spoke to the committee about possible collaborations with students in his Fall IS 558 class: Library (and Information) Services in a Diverse Society.
Bharat first spoke briefly about two projects he is working on related to diversity: A Diversity Resources page that will be hosted on the SIS Server, and; the Development of an institutional plan for sexual minorities with committee member Donna Braquet.
He then spoke in detail about a proposed partnership with the Committee: Bharat is looking for individual volunteers willing to offer suggestions for projects that students would use to develop a grant related to services to a diverse population with a need that is not being met. Those interested would be asked to first offer suggested ideas for projects that could be developed for these populations. They would then be asked to serve as a contact person for the student as they work through their project, including, if their time allowed, helping with the location of possible funding sources, and even with the actual writing of the grant. The amount of time required from each volunteer would depend on how involved they wished to be and also how much time they have to offer.
The final possible outcomes would be a grant submitted for the project and a forum for students to present their projects, and online portfolios fro the students to use to show their projects. Molly also suggested that this might be another possibility for the brown bag series that the Committee is developing.
Bharat passed around a sign-up sheet to allow those interested to leave their contact information and thanked the committee for their time.
The Committee then discussed meeting times for the Fall. There were no major conflicts with Thursday afternoon, so it was decided to leave the meetings at that time. Kawanna asked everyone to go ahead and mark August 25th, September 8th and September 22nd on their calendars for the next 3 meetings.
Kawanna then updated the Committee on the progress for the fall Culture Corner. Book selection was almost complete except for weeding of the section. Sandy asked what the categories were and let everyone know that the Ag-Vet Library is attempting to also offer a complimentary corner which will feature different categories relevant to what is in their collection. Kawanna also announced that volunteers were still needed for the physical take-down and set up of the new corner, which is expected to be in place by August 19th.
Molly was then asked to update the Committee on the developing Brown Bag series she and Becky are working on. They have lots of interest from people willing to offer a session, including Erica Clark who recently returned from an extended trip in China. They expect that we may be able to offer the brown bags once a month if not more depending on the reception and the timing. They are also looking for helping in coming up with a catchy or creative name for the series and would appreciate any ideas.
Kawanna then made everyone aware of a possible future collaboration with the Office of Minority Affairs, which is working to bring Maya Angelou to campus. She will let everyone know when more information is available.
Discussion then turned to the new residents who will begin work on September 1st, and what the role of the Committee will be in welcoming them. The first question posed was whether or not to invite the Residents to join the Diversity Committee. Everyone agreed that it was a good idea. Nathalie suggested that we wait and invite them later rather than sooner, to give them time to see the other departments and also to give them the opportunity to entertain other offers. The Committee compromised by suggesting that we invite the residents to join and let them know that they should feel free to take their entire orientation time to think about it before making a decision. Kawanna will send out the invitations to the Residents before they arrive for their first day.
The next question was whether to take the Residents out to lunch on their first day and also offer them a small welcoming reception. Jill asked Kawanna, as a former resident, what she thought of having both in the first day, and she suggested that it was a little too much for the first day, though both were outstanding welcoming gestures. The Committee decided to take the Residents to lunch on their first day, September 1st, down to the Bistro @ Bijou in Market Square. They would then invite the Residents to the September 8th Committee Meeting for a welcoming reception during their second week. The Committee will also help to plan a library-wide reception during the last week of their orientation (third week of September). This event will be planned based on Barbara’s schedule (Kawanna will check with Patty on Barbara’s availability during that week).
Discussion then moved to whether the Committee would host a welcome back table for students right before school starts. Last year the event was held on the Monday and Tuesday prior to the school year start and included a table with information on the Libraries, little giveaways (pens, etc.), and gift certificates as prizes. Last year Barbara gave development money for the gift certificates. Kawanna will check with Barbara about the possibility of money for prizes this time and will also check back with the committee to see if anyone wants to be in charge of planning for this event.
Kawanna then asked everyone to think about a few things for the next meeting, including reviewing the goals and charge of the Committee and sub-committees to determine if any changes need to be made, and also considering which sub-committee they might like to work on for the coming year, including volunteers to lead the sub-committees.
The final announcement for the meeting was that Tiffani Conner, former Committee member now at UCONN, is interested in giving the Committee a gift of art. Tiffani will be in town on October 7th and would possibly like to have lunch with members of the Committee available and also to present the gift. Kawanna will keep everyone informed about this possibility as the times approaches.
The meeting was adjourned.
Respectfully submitted by Kawanna Bright