Judith Herb College of Education

Work completed in the 2022-2023 academic year included:

 Regular meetings
Dr. Rhonda Aguiton, as co-chair, convened and led regular monthly meetings as well as many special meetings to accomplish the following efforts. Dr. Lynne Hamer, as co-chair, took minutes and distributed to committee members. Alternates and members were encouraged to participate in meetings and we had active participation by most of the committee, which was:

o Rhonda Aguiton, Ph.D. (co-chair) - Department of Teacher Education o Lynne Hamer, Ph.D. (co-chair) - Department of Educational Studies o Suzanne Garza - JHCOE Staff (Dean’s appointee)
o Natasha Johnson, Ph.D – Department of Teacher Education

o Revathy Kumar, Ph.D., - JHCOE Diversity Liaison (Dean’s appointee) o Dale Snauwaert, Ph.D. – Department of Educational Studies
o Colleen Fitzpatrick, Ph.D., Alternate, Department of Teacher Education o Christine Fox, Ph.D., Alternate, Department of Educational Studies

o Taylor Yarborough - JHCOE Staff, Alternate (Dean’s appointee)

 Expansion to include student members
Dr. Lynne Hamer led efforts to expand upon the Diversity Committee with students, following a new bylaw, requiring faculty/staff members to select four members (two grads, two undergrads) democratically. We developed a simple self-nomination application form and, with the help of the dean’s office, we emailed all JHCOE students twice inviting them to apply. We emailed all faculty and staff asking them to encourage students to apply. One student member continued from having been appointed the previous year. Note that 4 of the 6 applicants are known to have been encouraged by faculty, so this seems to be an important staff. After reviewing applications for completeness and quality, we decided to invite all applicants to participate on the committee, designating that at any given meeting, two grads and two undergrads would be the active members, and if more students attended, they would be alternates. This was consistent with practices by faculty and administrative members and alternates. Student participation in the meetings and especially in symposium preparation and delivery greatly enhanced the committees productivity and liveliness, and faculty & administrative members reported they had learned from the students. Students attending one FTF meeting were photographed for the JHCOE Diversity Committee webpage. Student members were:

• Gena Collier (returning), graduat student
• Olivia Kennedy, undergraduate student
• Colin Fetterly, undergraduate student
• Taiyah Persi-Roberts, undergraduate studen o John Randle, graduate student
• Amanda Parent, undergraduate student
• Kainsly Duda, undergraduate student

Continual updates of webpage (https://www.utoledo.edu/education/committees/diversity/ )

• Coordination with university DEI
  Dr. Revathy Kumar, the Dean’s appointee a diversity liaison to the university, shared monthly Inclusion Officer’s meetings that were convened by th UToledo Vice President for Diversity, Equity and Inclusion at each college committee meeting. Dr. Kumar also shared with the broader university the activities of the JHCOE committee, which, she reported, were exemplary within the university.

• Special college meetings on issues of DEI
  Dr. Natasha Johnson, representative of the Teacher Education Department, led the planning and delivery of special college meetings. In consultation with the diversity committee and broader JHCOE community, Dr. Johnson determined the followingtopics to be of high interest and concern: :
  • Student Disability Services Office o Asian American Lives
  • Mental Health
  • Gender

For each of four special college meetings, all held virtually, Dr. Johnson identified 2-4 speakers, worked with them to develop the agenda for each meeting, and then either moderated each meeting or identified a moderator. The meetings were well attended by faculty, administrative staff and some students. In the future, the diversity committee could work to assure that students know about the meetings and know that they are invited. This could include publishing a schedule of the meetings at the beginning of the academic year.

• Discussion of how to recognize and address bullying
  Dr. Kumar introduced the possibility of creating a process for reporting bullying against students and faculty/staff. This is an ongoing concern and should be discussed further in the next academic year.

• Service learning outreach events
  Dr. Hamer set up two diversity committee service learning outreach events, both with TPS’s Rosa Parks Elementary. Committee members led participation (Dr. Kumar, Dr. Colleen Fitzpatrick, Gena Collier, Colin Fetterley, and John Randle), with several JHCOE students participating in Rosa Day, celebrating Rosa Parks birthday, and a workshop for the elementary students on social-emotional learning and test taking. Both student and faculty participants reported participation was fulfilling and enlightening, and both suggested the diversity committee continue and expand these activities.

• Annual Spring Symposium: “We are All in This Together”
  Dr. Aguiton led the organization of this symposium, held in April, in person in GH 5300. The symposium was promoted to students and faculty via emails, and faculty were encouraged to reach out personally to students and to award extra credit for student participation. The symposium included (1) a panel of local diversity experts from both school and non-school organizations; (2) an activity for envisioning and discussing diversity, equity, and inclusion in the JHCOE led by students from Dr. Hamer’s TSOC 3000, Schooling & Democratic Society; and (3) a buffet dinner provided by the Dean’s office. Student members of the committee were featured as MCs and moderators. The symposium was well-attended.

• Holiday Decorations subcommittee
  Suzanne Garza and Dr. Hamer co-chaired a new committee to improve the diversity of religious holidays recognized by the JHCOE as a means of teaching future teachers about religious diversity. This committee included student members (Collier, Fetterley, Kainsley Duda) and faculty (Kumar). Members expanded the proposed interests of the committee beyond decorations to recognition and support for practices. The subcommittee developed a survey that was administered to all JHCOE faculty, staff, and students at the end of spring 2023 semester and will be administered again in fall 2023. The subcommittee will continue its work in 2023-2024.