From the School of Education
School of Education Media Review for Inclusiveness
by Judi Harris & Jim Barber
On Friday, September 27th, the School of Education's (SoE's) 6-member standing Diversity Committee facilitated a day of reflection, critique, and discussion of the inclusiveness of the School's physical and virtual presences. Seventeen SoE student volunteers from a broad range of degree programs for teachers, counselors, and educational leaders participated in the six-hour evaluation session.
This Diversity Media Review was one of four primary recommendations for diversity-related action provided by SoE faculty members responding to a web-based survey during a previous academic year that were expanded upon by faculty workgroups during an SoE meeting in the same semester. The faculty's charge to the Diversity Committee was to design, coordinate and conduct a review of the School of Education's web presence, paper media, and physical spaces for their perceived efficacy in communicating inclusiveness, as described in the SoE's Diversity Statement.
The committee has since completed its preliminary analysis of the approximately 100 pages of data generated during the Review, and will be sharing the complete results with SoE faculty in a presentation and written report to be delivered in March or April 2014. The faculty will then be asked to make recommendations and plans that address the suggestions for change contained in the Media Review's results.
