COMMISSION ON INCLUSION & DIVERSITY INITIATIVES
MEETING MINUTES
7/28/2020
9:08am – 9:58am
In Attendance: Natalie Mason-Kinsey, Marcella DeVeaux, Theresa White, Deion Turner, Carlos Fuentes, Mary-Pat Stein, Michael Neubauer, Elizabeth Gutierrez, Boris Ricks, Barrett Morris, Debra Hammond.
Discussion Items:
A. Review of the 10-point Action Plan Draft:
The updated plan was presented to the cabinet, and they have requested clarification on who would be working on each point. A commissioner explained that cabinet members must be assigned a point, to ensure that the university is being held accountable for this work and to prevent the work from falling back on commissioners. A commissioner suggested adding “retain & promote” to number one, and “recruitment, retention and graduation” to number three. It was suggested that if we keep these numbered, we should move the third point to be first. It is recommended that the creation of an Institute & Research Center on Equity and Black Culture be removed from point #6.
It was noted that the VPs will work with commissioners and constituent groups to make progress on the points; there should be 10 working groups. A commissioner expressed that the event that occurred on Nov 4 th at CSUN is only recognized by Africana Studies, and not publicized across campus. A commissioner suggested that cultural pedagogy should be included in curriculum, and ethnic studies experts should be assisting faculty development with number 6. They added that Faculty Affairs, the Provost’s office and possibly Black faculty and staff associations should be included with this point. Commissioners recommended combining points 7 and 8, and making the last point of number 6 its own point.
A commissioner expressed concern regarding the cabinet’s expectation of staff to do this work, in addition to their normal workload, without release time. It was noted that William and Mary-Beth seem to be the only ones doing the most important work. A commissioner suggested that they should be advisors, not responsible for doing all of the work. Moreover, commissioners recommended that there should be additional staff hired to do this work. It was suggested that Faculty Affairs be responsible for number 1, but Academic Affairs be responsible for number 6. A commissioner requested that the Black Student Leadership Counsel be added to Number 7.
It was shared that the cabinet hopes to hear thoughts and ideas for how to best achieve these points, in the meeting on Thursday. A commissioner suggested including a new point in the action plan, that would explicitly address the lack of funding and resources. Additionally, it was suggested that if the Institute & Research Centre on Equity and Black Culture has to be under a college, it should be under the college of Social and Behavioral Sciences, because that is where Africana studies is housed, however it does not have to fall under a specific college. It was noted that there have been conversations about a mural or sculpture should be included in number 4.
B. Assigning points to Cabinet Members
#1 – Mary-Beth Walker
#2 – William Watkins
#3 – William Watkins, Mary-Beth Walker & Natalie Mason-Kinsey
#4 – Rob Gunsalus & Mary-Beth Walker
#5 – Colin Donahue
#6 – Mary-Beth Walker + Natalie Mason-Kinsey
#7 – Natalie Mason-Kinsey and William Watkins
#8 – Natalie Mason-Kinsey
#9 – Rob Gunsalus
#10 – William Watkins
Action Items:
1. Natalie will update the action plan, and share it with commissioners before Thursday’s meeting
2. Commissioners will provide their feedback on the updated plan no later than 9am on Wednesday, 7/29/20.