The Stetson Reporter

' &&&&&&&$>"•■%*% ."ta» * ■" S T.E T S O N UN IiV E R S I T Y K- H UJ £t UJ > UJ UJ z < H Q "it became obvious that if we do draft a policy that extends beyond what what we have now, it will have to be a policy that covers various types of relationships within the university." »e reviewe by andy dehnart | The chair of the Faculty Senate is recommending that a task •force be formed to review the current consensual relations policy. Dr. Diane Everett, chair of the Faculty Senate, said :hat she will recommend to President H. Douglas Lee hat a task force be formed to evaluate the current proposal. >' The issue is surfacing now because of both possible 'litigation" and current thinking about the university's 'value commitments — particularly as they pertain to ssues of professional responsibility," she said. "I'm going to recommend at the President's staff meet- ng that we do form a task force that would include stu- ients, staff, administrators, and faculty, so that if we are ■;oing to develop another policy, it will be a policy that vill cover all these different groups." At a university faculty meeting, the policy was discussed with a particular emphasis on litigation issues, ' 'erett said. "It became obvi- ■>us that if we do draft » policy that extends •»eyond what we have iow, it will have to be * policy that covers /arious types of rela- donships within the aniversity," Everett said. The current wlicy covers relationships between stu- lents and professors. Everett said that the current state- oent is simply an endorsement of the position taken by lie American Association of University Professors. The statement, as published in Connections: The Jampus Life Handbook, says only that, if a relationship 'tween a faculty member and a student develops, "ef- -tive steps should be, taken to ensure unbiased evalu- jn Or supervision of the student." The current policy, adopted in December 1995 by the ■acuity Senate, does not address relationships outside jf faculty-student relationships. Dr. Karen Kaivola, an associate dean of the College jf Arts and Sciences and chair of the Women's Council, aid that "the issue of having direct supervisory author- -ty over someone with whom a person is intimately .in-. /olved goes beyond the faculty/student arena." : She said that statement "should, minimally, provide mechanisms to ensure that if or when a faculty member or upervisor becomes, sexually involved with .a student or m employee he or she supervises, the student's 'or subordinate's work is fairly evaluated." "Any examination of the issue would have to be ?road enough to encompass these... various types of relationships that could develop," Everett said. The year after the Senate endorsed the AAUP statement, the provost asked the Faculty Welfare Committee and then-chair Dr. Jan Kindred to reexamine the issue. The policy that committee came up with "was rejected at "he Senate level," Everett said. , "It certainly was a stricter policy than what we have oow," Everett said. . "There's nothing that forbids any kind of relationship" in the current statement, she said. However, she is insure if a future policy will forbid such relationships, •ike other schools do. "There are some schools that forbid them and they are grounds for termination," she said. Many of them don't have "power of enforcement," however. There are issues beyond possible sexual harassment litigation that stems from a relationship gone bad, Everett said. "Grades, accusations of favoritism from other students, and things like letters of recommendation" all need o be considered, she said. : . Dr. Iliana Mankin, a current member of the Faculty Senate's Faculty Welfare Committee, said "the policy bakers need to preserve individual freedom and respect itlult decisions. Also, we should find the balance be- ween continuing to provide the students with one-on- me contacts, individual attention, and all other things hat a liberal arts institution like ours tries to maintain." Kindred said that the university needs "an actual jolicy clearly stating what the University considers inappropriate behavior. I don't feel that the current state- nent is adequate." Andy Dehnart is the editor of The Reporter. UJ O < a H Z O It u. life | 'Pleasantville' arrived at theaters last weekend, telling the story of two kids who get sucked into the television universe of their favorite '50s sitcom. Once there, they introduce color and chaos to the black and white world of the the sitcom's characters. The result is the best social satire since 'The Truman Show.' [ cover, section B ] "^ wed 28 oct issue 9 volume 111 C 1 o ^^0^ by sara cotner | As Chinese Lion dancers parade through the Commons and Ghanaian singing fills the Rinker Fieldhouse in celebration of cultural diversity this week, the university continues to take a deliberate look at what it means to be a diverse community and how that type of community can be. achieved. In September, the Board of Trustees approved a "Commitment to Diversity Plan," an official statement of the university's diversity commitment. The plan asserts that "diversity is integral to education" and that the university "affirms that women and men of diverse racial, ethnic, religious, cultural, and socioeconomic backgrounds are fundamental to the process of education." The primary goal of the plan "is to proactively promote diversity through administrative directive by creating an atmosphere of inclusion, openness, and appreciation for all individuals and groups." The plan is subdivided into four goals, includ ing greater recruitment and retention of underrepresented groups; increased diversity on campus and support for diversity from the student body; a diversified curriculum that includes ALANA (African-American, Latino, Asian, and Native American), women, and gender issues; and the integration of on-campus diversity efforts with those outside. the university. " The "worksteps" that will help accomplish the central goals include measures such as rigorously pursuing ALANA faculty, training search committees about how to avoid discrimination, creating a $25,000 fund to help recruit faculty and staff from underrepresented groups, developing multilingual advertisements for Stetson, studying the validity of the SAT/ACT, displaying artwork that reflects more than "dead white men," expanding cultural programming, and incorporating diversity education into the general education program. Drafted by the Diversity Council, the final version of the diversity plan is the result of nearly a decade of discussion about these issues. When Doug Lee became president in the eighties, there were "no black faculty members" and Lee made diversity a "personal agenda item," he said. In the early 1990s, diversity was a "narrowly focused issue" and the first diversity goals only included the recruitment of black faculty and students. When the president realized that "a commitment to diversity was much broader" than only recruitment, he brought together a com- O- C 1 a- o- o ,<L> -t—> 00 84% 5% 00/ WHITE HISPANIC ASIAN 6% 3% 00/ , Mat / \J The university's administration has shifted Its priorities toward a goal of transforming a ■ predominately white campus' Into a more diverse and Inclusive •community. & mittee, initially chaired by the provost, to create a diversity plan in the early nineties that "essentially got lost," according to Lee. During the 1997-98 academic year, Lee and Dr. Leonard Nance, associate professor of sociology, "resurrected the former diversity plan" and began the discussion to create a "comprehensive" plan. During this period, external consultants conducted climate studies. Lee said, "As we were moving through the process: of creating a diversity plan, we wanted somebody to tell us where we were as a university." ■ Rita Nethersole, a diversity consultant, came to Stetson in the spring of 1998 to "provide some assessment of the current circumstances related to diversity and make recommendations about future actions, and particularly help plan a climate study to assess current campus climate on the issue of diversity," according to her final report on the university's climate. During her visit, she was able to meet with various groups on campus. Although she "was personally gratified to see how Stetson had managed to change in the past five years," she wrote in her report that "what Stetson currently has is not diversity, it is tokenism." In reference to the university's diversity ini- [ see DIVERSITY; page 3a] INTERNATIONAL BLACK NATIVE AMERICAN SOURCE: INSTITUTIONAL RESEARCH "Whatever a diverse community looks like, it isn't all white." •-.- .— PRESIDENT LEE ay actor unhappy over harsh review by joy Carney | I recently performed in the Stover Theatre production of the play Picnic, and I must say that I agree with what Jeff Hamrick said ("In Siover's latest, life is no picnic," Oct. 21) in his review about the actual script of the play. There were undeniably many trite lines and the storyline was rather predictable. However, I did not think it to be as "wretchedly written" as SAK visits campus Hamrick did. [ read this story in Forum, page 4a ] SAK IT TO ME: Performers from SAK entertained a large crowd in the Stetson Room last week, photo by julie gowan [ read this story in Life, page 2b ] Fast pitch is major sport for women by julie gowan | A decision was made last spring to add fast pitch as a major sport for women athletics, thus bringing many awards regarding recruiting and Scholarship availability to all fast pitch athletes Jt Stetson. A sub committee consisting of faculty, staff and two students studied the issue of equity and inducting another "major" sport for women. Major meaning: funding at above the median of conference level. Women's basektball was the only major sport along with men's basketball and baseball. [ read this story in Sports, page 5b ] fa efsT'-C1 if% • J6N iV>:%s;1^7I7 Smh''iWiti$f:4': :?s«^Hi?;il%iy 77«7igy4Ycn;^|^