Faculty Senate, accompanied by University President Denise Trauth in the first hour of the Sept. 12 meeting, discussed diversity initiatives, revisions to the Office of Sustainability and voter registration efforts.
The Equity and Access Committee was renamed as the Council on Inclusive Excellence. The renamed council is to offer feedback and advice directly to Trauth on issues related to inclusion and diversity. The Council on Inclusive Excellence is chaired by the Chief Diversity Officer Ameerah McBride and was created for broad student representation.
“[The Council on Inclusive Excellence] is a group of people who we, meaning myself, the cabinet and Faculty Senate, can go to for advice,” Trauth said. “Many things we are encountering regarding diversity and other affairs are new, and we need advice on these matters. The council is a new go-to group.”
The Office of Sustainability was also created for this school year. According to Trauth, the school already engages in many activities to preserve water, save energy and recycle various materials, but more efforts to improve sustainability will soon be put into effect, and one to-be-announced person will be put in charge of the new sustainability office.
Lastly, Faculty Senate spoke of voter registration and what they can be actively doing to encourage student voting. Possible solutions to improve voter participation include professors encouraging their students or having them fill out voter registration cards in government or University Seminar classes. The topic of improving student voter registration will be further discussed at the next Faculty Senate meeting.