Over the past week, Dean of the College Maria Cruz-Saco held two sessions of “open conversation” with students in which she explained the general proposal for a new dean of multicultural affairs. The sessions were conceived to address student questions and concerns.
“Hopefully my proposal will be shaped by the end of the month,” said Cruz-Saco. “We plan to begin the hiring process in spring and have a dean selected by July 1st 2006[…]but all of this feedback will affect the way I conceptualize this proposal.”
The official title for the position has not yet been decided. According to Cruz-Saco’s proposal, the new dean would be chosen in part by an advisory board with representation from students, faculty and staff and input from the Office of Affirmative Action. Cruz-Saco outlined the proposed criteria they would look for in candidates and said that the Administration is looking for a candidate with experience teaching in a multicultural classroom.
“Ideally this new position will have a Ph.D[…]within this area of expertise,” Cruz-Saco said. “This [would mean that] the individual is very seriously engaged with diversity issues. We also want someone to have that kind of clout[…]who could talk with professors and influence them[…] and emphasize the importance of the career faculty center and diversity training.”
Several students raised concerns with not just the current level of programming, but also how to bring the promotion of multicultural awareness out of classrooms and into communities.
Jennifer Kim ’06 summed up some of students’ main concerns.
“Diversity is cornered off,” said Kim. “We’re certainly exposed to it everyday and everywhere, but it seems to be the manner in which we process and consider it is [strictly] within academia and activities. It bears the question of how do we make this ‘diversity’ not just a thing we study or a thing we do, but a part of who we are.”
Several administrators said they agreed with this point and said that it would be a main issue the new dean’s office and full support staff would be tackling. Although concrete details were not yet outlined, Cruz-Saco said that the new position would not take the place of the Office of Affirmative Action or the student organizing center, but would instead work in coordination with those and other deans’ offices on campus.
“I think it’s possible to get several different offices involved,” said Iris Jacob ’06, diversity intern at the Office of Affirmative Action. “Facilitated discussion after cultural events, for instance, can help integrate these issues within the broader community. It’s coming from all different sides of the University at this point[…] and it will be harder to escape exposure.”
One student also raised the issue of confusion over which office to approach with an issue or problem with race. Jacob and administrators said that all student offices should be approachable, no matter what concerns students may have.
“Let’s say I’m having a problem in my class and I am not being listened to,” Jacob said. “I can go to any of the deans. [This new office] won’t take the slack off of anyone else, but now they can refer students who need have a more specific question or needs to this new additional resource.”
Another role outlined for the new dean would be to identify programs that will add to and enhance student awareness of the multicultural capacities inherent on campus. Along these lines, the new dean would also work with the Office of Orientation and contribute largely to the programming for new students.
“The main purpose of orientation is for students to get to know advisors and work with class schedules,” said Shelley Stephenson, interim director of new student programs. “We’re really trying to strengthen diversity elements and programming in those first seven days, but we want to raise level of awareness and engage new students and other students beyond [orientation week].”
According to Jacob, the new dean’s office would most likely lead Wesleyan Diversity Education Facilitators (WesDEF) as well. WesDEF is a program initiated by Jacob last semester. A group of 23 students were professionally trained before the start of the semester and will lead workshops and dialogues in the dorms throughout the year. They will introduce students to a variety of issues, not all of which are race-related.
In addition to Cruz-Saco, several deans were in attendance. The sessions had a very informal atmosphere. Before each forum officially began, all students and faculty introduced themselves and chatted.
Much of the session also focused on the broader ways that the Administration plans to approach issues of diversity.
“[This] concerns the concept of diversity as a whole,” said Assistant Dean of Student Academic Resources Renee Johnson-Thornton. “It’s not just for students of color, it’s not just for students. [It’s] about religion, sexual orientation and thinking of a multicultural approach into every aspect of our lives.”
In addition to the student meetings, Cruz-Saco plans to present her proposal to the Administrators and Faculty of Color Alliance (AFCA) on Oct. 12th and will have an additional meeting with the faculty on Oct. 21.