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Governance Minutes ArchiveFebruary 21, 1990
University Committee on Equal Opportunity/Affirmative Action February 21, 1990 Present: Alan Bayer, Danielle Carpenter, Valerie Giddings, Laurie Good, Jane Harrison, Janine Hiller, Michele Holmes, Pat Hyer, Mike Lambur, Larry Lawrence, Patricia Morris, Wayne Speer, Anne Zajac Michele Holmes called the meeting to order at 2:00 p.m. The agenda for the meeting and the minutes from the meeting of January 18, 1990 were approved, pending the verification of events pertaining to the first item under Old Business, "Quality of Life" of custodial workers. New Business 1. Chair's Report o Ms. Holmes reported that all of the events for Black History Month 1990 are progressing as scheduled. Ten thousand calendars were distributed campus- and community-wide and attendance for the events has generally been good. o Ms. Holmes noted the three dates for the upcoming "Black Students/White Faculty Workshops, March 7, 8, and 21, from 9:00 to 3:30 p.m. in the CEC. Individuals interested in attending the workshops are encouraged to contact their dean. o Ms. Holmes also reported that Carolyn Green, currently Coordinator of University Equal Opportunity Affirmative Action Programs at the University of Florida, has accepted the position of Compliance Of- ficer in the Office of Equal Opportunity/Affirmative Action here at Tech. She expects to join the university on or about March 26th. o Ms. Holmes announced the upcoming "Breakfast With. . ." program on Wednesday, February 28th. The speaker will be Mr. Theodore Paynther, Special Assistant to the Superintendent of the Cleveland Public School District. He will be discussing "The Myth of Race and the Impact of Color." 2. Subcommittee Reports o SUBCOMMITTEE ON THE PHYSICALLY AND MENTALLY CHALLENGED Mr. Speer reported that the committee has not had an opportu- nity to reconvene since the last EO/AA meeting. The next meet- ing is scheduled for March 2nd, at which time "Tight Building Syndrome" will be the principle topic for discussion. o SUBCOMMITTEE ON MINORITIES Pat Morris distributed the minutes from the January 31, 1990 meeting of the Subcommittee on Minorities. She referenced the first item of the minutes, which describes a note from Paula Dail questioning the charge of the subcommittee. Specifically, does the committee only address the needs of Blacks, or should it include other minorities and women? Ms. Holmes responded that because the state plan has tended to focus on Blacks, the subcommittee has historically followed suit. Pat Hyer added that there are affirmative action goals for other minorities, although that has not been the subcommittee's focus in the past. Ms. Hyer noted that this topic would be a timely and im- portant one for committee-wide discussion, as Drs. Morton and Carlisle are working on a more aggressive affirmative action approach for Virginia Tech. Ms. Holmes suggested that this topic be added as an agenda item for the March 21 EO/AA meet- ing. Ms. Morris also mentioned that Wayland Winstead of the Planning Coordinating Committee had met with the subcommittee during a subsequent meeting, during which time the attached EO/AA Goals and Objectives statement was discussed. o SUBCOMMITTEE ON WOMEN Anne Zajac announced that the subcommittee has met once since the last EO/AA meeting. Members are continuing to work on the sexual harassment policy, and in fact have gathered policy statements from other universities in order to compare the wording. An upcoming meeting is planned with Kay Heidbreder to work through some of the legal implications of changing these procedures. Pat Hyer added that several of these sexual harassment policies include a cautionary statement on consensual relationships between a faculty member and a stu- dent, or a supervisor and a supervisee. Although such re- lationships do not fall directly under the category of "sexual harassment," they tend to create problems as there is usually the suspicion of favoritism among peers, colleagues, or coworkers. Thus, the subcommittee is considering whether simi- lar language regarding the unethical nature of such relation- ships should be included in Virginia Tech's sexual harassment statement. Ms. Hyer was asked if any of these statements in- clude descriptions of possible punitive responses to reported consensual relationships. She responded that they did not do so specifically, but gave examples of "worse-case scenario" re- actions, such as possible removal of tenure or dismissal. Ms. Hyer mentioned that the subcommittee would like to invite the chairman of the new Faculty Senate Committee on Ethics to a later meeting to discuss this issue. 3. Ms. Holmes announced that the draft of the Faculty-Staff Affirmative Action Plan is near completion and will be discussed at the next EO/AA meeting. Other Business o The subject of EO/AA representation on the Faculty Senate was raised. As reported, it doesn't appear that there has been an individual serv- ing on the Faculty Senate this year. Ms. Holmes suggested that this issue be discussed at the next meeting when Dr. Morton will be present. o Danielle Carpenter announced that the Student Government Association and the Dean of Students' Office is sponsoring a forum on "Sexual Harassment in the Classroom." It will take place on Wednesday, Febru- ary 28th, at 7:00 p.m. in Pamplin 30. Two short films will be shown, followed by a panel discussion. Two more forums are planned on March 21st and April 11th. The former will address "Acquaintance Rape" and the latter will be devote to "Sexual Harassment in the Workplace." The meeting adjourned at 2:35 p.m.
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