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Virginia Tech
Governance Minutes ArchiveOctober 19, 1993
UNIVERSITY COMMITTEE ON EQUAL OPPORTUNITY/AFFIRMATIVE ACTION MINUTES OCTOBER 19, 1993 Present: C. Morton, L. Woodard (for Ann Spencer), P. Hyer, V. Tran, V. Reilly, L. Moore, E. Braaten, L. Roy, J. Hiller, R. Oderwald, R. Purdy, B. Purswell, D. Travis, R. Stith, C. Eggleston, B. Pendergrass, R. Hayman, L. Graham, J. Snell, C. Pinder, C. Burger, B. Whitlock, K. Tarnoff, G. Holtzman, T. Dillaha. Dr. Cornel Morton called the meeting to order at 2:00 p.m. 1. GREETINGS AND INTRODUCTIONS Dr. Cornel Morton asked everyone to introduce themselves, describing which units they represented. 2. ADOPTION OF THE AGENDA The agenda was adopted as presented. Dr. Morton explained that the minutes were not available from the September 21 meeting due to Ms. Bobbi Lowe's extra busy schedule over the past few weeks. The minutes will be available shortly. Dr. Morton reiterated that the last meeting was a very lengthy one and that most of it was a review of projects that are currently underway, as well as various reports. 3. DISCUSSION OF THE CHAIRPERSON FOR THE COMMITTEE Dr. Morton shared that he had been the Director of the EO/AA Office for the past four years and that during the last year of his tenure in that office, he had doubled as the Executive Assistant to the President by virtue of Dr. McComas' wishes. There has been an extensive search ongoing and the final decision has been made as to the new director of the EO/AA Office. The position was offered to, and has been accepted by, Ms. Kay Heidbreder. Kay is currently on a trip to China and will return to the campus on October 19, 1993, at which time she will assume her new assignment. Dr. Morton and Ms. Heidbreder discussed some of her new duties before her departure to China and Ms. Heidbreder hoped Dr. Morton could persuade the committee to delay selecting a chair until she returned. Even though she would prefer to participate in the selection process, she did not have strong reservations if the committee decided they did not want to make that choice. Dr. Morton acknowledged his enjoyment at working with the committee over the past four years. After some discussion among committee members, a motion was passed to delay the choosing of a chairperson until Kay Heidbreder is able to attend. Ms. Lowe will send out a membership roster to each committee member, indicating which members are eligible to assume the role of chairperson, thus allowing members to begin to think about selecting a chairperson. According to the Constitution, ex officio members, administrators and students are ineligible to assume the role of a chairperson. Once the Committee has selected a chairperson, that name will be presented to the President of the University for appointment. In the past, the Director of the EO/AA Office has automatically been the chair of this committee. However, this is a newly formatted committee in so far as its charge and membership. Several members of the Committee expressed interest in Ms. Heidbreder's present role at the University. Dr. Morton shared that she is presently Associate Legal Counsel, working with Jerry Cain, and has been at the University for about 11 years, after having spent about a year in the private sector. She has worked with the Office of EO/AA quite extensively in the past few years. 4. CONTINUATION OF REPORTS ON PROGRAMS/ACTIVITIES Dr. Pat Hyer presented her report on faculty hiring goals, as well as activities and programs currently underway. She shared that faculty hiring goals are quite similar to staff goals, especially in the procedures for determining the affirmative action goals for the University in compliance with the federal executive order. Dr. Hyer provided extensive handouts to the Committee members, explaining each handout in great detail. Dr. Hyer explained that her data is one of the mechanisms for providing some kind of accountability to the deans for how their hiring practices are being implemented. A discussion ensued regarding the retention problems at Virginia Tech. It seemed to be widely recognized that the recruitment procedures have certainly improved, but that the retention issue is still a major one. A lively discussion surrounding this issue ensued. Several committee members shared their concerns in this area. Dr. Charles Pinder expressed his concerns that there was more of an emphasis on recruitment and not on retention and/or upward mobility. Dr. Cornel Morton shared the following ongoing programs/issues with Committee members: o The Faculty Workshop Program will again be offered this year. Dr. Johnnie Miles and Dr. Richard Bambach will serve as facilitators. Dr. Morton feels that the workshops go a long way in nurturing diversity, especially among instructional faculty. The student panel that comes in and speaks to the faculty have some very revealing things to share. o The Breakfast With...Program, a very fine program which more and more departments are participating in, will be offered again this year. There are openings for speakers and if any committee members have suggestions regarding potential speakers, please recommend them to Michele Holmes in the EO/AA Office. o The Minority Newsletter. This project has expanded dramatically over the past two years and is now distributed across the Commonwealth, as well as in our own community. Michele Holmes in the EO/AA Office is very happy to receive comments, suggestions, and articles for this project. o Dr. Morton reported that the perceptions of faculty who participate in the campus climate workshops is that our university is willing to change but that the change will be very slow because we are very conservative, very traditional, very white-male dominated, and very selective. o Dr. Morton hopes that as the Committee members think about what type of work they might do this year, they will address policy implications and administrative institutional culture implications. o Dr. Morton feels that there are not outward signs of alarm, but that we are sitting on a tension-filled community. He feels we have very strong leadership among the minority students but that we still need to pay close attention to all students' needs for cross-cultural interaction. o The EO/AA Committee was restructured, in part, to persuade and encourage a proactive posture. The new membership has been designed for closer representation with the colleges. 5. ISSUES AND PROGRAMS FOR 1993-94 ACADEMIC YEAR Areas/items of concern expressed from Committee members: o Dr. Carol Burger expressed interest in the development of a Women's Center at Virginia Tech. o Dr. Ellen Braaten is most interested in a proposal for a master plan of physical accessibility at Virginia Tech. She shared that in her 20 years at the University, Va. Tech has been reactive to the problem but not proactive. Dr. Braaten feels that there is a perception that handicapped people are not able to do as much as non-handicapped individuals and that this perception needs attention. o Ms. Leslie Graham responded to Dr. Braaten's concern by sharing that her college is conducting studies regarding laboratory accessibility for handicapped students. She feels there is definitely a movement toward accessibility. o Dr. Cornel Morton also responded to Dr. Braaten's concerns by discussing the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) Management Committee and ADA Advisory Committee. o Dr. Virginia Reilly wanted to share with Dr. Braaten and the Committee the goals of the Disabled Student Services Office. She is hopeful that disabled students will get more involved in leadership roles. Her office is open to any and all suggestions for improving conditions at Virginia Tech. She is currently trying to set up mentoring programs for handicapped students. Dr. Reilly feels that people with hidden disabilities may even have a more difficult situation than those with visible handicaps. She wants to work to increase awareness and training programs on campus climate regarding the handicapped. o Dr. Lucinda Roy was most interested in what this Committee does exactly; does it have actual goals/challenges; or is it mainly a discussion forum. She wondered if the Committee could have any practica effect on the community. Dr. Roy expressed her frustration at serving on committees where no significant changes are actually made. o Dr. Morton responded to Dr. Roy by sharing that while significant contributions to university policy (sexual harassment and family leave) have been made, in the past this Committee has mainly been a place where people express disdain, share ideas, and have an opportunity to vent their frustrations. He hopes the Committee would work this year to effect change on policy level and administrative levels. He feels the Committee must be more active in order to make tangible differences. o Things the committee might do: o The Committee, in general, feels that sub-committees might be very useful. o Dr. Larry Moore suggested that the Committee work as a "family" when attending conferences, etc.; for example, they might attend a conference as a "group" rather than as individuals. Dr. Moore also felt that the Committee might develop several subgroups to study retention in all areas -- graduate and undergraduate students, faculty, classified staff. o Dr. Richard Oderwald expressed interest in the College of Forestry participating in a recruitment and retention of graduate students program. o Dr. Janine Hiller shared her College's approach. A standing committee on multicultural diversity was instituted three years ago and integrated into the College's strategic plan. The committee defined goals and assigned responsibility for their implementation. In 1992-93, the committee received reports from administrators and others concerning the progress towards those goals. The committee was a part of this process and assessed its progress as well. The administrators accepted the recommendations of the committee following the assessment. Overall, progress has been made towards reaching the goals, but some areas are slower than others.* o Dr. Pay Hyer passed out a handout entitled "Possible Roles and Projects for he New EO/AA Committee." This handout defined possible task forces as well as on-going functions and needs that the EO/AA Committee might wish to address. o Mr. Richard Hayman expressed his interest in the Committee studying the classified staff system where the grievance procedure is the only mechanism for classified staff to voice their complaints. He would like to see classified staff be able to have their concerns dealt with in various ways, as well as have the committee dig into discriminatory behavior. Mr. Hayman was very interested in modifying hiring goals regarding classified staff also. The Committee meeting adjourned at 3:30 p.m. Respectfully submitted, Bobbi J. Lowe Executive Secretary * Paragraph amended per EO/AA Committee request / klp
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