Assemblies Leadership receives briefing on two pilot programs

Lynette Chappell-Williams, center, director of the Office of Workforce Diversity, Equity and Life Quality, addresses President Hunter Rawlings, right, Gary Brandt, chair of the University Assembly, and the other members of the Assemblies Leadership at the group's Feb. 22 meeting in Day Hall. Charles Harrington/University Photography

By Jacquie Powers

The leadership of Cornell's various assemblies, President Hunter Rawlings and several key administrators were briefed last week on two pilot programs that are aimed at improving communications and understanding among members of the campus community.

Lynette Chappell-Williams, director of the Office of Workforce Diversity, Equity and Life Quality, reported at the regular monthly Assemblies Leadership meeting Feb. 22 on "Not On Our Campus, Not In Our Community," an expanded university bias activity response program.

Emanuel Tsourounis, a senior and chair of the Student Assembly, reported on Shadows 2000, a new pilot program being launched this month in which students, faculty, staff and administrators can volunteer to interact informally, by shadowing each other during a typical day.

Williams explained that "Not On Our Campus, Not In Our Community," the bias activity response program, is a revised and expanded version of the bias response effort Campus Life created to deal with a series of racial harassment incidents on campus in fall 1998.

Cornell is committed to diversity and inclusiveness, as expressed in its new "Open Doors/Open Minds/Open Hearts" diversity statement approved by the Student Assembly, Employee Assembly, University Assembly and Graduate and Professional Student Assembly and strongly endorsed by Rawlings and the Cornell Board of Trustees in January. The statement includes a zero tolerance for all kinds of bias activities.

The new universitywide response program establishes a coordinated system, in the Office of Workforce Diversity, Equity and Life Quality, for responding to bias activities. That office will operate the program with the help of new response coordinators, a reporting team and a response committee. They will work in conjunction with Cornell Police and Campus Life. In addition, Williams said, the bias activity prevention team will meet semiannually to discuss bias activity that has occurred and develop strategies for preventing such activity.

If a member of the Cornell community receives information about possible bias activity, he or she should report it to a member of the reporting team. The reporting team, which will have members from throughout the university community, is still being formulated. Names of the reporting team members will be advertised in a variety of ways, with specifics still to be decided. The team member will file a report on the incident, via a fax line dedicated to bias complaints, with the Office of Workforce Diversity, Equity and Life Quality. Until team members are identified, complaints of bias activity can be called in to the office at 255-3976.

Tsourounis said the purpose of Shadows 2000 is to promote more meaningful interaction between the different populations in the university. As many as 50 students will be paired with 25 faculty and 25 administrators and staff members, and each pair will spend a minimum of four hours shadowing each other throughout their workday.

Letters and questionnaires are being sent to students, faculty and staff who express an interest in volunteering for the program, which will be advertised in the Cornell Daily Sun and around campus. Questionnaires also are available in the Office of Assemblies or on the web at http://www.assembly.cornell.edu/shadows/shadows.html. Completed questionnaires are due back at the Office of the Assemblies, 165 Day Hall, by March 16.

An informational session for participants will be held March 30 and shadowing week is April 10-14. A debriefing will be held May 6, during which participants may share and evaluate their experiences.

The Assemblies Leadership meetings are held monthly so that the leadership of the Student Assembly, Employee Assembly, University Assembly and Graduate and Professional Student Assembly can meet with Rawlings and senior administrators, including the dean of students and dean of the faculty, to discuss campus governance and issues of importance to the campus community.