Montclair State University
PCAffirmative Action 2004-05

Minutes
May 25 , 2005

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Annual Advance
Abbott and Costello Conference Facility
Village at Little Falls

Present : E. Abreu (Women's Caucus), M. Brown (African American Caucus), M. Coleman-Carter (At-Large), Saundra-Collins (University Senate), M. Colon (Latino/a Caucus), S. Davage (CWA), D. Davis (AFT Local 1904), N. Firoz (APIC), A. Gutierrez (Latino/a Caucus), J. Hain (At-Large), J. Harris (ADA Representative), L. Jenkins (At-Large), D. Keiser (AFT Local 1904), AJ Kelton (At-Large), K. Key (African American Caucus), C. Lange (Women's Caucus), L Lemley (IFPTE Local 195), S. Lewis (Faculty), D. Lorenzo (At-Large), C. Matteis (Managerial), B. Milton (Ex-Officio), D. Ragin (University Senate), L. Reed (Physical Plant), L. Rodriguez (At-Large), O. Rodriguez-Srednicki (At-Large), T. Rodriguez (APIC), T. Ronquillo (UAASO), L. Santiago (University Police), S. Sims (University Police), S. Skalsky (Managerial), L.Smith (ADA Representative), N. Smith (OSAU), & M. Zabourney (Staff/Clerical)

Guests: K. Barrett (University Police), J. Friedman-Lombardo (CAPS), K. Morillo (Women's Center), T. Kelshaw (Communication Studies/presenter), E. Neuer (ADL of New Jersey), & S. Smith (Discipline Officer and Director of Campus Recreation and Intramural Sports

The meeting was called to order at 9: 20 a.m.

Chair's Message
C. Meneghin asked attendees to take a look at the photographs of Hain's trip to Africa.   Meneghin asked Hain to display her photographs to let us know about Hain's interests and talents.   Meneghin encouraged other PCAA members to share their interests, talents and experiences.

The Chair reviewed the PCAA accomplishments this past year.   We accomplished much this year and the chair complimented members on their civility.   She also praised the amount of participation in the discussions of the readings.

Certificates of Appreciation
Meneghin gave out certificates of appreciation to Kelton for his work on Affirmative Action Day, D. Lorenzo for her work in getting Donna Brazile to MSU and Milton for keeping everything going on Affirmative Action Day.   The Chair also acknowledged Harris for getting over 30 student organizations to show up at the organization fair held during Affirmative Action Day, L. Rodriguez for his participation as a panelist in one of the Affirmative Action Day programs, and Hain for her financial support of the Day's activities.

Annual Report\
Meneghin asked members to read her draft and send any suggestions to her as soon as possible.

Minutes of the April 20, 2005 Meeting
Harris motioned to approve the minutes; Lemley seconded.   The minutes were approved as submitted.

Dr. Cole's Reply to the PCAA Recruitment and Retention Committee Report
Meneghin distributed Dr. Cole's response and asked the Recruitment Committee to review for discussion at a future meeting.

Election Committee Report

The Election Committee (Brown, Lorenzo & L. Smith) had received nominations for the following to serve as 2005 - 06 officers:

•  Chair: C. Meneghin

•  Vice Chair: D. Ragin

•  Corresponding Secretary: K. Key

•  Recording Secretary: L. Rodriguez

Brown asked if there were any nominations from the floor.   None were offered.   Brown then asked for a motion to vote on the slate as presented by the Election Committee.   Harris so motioned and Lemley seconded.   The PCAA then voted and the members on the slate presented by the Election Committee were elected by acclimation.

Other Executive Board Members

Meneghin said that Hain and Milton are ex-officio members of the Executive Committee.   Jenkins, in her role as PCAA fiscal officer, also serves on the Executive Committee, as do the chairs of the PCAA's standing committees.

Other Business
Meneghin reported that she had spoken to Tina Jacobowitz. She is dong well and she expects to return to teaching and the PCAA in the fall.

Lemley praised Harris for the job he did in recruiting and organizing the student groups that participated in the Affirmative Action Day activities.

Harris spoke about the May 12, 2005 New York Times article that focused on who is going to college.   A discussion followed.

Anti-Bias Task Force Training
The PCAA volunteered to test the training program being developed to deal with bias incidents on campus.   Etzion Neuer   of the Anti-Defamation League of New Jersey, led off the activities by talking about characteristics of bias incidents and what his organization does to train groups on how to respond to them.   Todd Kelshaw of the Communications Studies Department facilitated a discussion on personal engagement and responsibility.   Members then broke out into small groups to discuss and report back on responses and policies to deal with bias incidents.   The reports will be reviewed by the MSU group putting together the protocols for responding to bias incidents.

PCAA Standing Committees
The committee chairs for the past year reported on their committee's activities.

Education Committee

Harris reported that the committee had set-up information tables at PCAA activities to pass out information on the PCAA and on affirmative action, worked with student leaders to promote affirmative action and held a forum on the perception of affirmative action.

Mentoring Committee

Coleman-Carter thanked Abreu for taking over as chair during 2004 - 05 while Coleman-Carter served as Acting Dean of Students.   She said that the committee explored why the campus thinks there is a need for mentoring, what is desired of a mentor and what kind of mentoring is occurring formally and informally.   They discussed how to best get this information and decided to focus on a target group.   The feedback from the target group will be used to develop recommendations on possible mentoring programs at MSU.  

January was Mentoring Month.   This past year, the committee sponsored a pilot program to allow mentors to be thanked by those they mentored.   The committee is looking to expand this program.

Recruitment and Retention Committee

Rodriguez-Srednicki reported that this past year, the committee asked constituency groups to recommend actionable items from the committee's report of the previous year. They met with constituency groups to identify at least one item from the report to recommend for further action or implementation.   She said that the constituency groups appreciated this follow-up and the chance to continue talking to the PCAA.  

After the reports, members were asked to join a committee and to develop plans for the upcoming year.

Executive Committee

Meneghin asked members the best time to meet in the fall.   The first Thursday of the month (except September) seemed the best time.   Changes to general meeting we are considering are:

•  Breaking into smaller groups when discussing the readings.

•  Giving the caucuses a specified time during a general meeting to report to the PCAA.

We are considering a different structure to Affirmative Action Day.   Rather than having one event in the spring, have one event in the fall, which would feature a panel discussion, and one event in the spring, which would feature a keynote speaker.  

The Executive Committee is considering adding a new person - an Events Coordinator - to the Executive Committee to help the PCAA connect more with student organizations and to other groups on campus not represented on the PCAA.

Recruitment and Retention Committee
Rodriguez-Srednicki and Vega were elected as co-chairs.   Rodriguez-Srednicki said the committee will focus on identifying on issues important to staff.    They will try to find ways to increase communication between the caucuses.   Finally, they will look at the ways in which positions are advertised and the impact on recruitment.

Mentoring Committee
Abreu and Coleman-Carter were elected as co-chairs.   This year, the committee will gather information about mentoring resources on and off-campus.    They will expand on the "Thank Your Mentor" day.   They will try to get more student involvement in mentoring activities.   They will conduct a needs assessment to determine what is to be addressed in a mentoring program.

Education Committee
Harris and Smith were elected co-chairs.   L. Smith reported for him that the committee will do a second annual "Conversations on Affirmative Action" program.   The program will focus on students' knowledge of affirmative action.   They are considering a program to help dispel myths and stereotypes on race, religion, diversity, sexual orientation, disability, and political orientation.   They will try to publish a master calendar of major religious/cultural holidays (someone suggested this be put into the schedule of classes to help faculty and staff identify these holidays.   They will promote Affirmative Action Day.   They will meet the third Wednesday of the month.

Respectfully submitted,

Luis Rodriguez