Professional Development

• For fall term we have had two, Third Thursday events for staff and faculty. The first one facilitated by Joel McCarthy (Associate Dean of Students) on facebook.com and the second one on sustainability in higher education facilitated by Alyssa Binns (Director of Campus Involvment) and Milene Morfei (Associate Professor of Psychology). Cindy Speaker (Associate Dean of the College) will lead the next Third Thursday event on November 15^th which will focus on Middle States Assessment. For spring term, Third Thursday events will cover the following topics: Student Retention and Satisfaction (Feb., Anne Lundquist –Dean of Students), Enjoying Technology (March, Doug Elias –Associate Vice President for Library and Technology Systems), Community Sharing Event (April, hosted by the President’s Council). The information session will be an opportunity for those (both faculty and staff) who attended conferences or workshops to share with others what they’ve learned. Anne Lundquist will talk with the President’s Council to see if they would sponsor this event. 
• Cindy Speaker is working on finalizing arrangements for the Faculty Development Series. At this time, we have confirmed Allan Johnson who will be visiting on November 12^th to talk about gender and racial privilege. The Faculty Development Series is working with the Office of Student Life who initiated brining Allan Johnson here as part of its activities. 
• Jamey Ventura (Co-Director of Athletics) and I submitted an application for the NCAA diversity education program. If we are selected, we hope to have all athletes, coaches, and athletic staff go through this training in spring ’08. 
• I attended the AAC&U conference (October 18-20^th) on the Intersections of U.S. Diversity, Global Education, and the Unfinished Work of Democracy. This was a very thought provoking conference and has helped me think about important interrelationship between these three areas. I will write a short paper about the conference and how it can inform the college’s work on inclusion, diversity, and interculturalism here at Wells.

Administration

• I have been meeting individually with all administrative heads (Admissions, Academic Affairs, Communications, Finance, and Student Affairs) to develop a campus-wide, one year, diversity action plan. A meeting was then convened to bring everyone together, suggest changes to the plan, and find ways to collaborate across offices. The initial draft of the plan will be sent to the entire campus and put on our website. I have also been talking with the student diversity committee, staff diversity committee, and faculty diversity committee who are also developing a one year action plan. These individual action plans will be combined into one, comprehensive, 2007-08 Diversity Action Plan. 
• These four groups above are also working on respective five year strategic diversity plans. Similarly, each of these plans will be combined to create a comprehensive, Strategic Diversity Plan. The goal is to have this document completed by the end of spring term 2008. 
• I have been asked to serve on the board of the Aging and Disabilities Charities of America, which is part of the Combined Federal Campaign –federal employees giving program. www.aging-disabilities.org. I attended their first board meeting on September 28^th and 29^th in Salem, MA. 
• I have also been asked to serve on the board of the Ithaca City of Asylum. This organization supports writers who have fled their countries due to political persecution. It is part of the larger network of Cities of Refuge which started in Paris, France. 
• I have joined the organization, The Democracy Imperative (TDI), affiliated with the University of New Hampshire. The purpose of this organization is to integrate the principles of deliberative democracy in higher education –both in the classroom and in campus-wide decision making processes. The group met at the October 18^th, AAC&U conference. TDI will meet again at the January AAC&U conference. 
• I have met with all the diversity committees and am in the process of writing a white paper on outlining opportunties to create the next evolution of the Wells diversity committee system. 
• Pershima Reynolds ’10 is the Student Diversity Assistant for the Office of Institutional Diversity. She has been working on the diversity website and the diversity bulletin board in Macmillan.

• I am continuing to teach the Wlls 101 course and advise first-year students. 
• Joel McCarthy, Trina Nocerino and I have taught two Wlls 111 sessions on identity. 
• I am involved with the Ten Year Academic Planning Committee on finding ways to identify current courses and integrate diversity, inclusion, and interculturalism into the curriculum. 
• I will be a guest speaker for Deb Gagnon’s Culture and Cognition course. 
• I am helping John Wells, Trina Nocerino, Joel McCarthy, and Anne Lundquist develop both academic and social support structures for internaional students. 
• In collaboration with the Visiting Writers Series (Bruce Bennett), Women’s Studies (Lisa Hall), and the Ithaca City of Asylum, OID hosted writer Sarah Mkhonza (from Swaziland) on October 25^th. This is an initial effort to create a possible partnership with Ithaca City of Asylum. 
• Community standards posters (11" x 17") have been printed and framed and have been hung in the residence halls and other student spaces. 
• The Q Center out of Syracuse University is creating a regional collaborative on improving the experiences of LGBTQ students in colleges. I along with students from Wells will attend our first meeting next Thursday, November 8^th.

• Joel McCarthy, Anne Lundquist and I are developing a campus climate survey to be completed in November and have it available electronically on Survey Monkey. The campus climate survey will be taken by students, faculty, and staff. 
• Joel McCarthy, Anne Lundquist and I are also working on establishing an anti-bias protocol for the campus. 
• Tina Post (Development Writer) is creating a plaque and brochure that explains the cultural inaccuracies depicted in the mural outside the AER. She is working withWilliam Ganis (Assitant Professor of Art History), Michael Groth (Professor of History), Dan Hill (Cayuga), Ernie Olson (Professor of Anthropology), and Ann Rollo (Vice President of Communications), and me on this project. 

• I am working with Diane Hutchinson (Vice President and Treasurer), Rich Kloster (Bookstore Manager), Joel McCarthy, and the Student Diversity Committee in increasing the availability of multicultural products in the bookstore. Electronic feedback have been sent to students and SDC will pass-out and collect feedback forms to student groups and in the dining hall. 
• Ann Rollo (Vice President of Communications), Pam Sheridan (Director of Alumnae Affairs), Anne Lundquist (Dean of Students) and I are collaborating on creating a students of color/alumnae of color mentorship program. I have contacted several alumnae by e-mail and have talked with some on the phone. Pam will send out an e-mail and letters to alumnae to see if they are interested in being part of a working group. We anticipate this group meeting in NYC at the end of January/early February.