Action Against Racism | Hampshire College
Distributed May 15, 2008:
Introductory Note from the President
In Making of the College 2.1 (October 9, 2007), I wrote: "One of our most pressing responsibilities is to be actively anti-racist. The full dimensions of our commitment must emerge in time, by means of repeated work with and across the entire Hampshire community." The establishment of the Special Presidential Assistant for Diversity and Multicultural Education and the appointment of the campus-wide Diversity Committee, both now fully engaging important problems, were but first steps. The attached Active Anti-Racism Administrative Action Plan is a preliminary blueprint to help guide our next steps as an institution and a community. Like every plan, it will need revisiting and revising, augmenting and adjusting as our vision grows stronger. If we discover that some goals and/or processes are inadequate, we will rework and improve them. As we attain some benchmarks, we will set new ones. The original of the attached plan was created April 1-3 as a re-conceptualized version of a prior set of "Administrative Action Items" shared with a group of students of color on March 31, 2008.
A very small portion of prior history needs to be recapitulated here. Although that earlier set of action items represented the best efforts of my senior administrative team to address-in one week's time-a specific set of student concerns, conveyed in the form of seventeen demands, under extraordinary time pressure, its inadequacies were all too apparent. In my April 1 memorandum, I registered my "real reservations about the sustainability and efficacy of change brought about by attempting to devise policy and programs" in such a short time. As I explained, it seemed reasonable to attempt to meet students more than halfway since our stated objectives were aligned. However, the team of students with whom we met on that Monday afternoon, conferring for the fourth time in as many days, conveyed to us that the much larger group of students with whom they had reviewed the "action items" found that virtually every one of our responses opened windows on new problems, each requiring a new solution.
As it happened, April 1 was the date of one of the college's regular faculty meetings. My memorandum had just been released, and my office provided printed copies to every faculty member in attendance. The customary brief period for "questions of the President" was naturally devoted to the dialogue with students in which I had been engaged, and when the meeting's moderator reminded us that to handle the day's agenda we really ought to bring discussion to an end, I requested that we let the discussion go on as long as necessary for me to answer any and all questions from the floor. We devoted the entire meeting to the dialogue. I would not presume to represent the faculty as a whole, much less individual faculty voices, but let me convey what I took away from that extraordinary ninety-minute meeting. I heard two in no way incompatible affirmations. First, an affirmation of a deep desire for Hampshire to be an actively anti-racist institution, with particular attention to increasing the number of students of color we recruit and retain and the number of faculty of color we recruit and retain. Faculty expressed explicit appreciation of the students for their work in bringing to our attention issues crucial for Hampshire as a community and particularly as an educational institution. I join them in their explicit conviction that no retribution should be taken against any student on the basis of the expression of his or her views.
The faculty also affirmed the need to translate what students cast as "demands" into problems that can be studied until the scope and nature of the problem are accurately grasped, for it is only to actionable items that solutions can be formulated. This should be the responsibility, I heard, of the administration, and especially the staff who specialize in each area, with input from faculty and students and, in some cases, other stakeholders (e.g., trustees). I think it is important to reassure all readers that the call to identify, study and analyze problems does not imply doubt that substantive problems exist. Far from it. But what appears from one perspective as "a problem" may in reality turn out to be the concatenation of two or more problems, and conversely, what may appear as two or three different problems may at root be related to one very deep problem or issue.
Most specifically, I heard voices - in this case not only at the faculty meeting but also in the meeting of the school deans immediately prior to the full faculty meeting - that were concerned that, notwithstanding my prefatory admonition that "[n]one of the action items below is to be construed as circumventing or altering the governance structure of the institution or the competencies and responsibilities of any administrator, including appropriate financial responsibilities" and the careful wording of the second action item itself, the college ought not commit to specifying a program of hiring faculty in specific fields without much more extensive discussion, on a broader level, about faculty composition and distribution.
I also heard, with due appreciation of the history of the college, that faculty understood that demands satisfied with words have not led to real change. Our best hope lies in sustainable solutions to well-understood problems. I got a sense that faculty, certainly on the whole, had an appreciation of the financial reality of Hampshire College at this moment in its still-youthful existence; even as they - rightly - said that we must not use the excuse of limited resources to short-change our anti-racist initiative, or to pit one need against another. Faculty were underscoring the need for extraordinary care in making sure that we invest the dollars we commit precisely in the places, and in the ways, that are most likely to bring the greatest positive benefits.
Discussion with both school deans and the faculty meeting, then, confirmed my commitment to a comprehensive action plan aligned with and organized according to the administrative areas in which problems will be analyzed and solutions devised and implemented. Again working quickly, my senior administrative team helped me create a fresh document, which we forwarded, again to the students with whom we had been in frequent dialogue, late on April 3. As I wrote then, I believed this comprehensive action plan responded to students' call for transparency in modes of action and structures of accountability. Above all, it made explicit, in direct response to their concerns, that I take responsibility as, and conceive our commitments, as president. Though the Action Plan was organized in a very different format, and less specific in some details than the Action Items of earlier that week, it was much more specific in other ways, ways that will lead to sustainable change. Many time frames have been provided, but it is too early for precise timelines in some other areas; these will be provided as work proceeds. As far as funding commitments go, at my request VPFA Spiro has created a modest reserve fund to cover the not-yet-precisely-costed commitments contained in the following as well as to respond to specific requests as they come forward through budget channels in the course of the year. By including in parenthesis the numbers of the original action items the students had submitted to us, we were able to ensure that the Action Plan, while being the first description of a comprehensive plan with interlocking elements, addressed each of the students' concerns.
At the same time that we share these plans with the whole community, we continue to meet with the same students with whom we have been engaged in dialogue. Understandably, at a time of the semester when all members of the community are deep in academic work, it has been hard to coordinate face-to-face meeting times.
We look forward ultimately to receiving feedback and suggestions from these and other students, indeed, from all members of the community. Let me reiterate that this is an ongoing effort in moving all of the campus to being actively anti-racist, and we continue to be open about the dialogue and planning that will take us to that goal.
Let me include in my introduction a section that roughly corresponds language in the conclusions of the introductions of all the earlier versions. First, let me make it clear that none of the action items below is to be construed as circumventing or altering the governance structure of the institution or the competencies and responsibilities of any administrator, including appropriate financial responsibilities.
Second, let me remind one and all that we must ensure in future that we have adequate opportunities for regular discussion and review of all the college's policies and practices. In that way, policies can be amended and new ones can be readied for implementation with adequate time for comment and preparation. It will also permit administrators and those collaborating in policy change to effect such improvement without adversely impacting their ongoing responsibilities.
Third, and with such ongoing discussion very much in mind, let me note that it will be important to engage all members of the community, particularly those who feel their voices have been lost, ignored, or silenced. I have been alarmed by multiple reports, from multiple sources, of disrespect, including verbal intimidation, of individual students allegedly on the basis of their views, expressed or unexpressed. I regret any such instances that may have occurred as I regret the degree to which the vigor and quality of debate on our campus may be reduced by any narrowing of the range of opinions members of our community may express.
As you know, I have on more than one occasion cited and appealed the "Principles of Discourse" first annunciated by President Greg Prince in 1989-1990. Let me repeat them once again:
1) That we value truth and the process of seeking truth as ends in themselves;
2) That we accept responsibility to articulate a position as close to the truth as one can make it, using to the best of one's ability, available evidence, and the rules of reason, logic, and relevance;
3) That we listen openly, recognizing always that new information may alter one's position;
4) That we welcome evaluation and accept and even encourage disagreement and criticism even to the point of seeking out for ourselves that which will disempower our position;
5) That we refuse to reduce disagreement to personal attacks or attacks on groups or classes of individuals;
6) That we value civility, even in disagreement;
7) That we reject the premise that the ends, no matter how worthy, can justify means that violate these principles.
To be fair, few in the world live up to all seven principles all the time, and it is a challenge even for so intellectual and principled a space as a college. Still, I feel personally compelled to take up the challenge and to see if we at Hampshire could embody them to the extent possible. To that end I would suggest that we all take great care in immediately believing every anecdote we hear, much less repeating it as proven truth. Let us be particularly wary of assertions made without any reference to evidence, of propositions advanced dogmatically. Let us admire and try to emulate ideas advanced in a truly dialogic spirit, with a tone that is open to question, criticism, even disagreement. Above all, let us value civility, even reminding ourselves of that value especially at moments when we are moved to be passionate advocates for a position we feel is fundamental.
Active Anti-Racism Administrative Action Plan
(April 3, 2008 [with updates as of May 15, 2008])
Office of the President
The President assumes responsibility for the overall implementation and coordination of the Active Anti-Racism Administrative Action Plan. He will work with students, faculty, staff, and trustees (and other stakeholders from time to time, e.g., parents, alumni, the public). He will work most closely with all his direct reports, monitoring progress in each area. He will work especially closely with the Special Presidential Assistant for Diversity and Multicultural Education, who represents him and who chairs the Diversity Committee. He will meet with the full Diversity Committee at least once a semester, and with its subcommittees as appropriate. (Action Items 1-17)
In the coming academic year (2008-2009), he will ensure that issues of diversity be considered carefully at every stage of the search for Hampshire's new Vice President of Academic Affairs/Dean of the Faculty, to be appointed effective July 1, 2009.
Secretary of the College and Trustees
Students draw attention to a possible inconsistency between the college's statement on investment responsibility and goals, on the one hand, and current investment practices, on the other. Matters of policy pertaining to the college's investments are overseen by CHOIR, the Committee at Hampshire on Investment Responsibility, of the Board of Trustees, a subcommittee of the Investment Committee. CHOIR will meet again before the end of the term; on April 10, 2008, the President requested of CHOIR's chair and secretary that the committee attend to this express concern of students as well as seek input from the entire community for any further agenda items prior to the committee's final meeting this semester. CHOIR will report any motions to the Investment Committee for transmittal and discussion to the Board at its May meeting. (Action Item 14)
Special Presidential Assistant for Diversity and Multicultural Education
The Special Presidential Assistant for Diversity and Multicultural Education reports to the President and chairs the Diversity Committee. For a description of his office, his work, and the work of the Diversity Committee to date, see http://www.hampshire.edu/cms/index.php?id=11614.
The Special Presidential Assistant for Diversity and Multicultural Education (often referred to below for economy's sake as "Special Presidential Assistant") will play many key roles in implementing this first Active Anti-Racism Administrative Action Plan as well as guiding its continual updating and elaboration. Listed here are only the most critical immediate roles he will play in 2008:
a) The Special Presidential Assistant will work closely with the Dean of Student Services, relevant staff within her office, faculty, students, and other professionals on the revision and expansion of the college's existing discrimination and harassment policy, with special but not exclusive attention to racial harassment, so that the expanded policy will appear in the 2008-2009 edition of Non Satis Non Scire. The policy will include a clear description of how complaints and grievances are to be handled, on which see further, below, under Dean of Student Services. (Action Item 15)
b) The Special Presidential Assistant along with the Diversity Committee, the Dean of Faculty's Office, the Dean of Multicultural Education once in place, the Dean of Student Services, and Human Resources will be instrumental in developing, with input from professionals on- and off-campus and interested representative faculty and students, appropriate mandatory anti-oppression training for administrators, faculty, staff (including Public Safety staff), and interns. The first three such trainings will take place during academic year 2008-2009. Training will continue on anti-oppression, active anti-racism, and other associated topics in subsequent academic years. Not as a precondition to the development of this training program, but to assist the campus in shaping the most appropriate training and as an educational tool in its own right, during the spring 2008 semester, we will utilize a survey instrument to evaluate inter-cultural proficiencies across the campus. The Special Presidential Assistant, in collaboration with the Campus Climate subcommittee of the Diversity Committee, will continue its work studying the training and evaluation that each department does in relation to race and diversity, so we can share best practices across campus. (Action Item 5)
c) The Special Presidential Assistant, working closely with the newly appointed Dean of Multicultural Education, the Academic Programs subcommittee of the diversity committee and an additional team of faculty members from across the campus, will continue the current analysis of the multiple cultural perspectives requirement. Based on this analysis, a proposal on the best ways to improve the multiple cultural perspectives requirement will be presented to EPC by October 2008. (For a description of the subsequent implementation process, see below, under EPC in the section concerning the Dean of Faculty's office.) (Action Item 4)
d) The Special Presidential Assistant and the Diversity Committee, with input from faculty, students, and professionals on- and off-campus, will continue to evolve programming, including a continuation of the ongoing "Race in the Classroom" lecture series and workshops, and others to be recommended. The Special Presidential Assistant will also coordinate and contribute major funding for programming such as those proposed for Columbus Day and Martin Luther King Jr. Day. (On these days, also see under "College Calendar," below.) (Action Item 17)
e) The Special Presidential Assistant, working with the Affirmative Action Officer and the Affirmative Action Committee, will study its operations in order to determine the best ways to make its practices and results optimally transparent.
f) The Special Presidential Assistant, in collaboration with the Hiring and Retention subcommittee of the Diversity Committee, will study and report numbers on the retention of faculty of color and international faculty. In addition, acting as the Affirmative Action Committee, the Hiring and Retention subcommittee will continue to explore ways to apply current faculty hiring procedures to staff searches, as well as best practices for faculty searches.
g) The Special Presidential Assistant, in collaboration with the Admissions and Financial Aid subcommittee of the Diversity Committee, will identify resources required for achieving diversity in the student population comparable to that of the regions from where Hampshire recruits students, as well as the United States in general.
Progress on The Active Anti-Racism Administrative Action Plan will be continuously monitored by the President, the Special Presidential Assistant, and a new subcommittee of the diversity committee to be created for that purpose. At the beginning of each semester this new subcommittee will write a progress report, which will be made available to the Hampshire community. This subcommittee will include at least one student member, one faculty member, and one member of the staff, chosen from within the diversity committee. In addition, a student member from each of SOURCE (Students of Underrepresented Cultures and Ethnicities), ARC (Anti-Racism Collective), and WARF (White Anti-Racist Folks) will be added to this evaluation subcommittee. Each of these three additional members will be selected by their specific constituencies. (Action Items 1-17)
Communications/Public Affairs
The president's page on the college website will provide a link to the page(s) that will record the status of items in the action plan. (Action Items 1-17)
Office of the Vice President for Academic Affairs/Dean of Faculty
Dean of Faculty
The Dean of Faculty has oversight and accountability for the over-all progress of the academic enterprise, including such areas as admissions, financial aid, and the library, to move Hampshire forward on its course of active anti-racism. The full scope and significance of this will emerge only in time. What follows is again focused relatively closely on the issues and areas of concern surfaced by recent discussion with students, as well as the insights and suggestions of faculty and school deans.
Organization of Dean's Office
The Dean of Faculty is already embarked on some reorganization within his office, in no little part to facilitate response to concerns expressed from numerous perspectives (e.g., the Wabash Study, the NEASC visiting team review) about issues ranging from general student satisfaction with our academic program, teaching specifically, and retention. In both arenas it will be important to focus directly on all demographic pools, with input from expert professionals. In the context of this reorganization, but not dependent on it, the Dean of the Faculty will recruit a Dean of Multicultural Education to serve within the Dean of Faculty's office, beginning fall 2008. Following consultation and the receipt of broad input, including but not limited to the Diversity Committee, faculty, and students of color and international students, he will propose the new dean's specific range of duties. A search committee to advise him on the choice will be established, along with clear guidelines for its operation. Nominations and self-nominations will be sought. Ultimately, the major function of the dean will be to ensure that faculty master not only practices for fulfilling the Multiple Cultural Perspectives requirement (or however its presumed successor requirement is described) but also the best practices that can be articulated, on the basis of expert advice from professionals on- and off-campus, for teaching in accordance with the actively anti-racist commitment of our college. Since the process of reviewing and likely revising the multiple cultural perspectives requirement will continue into 2008-09, the new dean will play an important role in those discussions. (Note: if the title of that requirement changes, it might be appropriate for the title of the dean's position to change accordingly, but that will be something the dean in this new position and the Dean of Faculty would consider and propose only after broad consultation.) The Dean of Multicultural Education will work with the Teaching and Learning Center and with CASA. Among the Dean's responsibilities will be working with the Special Presidential Assistant to assess and monitor the current Multiple Cultural Perspectives requirement. (Action Item 1)
a) Permanent Faculty: The current financial position of the college does not permit the creation of new permanent faculty lines. Our hope is that after a few years of very careful stewardship of all resources, of every sort, and increased alumni giving, the college could once again contemplate expansion, but for at least the next five and possibly ten years, we must rely primarily on turnover following retirements or other separations.
As we go forward, all search requests (pre-first-ten-year-contract separations apart) will be submitted to the Dean of Faculty. Meanwhile, the Dean of the Faculty along with the deans and the Academic Programs subcommittee of the Diversity Committee, will jointly arrange to compile a census of offerings in ALANA Studies, Queer Studies, and other cognate fields with an eye not just to meeting current need (which might well grow, depending on the precise way the current multiple cultural perspectives requirement is reconfigured) but to supporting a robust course of study in these important areas, so closely aligned with active anti-racism. A committee of faculty, to be convened by the Dean of Faculty, and on the basis of this study, will recommend whatever prioritization of positions in these areas seems best. The report will be submitted to the Dean of Faculty, who, with the president and in consultation with the Vice President for Finance and Administration (VPFA)/Treasurer and the school deans, will devise an appropriate process whereby schools could either be allocated search authorizations or be invited to apply for such a search authorization, starting with the hiring cycle that occurs in 2009-10. As always, the Dean of Faculty's decision will be guided by the quality of the Schools' requests as well as overall need. (Action Item 2)
b) Temporary Faculty: A close working relationship between faculty and students is at the heart of a Hampshire education. We recognize the difficulties caused when students develop these relationships with visiting and adjunct faculty on short-term contracts. Much-needed sabbaticals for long-term faculty require the hiring of visiting faculty. The Dean of Faculty and school deans will take steps to make public the service terms of visiting and adjunct faculty. In the situation where it is possible to continue the short-term service of a visiting or adjunct faculty member, the Dean of Faculty and school deans will closely examine student evaluations of courses as well as other feedback; school deans will discuss options with their schools (including student members) before making recommendations to the Dean of Faculty.
When regular faculty positions become open, school deans sometimes request that a visiting faculty member be appointed to the regular position. If the visiting faculty member was originally hired through a competitive national search and if the Dean of Faculty agrees with the proposal, the Dean will write to the Affirmative Action Committee and request a search waiver. In all such cases, the Dean of Faculty will ensure that student evaluations of faculty and other feedback have been carefully consulted, and that the request has been discussed by the school, including student members. (On the Affirmative Action Committee, see above, under the Special Presidential Assistant.) (Action Item 3)
c) As described above, the Special Presidential Assistant, in collaboration with the Academic Programs subcommittee of the Diversity Committee, as well as with other faculty experts, are at work studying the current Multiple Cultural Perspectives requirement. The time line for the delivery of their report to EPC is October 2008. At that point, EPC will begin its own process of studying this report. The Dean will expedite EPC's review with the expectation that its proposal will come before the faculty in 2008-2009. Once approved by the faculty, any requirement change does require the approval of the Board, but one can anticipate it would follow at their next regular meeting. The earliest possible date for this requirement to apply to incoming students would be Academic Year 2009-2010. (Action Item 4)
Schools
The school deans will work with the Special Presidential Assistant, the Dean of Faculty, the new Dean of Multicultural Education, and other professionals to develop plans for each of their schools to embody our institutional commitment to anti-racism. Special attention must be paid to fields or subfields where students report feeling unwelcome. It may well be that it is to these areas that new faculty appointments likely to change climate will be directed.
Admissions
Admissions must enhance its focus on recruitment of students of color and international students, among others, for many reasons. Specific upgrades will occur within fiscal year 2008-2009, but a broader review of the effectiveness of our recruitment efforts among diverse populations of students will be undertaken. The review will be mandated and organized by the Dean of the Faculty in close collaboration with the Special Presidential Assistant, the Diversity Committee, and its Admissions and Financial Aid (on which, see above). Hampshire's commitment to being an anti-racist college places a priority on accessibility. (Action Item 13)
Financial Aid
We commit to ensuring that financial aid processes of evaluating need and awarding aid work, in every way within our capacity, to minimize inequities and make the playing field more level for all students. The college's current financial aid policy provides that if a student's needs do not change, then the package must remain the same over the course of the student's time at the college. The Dean of Faculty and Director of Financial Aid will conduct an audit to determine if this policy is effectively implemented. The results of this audit will be delivered to the Special Presidential Assistant in summer 2008 so that if shortcomings are identified, a plan to remediate them can be developed.
In particular we are aware that students with aid are more often at risk for holds that can block registration. This is a complex nexus of problems and issues, and the Dean of Faculty, working with the VPFA, will put together a task force, including students, to carefully study the various elements that contribute to what is a real problem. Simply raising the cap may or may not solve the problems students are facing, and raising it, or having no cap at all, may be unacceptable if it leads to a rise in collectibles. The VPFA will, on the basis of this research, model projections, and any changes will be considered in the context of the college's budget, reviewed by the Finance Committee of the Board of Trustees and ultimately approved by the Board itself. Central Records will also collaborate in identifying solutions to the problematic. (Action Item 6)
Library/IT
Print and media resources in the library are not adequate in many areas, and holdings relevant to Third World Studies and students are no exception. Indeed, lack in this and related areas may be egregious. The Dean of Faculty and the Director of the Library will, along with either school deans or possibly a newly constituted faculty Library Committee as discussed at the April 2, 2008 faculty meeting, review acquisitions and priorities with school reference librarians, who are responsible for acquisition, inviting requests for appropriately expanded budgets. These will be fast tracked for funding. (Action Item 11)
College Calendar
The Dean of Faculty and his office will work with the Special Presidential Assistant, as well as students, faculty and relevant staff, in considering whether Columbus Day and Martin Luther King, Jr. Day can be designated for campus-wide teach-ins on racism and imperialism. Especially in the case of Columbus Day, when the campus is already closed and classes are not in session, another date in October may be more appropriate. Programming and funding will be coordinated with the Office for Diversity and Multicultural Education. Depending on the flexibility of calendaring, any such dates are likely to be scheduled first in Academic Year 2009-10, but comparable programming could be in place already in 2008-09. (Action Item 17)
Dean of Student Services
The Dean of Student Services reports to the President and has oversight of the areas of public safety, health services, residential life, student development, and food services. The Dean of Student Services collaborates with the President, Special Presidential Assistant, the Dean of Faculty, Admissions, Public Safety, Health Services, Community Council and FiCom, in developing and implementing the Active Anti-Racism Administrative Action Plan. Students' concerns underscore a common idea: that, regardless of race, gender, or sexual orientation, we belong here, we should not have to defend that to anyone, and we want the requisite infrastructure, programming, and accountability that supports that. Listed below are some of the most significant actions in service of that goal that the Dean of Student Services will play in 2008:
a) Residential Life: The Dean of Student Services will work closely with the Admissions Office and Residential Life staff to improve communications to newly admitted students with respect to housing preferences. Additionally, the Dean of Student Services will work to improve the recruitment of students of color in house internship positions; develop a more comprehensive anti-oppression training during intern preparation; and offer continued support for permanent identity-based housing. (Action Items 9,10,13)
b) Health Services: The Dean of Student Services will make recommendations for the university to consider in the hiring process for 2008-2009 and beyond, calling attention to the need for additional professionals with expertise in the needs of students of color, international students, queer students, trans students, and female students. The dean will also explore the expansion of hours of the current staff and advocate for the transfer of Health Services to a central campus location. (Action Item 12)
c) Staffing at the Lebrón-Wiggins-Pran Cultural Center and Queer Community Alliance Center (QCA): The Dean of Student Services, in collaboration with the Director of Multicultural and International Student Services and the Associate Dean for Student Development, will identify needs not currently addressed in the present job description and develop a description for a new position. Funding for the position would be a priority in the 2009-2010 budget. Additionally, the Dean will move forward with the hiring process for the QCA coordinator. (Action Item 8)
d) Student group recognition and funding: The Dean of Student Services will work with the Risk Manager, Community Council, and FiCom to assess and improve the group recognition process. Additionally, the Dean will strongly urge that FiCom triple in AY2008-09 the allocation set aside for SOURCE groups (currently $4500), and consider the merits of extending such consideration to other groups subtending the Women's Center and the Queer Community Alliance Center: Such action could align their budgets more closely with the number of groups in question, the number of constituents represented, and the size of their impact. (Action Item 7)
e) Center Funding: The Dean of Student Services will build at least 10K increase into the budget, effective 2008-2009, for supporting the Lebrón-Wiggins-Pran Cultural Center, the Women's Center, and the Queer Community Alliance Center. The allocation of these additional and future additional funds will take place in consultation with the centers' staffs. (Action Item 7)
f) The Dean of Student Services will work with the Special Presidential Assistant, among others, on the revision and expansion of the discrimination and harassment policy, including a clear description of how the policy is accessed and how it works. (See also, above under Special Presidential Assistant.) In particular, the Dean of Student Services, working with the Special Presidential Assistant and drawing as appropriate on other resources, will focus on making optimally transparent the workings of the Community Review Board. The board now receives extensive training on a range of issues; the Special Presidential Assistant will review the training as well and recommend further improvements if advisable. (Action Item 15)
Office of the Vice President for Finance and Administration/Treasurer
The Vice President for Finance and Administration and Treasurer (VPFA) and his staff are responsible for the following areas, and as such are prospective participants in most of the activities proposed in this plan: student accounts; college accounts; investments; budget; employee recruiting; employee-employer relationships; training; compensation and benefits; facilities; campus planning; special events and programs; bookstore; purchasing; risk management and insurance; and administration of contracts with third-party vendors, including Sodexho and University of Massachusetts Health Services. In addition, the President has asked the VPFA to guide the college through its strategic planning process, scheduled to begin in summer 2008. The VPFA reports to the President. (Action Items 1 - 17)
Office of Institutional Advancement
Chief Advancement Officer (CAO): The CAO works with the president and the board of trustees to establish the college's fundraising priorities. The CAO instructs major gift officers and other fundraisers to seek gifts and donations in accordance with those priorities. All members of the Institutional Advancement team are charged with incorporating diversity and anti-racism into the college's fundraising efforts, and it is important that all fundraisers be aware of fundraising needs and funding opportunities in order to present them to the greatest number of donors who might thus be inspired to support this campus initiative. The CAO in consultation with the president, the board, and others as appropriate will develop specific goals related to issues of anti-racism. For example, an existing major focus of all fundraising efforts, for both current-use and endowment giving, remains financial aid, key to maintaining and increasing accessibility and diversity. The Office of Institutional Advancement will commit to making renewed efforts to ensure the distribution of reports to all students. (Action Item 16)
Director of Development: Supports the CAO in making sure all fundraisers maintain the established priorities in their approach to donors or funding agencies. The director serves as the office's liaison to the Diversity Committee. (Action Item 16)
Fundraisers (Hampshire Fund, Major Gifts, Planned Giving): As specific priorities and programs are articulated, for example, within the Dean of Faculty's realm or within Student Services, or as the community articulates how active anti-racism will be reflected in our Strategic Plan, all fundraisers will be briefed on the emerging fundraising priorities, explicitly those related to diversity initiatives, so that these can be put forward in as many fundraising contexts as possible. (Action Item 16)
Corporate Foundations and Government Relations (CFGR): The office will continue and expand efforts in seeking government and foundation grants, and encourage grant seekers to include whenever appropriate a diversity and/or anti-racism component in the proposal. Many new proposals will be enhanced by an emphasis on diversity, and a campus commitment to active anti-racism may well open new opportunities for giving from both foundations and individuals. (Action Item 16)