Charge

The chair of the University Faculty Senate, Mohamad Ansari and Provost, Nick Jones have changed the 2015 Joint Diversity Awareness Task Force to:

• Continue to undertake a review of issues related to cultural awareness, curricular and out-of-class climate changes which could enhance the environment for all students across the University;
• Continue to work with and contribute to any effort relating to curricular programs, including general education and engaged scholarship;
• Contribute to the President’s “Student Career and Economic Development” Imperative in coordination with the Provost and the Office of the President;
• Assess the document “A Framework to Foster Diversity at Penn State” paying particular attention how the Faculty Senate can assist with the following Framework challenges:
  • Create a Welcoming Campus Climate, Recruiting and Retaining a Diverse Work Force,
  • Developing a Curriculum That Fosters United States and International Cultural Competencies;
  • Explore the creation of a framework for advancing diversity and inclusion that goes beyond the current Framework to Foster Diversity;
  • Conduct an analysis of the current US and IL diversity courses across the University. This includes gathering data, considering the ways in which outcomes are monitored and systems of accountability. Such a study should benchmark across CIC Institutions as it relates to the course content that focuses on diversity, and consider alternative models to monitoring and accountability.