COUNCIL
Pluralism Committee
Scheduled
for Discussion at Council on September 24, 2003
The
Standing Charge from the Council Bylaws for the Pluralism Committee
states: The Committee
on Pluralism shall advise the offices of the president, provost,
the executive vice president, and the vice provost for university
life on ways to develop and maintain a supportive atmosphere on campus
for the inclusion and appreciation of pluralism among all members
of the University community. The Committee will also address specific
diversity issues that may arise on campus.
The Specific Charges for 2002-2003
1.
Complete the work begun by the Minority Retention Subcommittee
of 2000-2001: gather
relevant data, including relevant data that may be available from
the joint faculty/administration Committee on Minority Faculty Equity,
hold focus groups, etc., and determine what is being done and what
should be done to strengthen minority retention.
2. Encourage and monitor follow-up on the
2000-2001 Social Interaction Subcommittee's recommendations regarding
interaction across
student groups.
Actions
in 2002-2003
The
Committee has met four times this year, in addition to the meetings
of relevant
subcommittees. With respect to our overall charge, the Committee
has discussed a broad range of issues related to diversity and social
inclusion, and has attempted to provide input where relevant on a
variety of campus matters.
The Committee reviewed
a request made to University Council last year that the University's
nondiscrimination policies include nondiscrimination on the basis
of gender identity. In part based on a City ordinance passed last
fall, the Committee recommended to University Council that the University
adopt an explicit statement regarding nondiscrimination on the basis
of gender identity in its nondiscrimination language. University
Council approved this recommendation at its February meeting.
The Committee also
met with representatives of the Resource Centers on campus to become
more familiar with their activities, and to assess how the committee
could support the work of the Resource Centers. The Committee's assessment
was that the Resource Centers play a vital role on campus in promoting
the interests of diverse student groups. However, all of the
resource centers raised concerns about the limited funding they received
to meet their objectives, and about the need for stronger academic
linkages between their programs and academic programs related to
the study of cultural diversity. As a result of this discussion,
the Committee noted in particular that a report in 1997 about faculty
diversity lamented the shortage of faculty of Asian background on
campus, and that little appeared to have changed since the issuance
of that report. A letter was sent by the Chair of Pluralism to the
Chair of the Minority Faculty Equity committee, John Jemmott, calling
his attention to this report and the concerns of the committee regarding
the need for progress in this area.
With respect to our
specific charges for the current AY, the committee did not complete
the work of the Minority Retention Subcommittee, as charged. The
committee was made aware of an effort being led by the Provost's
office to investigate issues of minority retention, and the committee
has deferred any further work of its own in this area until the work
of the Provost's committee is completed. The Committee looks forward
to reviewing the final report of that committee (if one is to be
issued), and possibly monitoring the implementation of any recommendations.
Similarly, the Committee decided that it would be premature to review
further faculty retention and diversity issues until the report of
the Minority Faculty Equity Committee is completed.
With
respect to our charge to monitor implementation of the Social Interaction
Subcommittee
Report, the Committee wrote a letter to Dr. Swain-Cade McCoullum,
Vice Provost for University Life, requesting information regarding
VPUL progress in meeting the recommendations of the Social Interaction
Subcommittee report in AY 00-01. The committee received a report
from the VPUL outlining the missions and activities of many of the
student organizations on campus. The Chair has agreed to meet with
the VPUL to discuss how the promotion of social interaction can be
measured such that progress, or the lack thereof, in this area can
be assessed on a consistent and periodic basis. These discussions
will likely continue into the next AY.
With
respect to our charges for next year, the Committee recommends
inclusion of the
following:
1) Continue monitoring and dialogue with various
campus entities regarding implementation of the recommendations of
the Social Interaction subcommittee report. (The committee members
wanted to emphasize that this is potentially a major activity and
could consume a significant portion of the committee's efforts.)
2) Monitoring
implementation of the recommendation approved by University Council
of the inclusion of a statement of
nondiscrimination on the basis of gender identity in the official
nondiscrimination policy of the University.
3) Review whether the University's nondiscrimination
policy should or should not more explicitly acknowledge the inconsistency
between the University's policies, and those of the US Department
of Defense's, which continues to discriminate on the basis of sexual
orientation. Other universities and some schools at Penn have had
some recent experiences and debates on this matter that may inform
a university-wide position.
4) Catalog
the committees and investigations on matters related to pluralism
and diversity on campus to assure
that there is appropriate coordination and consultation among the
various entities involved.
2002-2003 Committee Members
Chair: Dennis Culhane (social work); Faculty: Portonovo
Ayyaswamy (mechanical engineering), Camille Charles (sociology),
Julie Fairman (nursing), Oscar Gandy (communications), Howard Goldfine
(microbiology/medicine), Gino Segre (physics & astronomy); Graduate
students: Louise Chen, Christina Fradelos; Undergraduate students: Rebecca
Kaplan (WH'05), Eugena Oh (COL'03), Cassi Pittman (COL'05); PPSA: Pamela
Robinson (College Houses & Acadamic Services); WPSA: Linda
Satchell (OAA); Ex officio: Jeanne Arnold (director, African
American Resource Center), Elena DiLapi (director, Penn Women's Center),
Scott Reikofski (director, fraternity/sorority affairs), Bob Schoenberg
(director, Lesbian Gay Bisexual Transgender Center), Terri White
(director, academic support programs); Invited guest: William
Gipson (Chaplain).
Almanac, Vol. 50, No. 4, September 16, 2003
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