The Clackamas print., May 17, 1995, Page 7, Image 7

DIVERSITY
The Clackamas Print Page 7
Wednesday, May 17 1995
Various opinions surge through campus
g was to keep it (The
;n for deliberation and
lion and to keep it in
i through the end of this
ey have set a Diversity
ting to review all the
s that have come in... so
an very deliberately, as
review all the com-
We have received five
versity here,” he said.
Whether people view the fo­
rum positively or negatively, no
one can argue that increased
knowledge has continued to
spread, along with increased
opinions and confusion.
Kay Davis, English instruc­
tor and core planning team mem­
ber, wanted people to understand
the amount of
work involved
in putting to­
gether
The
Plan.
“People think
that some, of
this was done
lightly....
People think it
was done with­
out
having
other people in­
volved
and
people think it
■Dean Darris
was done in a
Political Science Instructor
short period of
time.
ements already which
“I mean, we had meeting af­
helpful,” Keyser said. ter meeting after meeting where
Painter, assistant dean all we did was debate, and these
resources, said the fo­ (meetings) lasted two and three
il the need for such a hours. We went months like that.
:c.
“We picked one tiny word to
e forum accomplished define. And then we’d have five
t cemented in my mind drafts of that. Then we’d meet
hat we really need di- again and we’d add another word.
four guys’
xism and
you’re all
qually.,,
sified, and students. The goal
le committee is to:
ncrease “minority” student
uitment by 53b. per year
ncrease graduation rate of
mties by 1% per year
Strategies:
ecruit minority community
ers and students to work with
f on advisory committee to
slop recruitment, academic,
social support programs
mining strategies developed
ommittee:
)cus minority work recogni-
scholarships on recruitment,
stablish stronger in-district
¡with high schools
cruit from outside district
14 - Decrease number of eth-
religious, and sexual orien-
n conflict incidents each year,
tegies:
¡velop a “code of conduct” for
ampus
stablish hate free zone pro-
i for the campus (as at West-
tVashington)
15 - While maintaining the
ge’s commitment to hire the
t qualified” applicant, recruit
hire ethnic minority staff in
itegories consistent with the
ge’s Affirmative Action Plan,
federal reporting purposes,
' is considered to be part of
’ortland Metro Area.)
tegies:
tablish a pool of part-time
jrs to support departments;
“I think the thing that both­
ers me the most is that people
think that this was done by a very
select group of people, which it
wasn’t... It’s not been a secret,
and it’s not been anything that’s
been done in a hurry,” Davis ex­
plained.
Despite Davis’s comments
about the input process being
open, others still feel that the
planning was too exclusive.
“Communication with the
committee has been difficult and
criticism of The Plan has met with
a narrow groupthink process —
consensus thinking at its worst --
which tends to view any criticism
as reactionary and obstructionist,”
Orrelle stated.
“The answer to changes in
social attitude is through educa­
tion, not changes in policy,” he
continued.
“I think the major problem
with the plan is not with the plan
itself, but rather the kind of atti­
tude of the people implementing
it,” Crooks said.
“When you get that ’group
thing’ going, people aren’t look­
ing for outside ideas. There seems
to even still be members of the
original team displaying hostility
towards other people’s ideas com­
ing in and it just seems kind of
ironic. If it’s a diversity plan you
who hire minorities (i.e., the first
term the money will come from
this fund with the departments
picking up subsequent terms from
their own part-time dollars)
b) leave job announcements open
until sufficient minority appli­
cants have applied
c) increase recruitment of minor­
ity and staff positions
d) research techniques used by
other colleges to recruit minority
staff
* e) investigate potential faculty
exchanges with other community
colleges for a term or a year (mi­
nority preferred)
* Some minority staff at the other
five colleges have shown interest
in this and endorsed the idea.
f) investigate a “grow your own”
program (perhaps used in con­
junction with (a) above)
g) have the Human Resources
Dept collect applications from all
open positions to form a pool of
minority instructors which will be
sent on to appropriate depart­
ments for part-time positions (see
(a) and (f) above)
♦* h) redesign the college phone
book to include information on
language skills and cultural/travel
interest (Le., combine information
' found in several booklets into the
campus phone book)
♦* i) establish and use a set of
“standard” questions regarding
diversity/cultural issues for all
positions openings (these would
be in addition to the committee
questions)
♦♦ We recommend these strate­
gies be done immediately.
shouldn’t have that kind of fear
of other people’s ideas,” Crooks
said.
“I see it when I’m in those
meetings, the stereotyping of
those people who are against The
Plan. They’ve (those who oppose
The Plan) been called ’gut level
reactionaries,’ a member of the
planning team said that It’s like
their opinions should be disre­
garded. That’s downplaying the
thought that went into their re­
sponses to the plan.
“To just dismiss their opin­
ions and ideas as ‘gut level reac­
tionary’ is not taking into account
the validity of the ideas that are
being brought forth,” he added.
Despite people’s reactions
against a select committee repre­
senting the entire campus to de­
velop a plan, Uris reminds people
that there was a specific process
that the planning team followed.
’T think that most of that con­
cern has less to do with the plan
itself, than the idea somebody on
the top is imposing something on
everybody else. In other words it’s
seen as a ‘they, us, them’ kind of
thing. I would just remind people
that there really was a committee
that represented a lot of different
elements of the instructional and
administrative community that
Continued on page 8
Current Draft
3-17-95
The following diversity plan ad­
dresses three issues: campus and
community involvement, student
success and diversity, and staff
diversity.
Included in this document are the
rationale, history, data, defini­
tions, and visions for the diver­
sity plan. Each of the following
goals and strategies is to be con­
sidered a work-in-progress and
subject to revision and updating
as deemed necessary. Where
known and appropriate, the group
most responsible for the goal has
been added in parentheses.
Opinions on Diversity
“There are other issues that are more im­
portant tiat have been ignored by the fac-
ulty?such as budgets and student aid.”
-•\
“I want to clarify, firstofall, my vie wfhat
theie.isa difference between a diversity
plan, and
that is why I am againstthrsplan, because
asthcForamsbowcd,thestudentsbadnot
been represented and their opmions taken
mto acccnmt,<.At the Diversity Forum, I
was shocked at the attitude of ihe school
stall who was presenting the plan„,the
comments given by people, he (the ntod;
erator)^emed tokeepbouncmgcritictsm
off by going to other people who had com­
ments”
'y, '
, ,
name withheld by
'-W'
“The plan to require “Diversity Classes”
imigies that I am intolerant and need to be
reforeieit'T^
ERANT and dt>not peed to be refraweckj
No one needs to teach me to be tolerant, or
to act as a human being should. This tm
suits me, and my intelligence.** 0
Steven Moore
'
“I believe thatlamadi ver® persomldon’t
hold any stereotypes of people of other
races or genders. I would feel insulted if I
had to go through anything that would
“teach” (or try to teach) me to be diverse,”
JenniferHowcroft '
,
y ,
ing, High School Relations; ex­
isting agency and community
partnerships, etc.)
Goal 1 - Campus and Commu­
nity Involvement
* Establish a diversity advisory
committee that includes commu­
nity, administration, faculty, clas­
sified, and students. The goal of
the committee is to:
a) Involve ASG and student par­
ticipation in all phases
b) Increase minority student re­
cruitment
c) Increase graduation rate of mi­
norities
d) Investigate topics of exchange
with other institutions for faculty
and students
Goal 2 - Student Success and
Diversity
* Identify and/or develop at
least 10 courses with diversity
content
a) clarify/define criteria for “di­
versity content”
b) Examine existing courses for
current “diversity content” and
compile a list of current classes
which address the issue of diver­
sity (department level)
c) Contact other institutions for
courses and content in such
courses which demonstrate/sat-
isfy/fulfill/address issues of diver­
sity (department and division lev­
els)
d) Investigate the possflrility/re-
quirement of one “diversity con­
tent” class in all AA degrees and
certificates and determine the
most efficient method of this in­
clusion (Curriculum Committee,
Instructional Council, and depart­
ment level)
e) Pursue grant monies and/or
release time for faculty to develop/
modify classes to meet “diversity
content” criteria; investigate pos­
sibility of student credit for re­
search on course development
Strategies: Recruit minority com­
munity leaders and students to
work with staff on advisory com­
mittee to develop recruitment,
academic, and social support pro­
grams. (Student Services track­
Goal 3 - Campus Climate
* Provide opportunities to in­
crease tolerance, communication
and understanding amount people
with differing beliefs, racial back­
grounds, genders, religions, cul­
tures, and sexual orientations.
a) form a working committee of
students and staff to examine
campus climate and develop op­
portunities to learn how to sup­
port and value differences among
people
b) research “Diversity Awareness
Programs” used in other institu­
tions to heighten awareness and
respect of varying value and back­
grounds among students and staff
c) develop a variety of educational
events about diverse backgrounds
and cultures (i.e. speakers, enter­
tainment, in-services, campus­
wide forums, etc.) to encourage
learning among students, staff
and community members
Goal 4 - Staff Diversity
* Recruit and hire ethnic mi­
nority staff consistent with the
college’s Affirmative Action Plan
while maintaining the college’s
commitment to the “best quali­
fied” applicant.
a) increase recruitment of minor­
ity candidates for all college po­
sitions
b) research techniques used by
other colleges to recruit minority
staff
* Encourage and recognize bi­
lingual and sign language skills
of existing staff (develop a cam­
pus directory).
* Provide increased opportuni­
ties for staff diversity training.
a) determine nature of training for
instructors and staff and secure
courses and instructors