A. Our Committee’s budget for the 2006-2007 year is $4,750.00. This is expected to cover all of our expenses including:
1. Our lunches when we have ‘lunch’ meetings
2. All supplies
3. Mileage for our travel and that of our presenters if/when requested including air fare
4. Presenter/speaker fees including meals, overnight stays, etc.
5. Room charges for conference events including AV equipment, etc.
Needless to say, we must be wise in our spending. If for some reason anyone needs to expense an item to our account, please send request to Hope first.
B. This year the Diversity Committee would like to focus on diversities that are not readily noticeable, namely religious and cultural differences.
The events discussed in the meeting that we will sponsor are:
1. Leadership Symposium
2. Panel discussion; Comparative Religion 101 focusing on differences and similarities of three prominent religions
3. “Night at the Movies” – ‘Crash’ a study of cultural clashes
The Committee decided to invite Harvey Alston for a second return – he has penciled VASFAA on his schedule for May 2007.
1. The Committee would like The
Leadership Symposium to focus on the development of effective communication and
leadership skills, again taking into consideration the various cultures that
exist in the
A. Cross Cultural Communication to include:
a. Body language & International Studies
b. Developing Listening skills
c. People skills – what does this really mean?
d. How to address uncomfortable issues from a managerial position
B. Business Protocol/Etiquette across Cultural Lines
a. Generally accepted practices
(example: women greeting men- stand or sit or reversed
Initial greetings; use Mr. or Ms., etc.)
C. Habits of Good Leaders
a. Assess your own leadership skills
b. Developing good managerial skills
c. How to be an effective leader
If anyone has any ideas or suggestions for other topics, please share them with the Committee. Those in attendance will try to reach out and locate presenters for these topics however, if anyone has knowledge of a presenter who can speak effectively, please share that too.
2. Panel Discussion – the Committee agreed upon a panel of three who would give a comparative analysis of the similarities and differences of the three religions that are most visible in the world today. The discussion would be entitled Comparative Religion 101. In order to appreciate the similarities and create an understanding of the differences,
the committee plans to invite 3 professors to provide a factual, non-biased educational perspective of the Christian, Muslim and Jewish belief. The committee chairperson, Hope Jackson asked if we all could try to think of anyone in our communities who may be able to present their perspectives.
3. ‘Night at the Movies’ will
showcase “CRASH”, a movie that explores cultural clashes that occur daily in the
The Committee also discussed asking people of different faiths to bless our meals.
Other topics that we briefly touched that we could possibly sponsor:
Diversity Scavenger Hunt
Star Trek Costumes
Painted faces for diversity
Recommended reading list or short excerpts from recommended books