SJI CEC Staffing and Governance 4-21-09

April 21, 2009
Social Justice Initiative: Staffing and Governance of the Cultural Education Center

A position for a Cultural Education Center Coordinator must be created and the position of one staff person should be reallocated as a resource person (primarily for students, but also for the coordinator and professors,) in the CEC in order to best use the space designated by the CEC Task Force.

Counsel of Representatives: governing board of the CEC which consists of one representative from each identity-based group. Identity based groups are organizations that are formed around non- dominant identities in order to assert the presence of that identity, provide a safe space to its members, and to program events. Currently, these organizations include: BLSU, ACS, ISA, WIAA, HILLEL, MSA, The Brothers, Womyn’s Center, Rainbow Alliance, ICWES. We anticipate more identity-based groups to form in the future. We also stipulate that only non-exclusive organizations should be represented in the Counsel. Each group will elect a person who will act as a representative of their organization either for a semester or a year. The responsibilities of this counsel are, but not limited to:
• Ensure collaboration among these groups
• Govern the space
• Work with the resource Person and future CEC Coordinator
• Hold regular meetings to discuss upcoming events and programming
• The counsel of representatives is limited to ambassadors from these identity based groups. The use of the space, however, is actively open to all organizations and individuals.

Resource Person: a person who can be a resource to the Counsel of Representatives, and carry out the administrative functions of the CEC. Her/ his responsibilities include, but are not limited to:
• Working with the student representatives in designing and implementing programs and events,
• Facilitating the scheduling spaces
• Managing the calendar of Cultural Events
• Coordinating interaction and collaboration with the DSJP
• Working with the future coordinator to put together trainings, pedagogical resources, etc
In acknowledgment of the economic times, a currently existing staff person can be reallocated immediately. We request that Janet Turvey become the Resource Person either full time or split her time with the DSJP where she currently works. As soon as this position is reallocated for this purpose she can immediately facilitate the formation of this Counsel by contacting the various organizations.

CEC Coordinator: position trained in the area of cultural education, can hold trainings for faculty, students and administration, and be a pedagogical resource. As we see it, the College exists for the students; this person will be an advocate for students in two ways:
• Firstly, she or she will be responsible for the Cultural Sensitivity and Awareness on campus. If done properly this could promote community engagement in difficult conversations and topics: currently such conversations are stymied and censored.
• Secondly, she or he will serve as the Ombudsperson for incidents both inside and outside the classroom. She or he will work with the Social Honor Code task-force.
• The hiring of the coordinator should be completed as soon as possible by a committee the Counsel of Representatives, some students drawn from SJI and professors drawn from the Diversity and Social Justice Project. In order for this position to be effective it must be independent: the person who holds this position must be working for the students, not for the administration. Due to the sensitive nature of student concerns, this person needs to be someone students can confide in, trust and relate to. We are aware that in an institution such as Hamilton each position has oversight, but we feel that this position would not work under the administrative jurisdiction of the Dean of Students or the Dean of Faculty.

Please contact Robyn Gibson