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Chancellor’s Council on Inclusion
MEETING MINUTES I. Welcome and Introductions - Dr. Prince
II. Council Logistics - Dr. Prince
J. Prince – This meeting
is subject to open records and is posted as such. Part of this means
that we need to find voice for those that aren’t members of
the Council, but want to add voice to it. Besides being able to provide
written comments, we should find another avenue. As Chair of the Milwaukee
Public Library board, we provide public comment opportunities at the
beginning of our meetings. Perhaps we can think of this type of format.
G. Jay – propose to have a question to speak via invitation; public comments at the beginning of the meeting which could be used as topic base meetings. E. Sander – Suggestion is that proposed topics could be posted to the UWM home page or council website. This would provide an opportunity for students or anyone to post written comments. III. Goals Related to the Chancellor's Charge
J. Prince - Formal recommendations for the Ombudsperson program has been made to the Chancellor, and enthusiastically accepted by him. He has urged us to move forward. Dev has led the search process, and we are currently in the act of interviewing candidates. A. Ombuds Program – Dev Venugopalan
R. Cheng - indicated that office space has been identified along with some equipment – phone ordered; Ombuds structure in place to work closely with Governance and Equity & Diversity (EDS); we encourage further nominations; e-mail sent out E. Sander – inquired to whom the e-mail was sent to; have the Deans been contacted and have they identified ombudspersons already in existence within their departments R. Cheng – The e-mail was sent to faculty, Deans, and all campus. The intent/goal is to bring everyone involved in an ombuds process together for the campus ombuds program. Hopefully, we can address the issue of relationship between the schools, colleges, departments and the campus ombudsperson. D. Venugopalan – there are all kinds of models out there; the University of Ombudsperson Association is a good reference. We need to be aware of the role of the Ombuds, including any liability issues – if there are some. L. Martin – appears we’re looking to have 8-10 people on the ombuds team; they could work with department base ombudspersons; there may be two different layers at UWM; the question is what format will exist – zone system perhaps? G. Wallander – need campus wide committee to work with colleges and departments J. Prince – it’s important to note/clarify that this is not a student ombuds program. The Dean of Students is the student ombuds per their charter. We are not sure if the model we will be utilizing is the perfect one for UWM, but we need to be flexible to make it work. She suggested that comments be e-mailed to D. Venugopalan. E. Sander – Can represented staff/civil service be nominated for positions? L. Martin – You can submit the nominations. But please note that there was only 1 African American in the original pool, and that candidate withdrew from the process, so there are currently none. P. Villarreal – Can classified supervisors be nominated? S. Stojkovic – How does an ombuds program work with labor agreement/unions? E. Sander – Regarding civil service, is the ombuds program a pre-cursor to the formal grievance process? Would governance have a conflict of interest? J. Prince – the Provost will discuss with faculty and staff regarding the relationship/view between the ombuds system & civil service, as well as how it will interact with governance and union. B. Diversity Training – Rita Cheng
E. Sander – inquired about the opportunity fund; set aside legal? Is it being handled equitable? R. Cheng - Yes, there’s funding (approximate $500, 000) and it’s legal G. Jay – Culture & Communities is very much interested in working with recruitment of faculty of color. If there’s anything our department can do, we would like to help. J. Prince - Recruitment will be the next topic question at the next meeting on December 6. E. Sander – is the topic focus on recruitment of students of color or faculty of color? (Answer: Students). G. Jay – what kind of diversity initiatives are out there to encourage students of color to come to UWM? For example, student housing, most urban students need on-campus housing. R. Cheng – the initiatives like student life component; service learning and living learning committee offers actual courses on site. IV. Questions for today's consideration In view of the Ombuds formation, Associate Vice Chancellor for Diversity opening, etc… >> What is a sustainable model for a Climate Oversight committee for campus? << Thoughts/Comments J. Prince – the council has to be more than reports… what’s the process? E. Sander – what does the group propose; how does the group ensure the playground is fair and equal P. King – Is climate really related to diversity or factor of diversity? Is climate about everyone on the UWM campus? In what context is climate defined? G. Jay – we have to be aware of mission drift (climate); the council should be a tool to the chancellor and the provost; it should be assessment and accountability J. Alinder - should the council examine all? S. Stojkovic – from a student perspective, the council should be sensitive to students’ concerns and how to tie it in with the 2008 plan. G. Wallander – the council should identify those areas which have climate issues on campus. J. Hill – the council should identify other groups/committees working on climate issues and bring them in/work together. J. Prince – thanks for your comments and thoughts; they’ve been very helpful and will be taken into consideration, and incorporated into how we run the Council. These ideas will be taken to the Chancellor, and we will move forward and avoid “mission drift.” V. Wrap Up/Summary of action items
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