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Governance Minutes ArchiveDecember 9, 1993
Date: December 9, 1993 UNIVERSITY COMMITTEE ON EQUAL OPPORTUNITY/AFFIRMATIVE ACTION MINUTES DECEMBER 9, 1993 Present: K. Heidbreder, A. Spencer, P. Hyer, V. Reilly, L. D. Moore, L. Roy, E. Holford, T. Dillaha, R. Purdy, B. Purswell, D. Travis, C. Eggleston, B. Pendergrass, R. Hayman, C. Pinder, C. Burger, K. Tarnoff, P. Ozolins (for E. Braaten). Resource members: Dr. Cornel Morton, Muriel Flynn, Susanna Short. CALL TO ORDER: Dr. Holford called the meeting to order at 2:05 p.m. ADOPTION OF THE AGENDA: The agenda was adopted as presented. ADOPTION OF MINUTES: Minutes for the November 17th meeting were adoped with the following corrections: the additions of Karen Tarnoff and Randall Stith to the Policy Subcommittee. SUBCOMMITTEE PROGRESS REPORTS: o POLICY SUBCOMMITTEE: Dr. Hyer said her group has identified five or six problems with the sexual harassment policy itself which they will start exploring at their next meeting (January 11th). They will also examine the affirmative action policy. They are very interested in ex- ploring, in great depth, methods to disseminate information on these and other policies. Dr. Hyer asked if members could suggest other problematic policies for their agenda. Muriel Flynn (Employment Services Manager/Personnel Ser- vices) raised the issue of the state recruit policy. Up until spring 1992, state agencies were able to advertise positions as promotional opportunities for their own employees, rather than opening them up to the general public. The state legislature reversed this policy on be- half of affirmative action, but Mr. Flynn feels it often defeats affir- mative action efforts within the pool of existing university personnel. The Committee agreed to discuss this issue further once a new director of the Department of Personnel and Training is appointed. o DIVERSITY SUBCOMMITTEE: Dr. Pendergrass reported that her subcommittee plans to establish a campus-wide communication network to encourage the cross-fertilization of ideas and the sharing of resources. They will compile a mailing list and PROFS ID list of everyone formally and in- formally involved in diversity issues, including all college represen- tatives and graduate school administrators. EO/AA Committee members are urged to contribute to this list. Secondly, the subcommittee recognizes the resource value of Dr. Moore and some others who have been pioneers in diversity and who have under- taken initiatives to secure resources beyond what the university can provide. They must learn from them what opportunities exist and how to pursue them. Dr. Moore has agreed to conduct a workshop in March whose purpose will be to develop a directory of practical resource informa- tion. o RETENTION TASK FORCE: Dr. Pinder distributed a copy of Joyce Williams- Green's "Executive Summary of the 1991 University Retention Committee Report", which framed his group's discussions. To the report's six ma- jor areas of investigation, they added the concerns of graduate stu- dents, staff, and persons with disabilities. The thirty-six recommendations will serve as a starting point for their study, and they highlighted six areas of particular interest. They feel the uni- versity should continue to emphasize academic advisement, to broaden its scope, develop more specific goals, and become more representative of the university. The faculty reward project has addressed advising as a major theme, but additional recommendations are in order. The re- tention task force expressed concern over the recent policy which states that scholarships cannot be limited to one specific racial/ethnic group; the university needs to study its ramifications. Further concerns are the lack of upward mobility and the particular concerns of black faculty; they will gather data to support their in- vestigations. On a more practical note, the task force wonders if they can affect policy changes or institute policies, and to what extent. Dr. Holford said she believes it's possible, once the EO/AA Committee finds or creates the proper channels. o MONITORING SUBCOMMITTEE: Dr. Holford reported that the group was able to name eight issues to tackle this year. They dealt with three issues at their meeting and returned to the Committee with specific requests on two of them. MONITORING THE EO/AA OFFICE: They delineated appropriate and inapropriate things for the EO/AA Committee as a whole to review in the structuring and conduct of the office. They felt it would be inapropriate for the Committee to involve itself in the actual specif- ics of cases or the day-to-day processes. The subcommittee DID propose that the EO/AA Office institute a semester briefing, to include the types and number of cases, the cases' time for resolution, their manner of resolution, a detailing of educational efforts each semester, and information about informal inquiries. Kay Heidbreder countered that the sexual harassment policy prohibits the tracking of informal in- quiries for reasons of confidentiality, so that complete disclosure will not be possible. Dr. Hyer interjected, as a relevant point, that her subcommittee had discussed the effectiveness of the faculty search policy. She sug- gested that the EO/AA Office make a briefing of the data it collects in faculty search efforts. In proposing a semester briefing, Dr. Holford cited potential benefits of continuity in terms of information and data for future committees to use, as well as the office itself; and, over time, the information will serve as an indicator of any trends in the office that the Committee is or is not addressing. Dr. Holford formally presented the motion as follows: that the EO/AA Office provide a semester briefing to include the types of cases; the number of cases; the time for resolution; the manner of resolution; ed- ucational efforts; and any other pertinent information requested by the EO/AA Committee. The Committee voted and the motion was passed. TITLE IX REPORT: Dr. Holford stated that the Athletic Committee has reviewed the report, and that Athletic Director Dave Braine is develop- ing a Title IX Equity Compliance Implementation Plan for presentation to the Athletic Committee, probably in mid-January. The monitoring subcommittee felt it would be appropriate for the plan to also be pre- sented to the EO/AA members, since gender equity is an issue that is integral to this Committee's mission. Therefore, they sought authorization from the Committee to draft a let- ter to Minnis Ridenour (with a copy to Dave Braine) requesting that the EO/AA Committee be allowed input into the plan, sometime before it goes before the Board of Visitors in February; and that EO/AA Committee mem- bers be invited to attend the presentation before the Athletic Commit- tee. Dr. Hyer moved that the Committee draft such a letter. The Committee voted and the motion was passed. MINORITY ENTERPRISE BUSINESS PROGRAMS: Aspects discussed in the sub- committee's meeting included the bidding process, small business sup- port, record keeping in purchasing, and within purchasing, the lack of support for a position to monitor minority business purchasing. The group will ask Minoo Damanpour to meet with them for further dis- cussions. Dr. Spencer suggested they ask Ms. Damanpour to expound on procurement act issues, because it's an area heavily mandated by the state. Dr. Morton said he feels the university has fallen short of its goals, particularly in terms of purchases of goods. He recognizes that the state doesn't permit much flexibility, but would like to consider the possibility of the subcommittee working with Purchasing to come up with creative ways to encourage minority businesses, and to develop ways to make it more likely that minority businesses will have an easier time (e.g., workshops). He stated that, from past experience, it appears that such efforts are not institutionally valued. The meeting was adjourned at 4:10 p.m. NEXT MEETING IS SCHEDULED FOR JANUARY 19, 1994 2:00 - 4:00 P.M. CEC, CONFERENCE ROOM B
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