TOCAR
"Training Our Campuses Against Racism"

TOCAR Collaborative Minutes

Tuesday, November 11, 2003

MSUM, CMU 203

Present: Concordia-Johnathan Judd, Jim Postema, MSUM-Ferman Woodberry, Phyllis May-Machunda, Amy Phillips, Anita Bender, NDSU-Tegan Henke, Sandra Holbrook, Mujeres Unidas-Monica Trevino, Genoveva T. De Padilla, Centro Cultural-Lisa Gallegos

I.                   Introductions:  Everyone introduced themselves.  Since there were two new organizations attending, Amy introduced the structure of the Collaborative, the organizations involved, along with the role of MCARI and the trainings they provide.

II.                Meeting Dates: 

·        12/9- NDSU Meadow Lark Room

·        1/13 – MSUM

·        2/10 – Concordia

·        3/9 – YWCA

·        4/13 – NDSU University Chamber Room

·        5/11 – MSUM

III.             Report/Announcements/Old Business:

A.     TOCAR Logo – Logo with changes was approved.  T-Shirts will be ordered for the Level III training.

B.     Level II training – Various people reported on their experience at the Level II training, Oct. 30, 31, Nov. 1.

C.     Level III training – The Level III training is divided into 2, 2 ½ day sessions, Jan 29-31 and Feb. 5-7.

-          Thurs. Jan. 29 – 5:30-9:30pm

-          Fri. Jan. 30 – 8:30am-9:00pm

-          Sat. Jan. 31 – 8:30am-5:00pm

-          Thurs. Feb. 5 – 5:30-9:30pm

-          Fri. Feb. 6 – 8:30am-9:00pm

-          Sat. Feb. 7 – 8:30am-5:00pm

D.    Campus Surveys

NDSU – In the process of putting the survey on the web and hard copies will be made available as well.  A draft has been sent to the IRB.  Details for administering the survey will be ironed out by the middle of next week.

Concordia – Faculty/Staff Assessment has been completed.  Information from the survey has gone to the Community Relations Committee.  It is unclear when the student survey will be administered.

MSUM – Will begin administering the Student Assessment by Nov. 12^th.  Electronic and hard copies of the Faculty/Staff Assessment will be sent out a week later.

Phyllis confirmed with the group that Beverly Tatum’s definition for “people of color” be included at the beginning of the survey.

Phyllis talked about the schedule for the Student and Faculty/Staff Assessments as well as the Institutions reports to the Bremer Foundation. 

-          Administration of the surveys should be completed by the end of the semester so that the data can be discussed at the January Collaborative meeting.  The information collected from these surveys is imperative for the Level III training.

-          Each organization needs to put together a report of the preliminary findings by January 13, 2004, for the Bremer Report.

-          Each organization should turn in a draft of their institutional report by Dec. 1^st with the exception of the survey results.

E.     Organizational Updates

NDSU

-          Tegan has been hired as a graduate assistant and Tom Carlson has been given release time to work for the NDSU TOCAR Initiative. 

-          A Level I training is scheduled for Nov. 20^th.  The President of NDSU is sending out invitations to participate in the training.  Anita will email Sandra with the number of people from MSUM interested in the Level I training in case there are openings.

MSUM

-          A Level I training was hosted on Campus on Oct. 8^th. 

-          The initiative is in the process of gathering the Multicultural history for MSUM. 

-          Unit Teams have begun holding monthly meetings and building their teams.

MSCTC

-          The College has asked to withdraw temporarily from Collaborative work.  They are experiencing a change in administration and Claudia has been cut back to part time.  They are still welcome to participate in Collaborative meetings.

-          Both Claudia and Ted have agreed to serve as community members on the MSUM Unit Teams. 

Concordia

-          In the process of forming a new TOCAR Team.  They are asking folks who were on the initial team last year to come back especially those who have been through the Level II training.

-          Jim Postema has received release time next semester to work on the initiative, and Johnathan Judd will continue on the team. 

-          Students for Racial Equality will be working to gather the Multicultural history of Concordia.  Currently Johnathan and Jim are working to get some of those students to serve on the Community Relations Committee in the hopes that they will also be joining the TOCAR Team.           

IV.              New Business:

A.)  Collaborative Membership - Abner Arauza suggested the idea of inviting new community members into the Collaborative so Centro Cultural and Mujeres Unidas were invited to come to this meeting.  There are a lot of levels in which community organizations can be involved.  Individuals in the organizations as well as organizational teams are welcome to participate in any of the meetings.  There are trainings in which community organizations can participate.  Institutions such as Centro and Mujeres can provide an important voice as the colleges and universities develop their anti-racism plans.  How do we better serve the communities you represent? What are the barriers to communities that we need to address?  How can we be a better partner with the community?

B.)  Team Process in Preparation for Level III Training- Amy handed out a list of “Process and product markers indicating readiness to move to Level III antiracism training” for the group to look at. (Attached) It is a good tool for Teams to use in the next few months to prepare for the Level III training in January.  It was suggested that each Team take at least one team meeting to work through this sheet before January 29^th.   

V.                 Next Meeting December 9^th, 2003, NDSU Meadow Lark Room, 4-5:30pm.