CIDE Meeting 02/18/20

CIDE Meeting

02/18/20

Attending: Theodore Bartholomew, Wendy Cheng, Abigail Clarke ’20, Courtney Espiritu, Denise Nelson Nash, Marissa Parks ’20, Laura Stratton, Tressi Mehana Turkmany, Jennifer Wells

Working Group 1: Project Together

Jenn:

• Provide an update for Principles of Diversity.
  • Currently working on this, was not able to complete by this meeting. Likely will propose revisions to this group.
• How do we have leadership around these issues? IDEA 2.0 is also exploring an executive level diversity personnel.
• Department head would report on work going on in the college on diversity efforts. Have consistency open to community. Ongoing assessment practices.

Denise: What would that reporting look like?

• Will bring this back to committee. More comprehensive website? How are folks being responsible for taking action on these items? Making it more about how it will be shared with the wider community.

Laura: Prospective students are very interested in the IDEA microsite and are referencing it in conversation with Admissions.

Jenn: Offer comprehensive diversity and inclusion training.

• How do we think about what the ideal competencies are for staff members? How do we match that with training? Thinking out a program that is specifically providing staff with the tools they need to do this work.
• Some of this came from focus groups in IDEA 2.0

• Next 3 bullet points mostly related to faculty.
  • How do we make sure that new faculty know that this exists?

Denise: Recommends that these recommendations be taken up by faculty on the committee because it does not fall within the charge of CIDE.

Jenn: If there are current practices, make sure it is visible on the website.

Laura: Marketing and Communications might be able to help with this. Prospective students have a strong affinity toward video.

Jenn: Imagining an expanded microsite. Taking things from the audit and make sure it is in one place. When committee looked at other schools, these were the kinds of things visible on their sites. Trying to think about how things can be centralized. Sees a connection with communications to make this happen.

• The committee was not able to do a survey of campus within the timeframe.

Denise: If we could do one thing next year, what would it be?

Jenn: Create a five-year plan to do these things. This plan would exist as a strategic plan centered around diversity.

Denise: An audit seems feasible for next year and would provide the foundational information for a five-year plan

Jenn: Focus is on what the pedagogy is and from how we would implement it? Who will set the learning imperative for these things? Would want to think about what means the most to the people from whom it is required.

Laura: Wondering what conversations have come up in the past in terms of chief diversity officer and mandatory training.

Denise: Budgetary issue. To my knowledge, the request for a CDO has not come up in the PBAC process. To create executive level position also requires conversation with the Board. Moving forward, looking toward alternative models that work for Scripps. Unit based model with multiple individuals in different departments. Maybe initially it might be a piece of an existing staff member’s responsibilities. It could grow into a different position over time.

Laura: There is a lot being done and accomplished. How do we share what we’re actually doing? Communication helps everyone be a good steward.

Working group 2: Decolonization

Wendy:

• Assess and propose ways Scripps can create relationships with Indigenous Communities
  • Historically Pomona and Pitzer have taken lead on this
    • Both colleges have existing relationships with Indigenous elders
  • Initial conclusion, within the absence of existing relationships a garden or land acknowledgment seems premature.

Denise: Was there thought about Scripps collaborating with these institutions?

Wendy:

• Scripps faculty and students across the colleges have been working hard to get a center in the department and a major at Pomona and a minor at Scripps with which we can start building a relationship with these communities.
• Focus is on finding where the momentum is.
• If Scripps can facilitate having some sort of staff presence would serve students and communities well.
• Joint position Pitzer and Pomona, report to Associate Dean at DCCP at Pomona and CEC at Pitzer.
• In terms of land acknowledgment, committee will do more research on existing models.
  • UCLA model has acknowledgment on all levels. In final report will suggest models based on existing ones.

Tressi

• Had conversation with Laura in terms of recruitment and how admissions train staff on diversity and inclusion.
• How can we be stewards about sharing information and how do we engage ourselves more in the community?

Laura:

• So much about holistic process is things we can’t share publicly. It gets tricky when we try and parse that out to the public. Decision to not have a position in department with title related to diversity because it is everyone’s job.

Denise: This has been the institutional approach to date.

Jenn: When you say it’s everyone’s job what does that look like in terms of action and competency?

Laura: Things that we do every year are events and tasks. How do we decide when people travel? Every trip we take includes community organizations. Always think about who is at the table. Does not share regions on website. It’s about power dynamics. Thinking about what types of conferences people are going to and bringing it back.

Wendy: Lack of clarity about ways to meet this goal of decolonization. Want more clarity about possibilities and what those steps may be.

Denise: If we’re talking about the creation of an academic department, that would be a conversation with the Dean of Faculty. Imperative to respect the shared governance model. The creation of a garden and changes in communication would rise to the administrative level. Would faculty entertain students attending a faculty meeting?

Wendy: Dean of Faculty is supportive of the minor and faculty would welcome students at meetings to discuss this. Everything else would require the building of that community. Before next meeting, committee will come up with more ideas. Example: bring in someone to do a land acknowledgment at Orientation.

Denise: Want to make sure we have a driving force for diversity and inclusion. Admissions (decentralized approach) may be a model for how we progress.

Laura: Driving force has been the VP of Admissions. Must be institutionalized to make it sustainable. What if the current VP left?

 Working Group 3: Wellness and Alternative Forms of Healing

Victoria Genao ’21 has resigned from SAS as Diversity and Inclusivity Chair and will no longer head this sub-committee.

Courtney:

• Started finding resources that are available digitally. Focused on wellness apps.
  • With committee would like to narrow down the most useful ones.
• Ideally, if they are subscription based, would have a code to make it available. Some of them are diary-based for mood, others are focused on breathing. Others are not just US-based, but are also available in different languages.
• Thinks that this would help us give something helpful that people can use that isn’t “traditional.”

Denise: Are these free or subscription based?

Courtney:

• The ones that are subscription based are more visually appealing and have higher reviews. Has not looked at Android versions yet. Thinking about how we might be able to provide curated list.

Laura: Talked about implementing this in orientation.

Courtney: Can implement this in IT portion of orientation.

Jenn: Wonder how this might be beyond students. Similarly, to how everyone has access to Office 365, have it something that everyone in community has access to.

Ted: Marcus Rodriguez, a psych professor at Pitzer is looking to implement “7 Cups,” an app-based peer support and sometimes access to clinician mechanism.

Marissa: A similar resource is “18 percent,” free online community that provides support to students.

Closing

Denise: Reminder that we are seeking recommendations that are implementable in the next 1-2 years. Keep in mind budgetary impacts. Recommendations need to remain at the administrative level.

Next Meeting is with Lara on April, 28 2020

Action Items:  By the end of March, upload preliminary report in whatever form. Inform Denise when it is uploaded so that everyone can take a look and provide feedback. Will provide a second date when final versions should be uploaded for Lara’s review in advance of the meeting.