Student Assembly

Sponsored by: Nate Treffeisen ‘12, Stephen Breedon ‘14, Roneal Desai ‘13

Whereas, the University Diversity Council (UDC) was restructured in Fall 2011 charged with “supporting the president and provosts in providing the overall vision and framework for the university’s achievement of strategic goals focused on faculty, staff, and student diversity, reflecting the aspirations of the university as expressed in its 2010–2015 strategic plan.”

Whereas, the new university wide diversity plan, “Towards New Destinations”, will be in the implementation stage in the Fall 2012 semester;

Whereas, the plan has called for each administrative unit to choose five initiatives in the areas of composition, engagement, inclusion, and achievement;

Whereas, each administrative unit must adopt an initiative related to composition as one of its five initiatives;

Whereas, each initiative must be measurable and quantifiable;

Whereas, channels of communication have been created for leadership organizations to give input on defining the initiatives chosen by the administrative units.

Be it therefore resolved, as one of the five initiatives is related to composition, the Student Assembly suggests that the UDC defines identity and diversity by the federal, state, and local EEO protected classes, and the Cornell non-discrimination policy;

Be it therefore resolved, that the Student Assembly suggests that the UDC should encourage the administrative unit level diversity councils to work together to ensure that many types of diversity are taken into account in the final product;

Be it therefore resolved, as the plan directly relates to and effects student life, the Student Assembly recommends that administrative unit diversity councils engage student representation and input, as well as have a student representative on the UDC;

Be it therefore resolved, that the Student Assembly encourages the UDC to work more closely and transparently with the Diversity Community Meeting attendees, increasing its ability to gain diverse input from campus professionals on the decision-making process;

Be it therefore resolved, that the Student Assembly encourages the UDC to ensure that the administrative unit diversity councils are a diverse body;

Be it therefore resolved, that the Student Assembly encourages that the UDC ensure that those groups mentioned as protected classes by the Cornell University non-discrimination policy that are not currently tracked by the university will not be left out as part of the compositional diversity initiatives by the administrative unit diversity councils (i.e. LGBTQ, Veteran Status, etc.)

Be it therefore resolved, that the Student Assembly recommends the following initiatives to be considered a priority by the administrative unit diversity councils, but not limit themselves to these initiatives, as the administrative unit diversity councils should be dedicated to soliciting a broader range of student input:

• Composition:
  • Increase the yield of URM and the other protected classes mentioned in the Cornell University non-discrimination policy and EEO protected classes on a federal, state, and local level, in comparison to non-minority students.
  • And the SA endorses the notion of LGBTQ inclusivity in composition diversity initiatives.
• Engagement:
  • Ensure that each administrative unit have a space or department for students to get diversity related resources and help, and devote resources to increase the percentage of administration, staff, faculty
  • Implement cultural competency trainings for administration, faculty, staff, employees, students and RAs that include: race, ethnicity, sexual orientation, gender identity/expression, first generation students, undocumented students, disability, and others
• Inclusion: Increase the general satisfaction of the Cornell experience for URMs and other protected classes relative to other students
• Achievement: Commit to increasing the number of URM and the other protected classes mentioned in the Cornell University non-discrimination policy and EEO protected classes on a federal, state, and local level on the Dean’s List in the next three years in comparison to non-minority students.

Be it finally resolved, that a copy of this resolution be sent to Robert Harrison, Chair of the Board of Trustees, and Lisa Skeete Tatum, Chair of the Student, Staff, and Faculty Diversity Task Force.

Respectfully Submitted,

Nate Treffeisen, ‘12
Student Assembly Vice President of Outreach
LGBTQ Representative At-Large

Stephen Breedon, ‘14
School of Hotel Administration Representative
Co-Chair of JAMIC

Roneal Desai, ‘13
Minority Representative
Co-Chair of JAMIC