Submitted on behalf of Terri A. Stewart, Director and Chief, Office of Public Safety and Emergency Management
The purpose of the Student Engagement Workgroup is for students to work collaboratively alongside the Office of Public Safety (OPS) to advance existing and ongoing diversity, inclusion and engagement goals developed in coordination with the Office of Human Resources through a series of workshops during the fall 2016 semester. Please click here to view the Diversity, Inclusion & Engagement Goals.
The group’s agenda is set on generating ideas and initiatives for bringing Public Safety and our student body together, with focus on select student groups, such as our diverse populations on campus. Public Safety’s three-prong Diversity, Inclusion and Engagement plan is the centerpiece for our conversations, with an emphasis on engaging champions across campus for ideas and collaboration in each/any of the goal areas: (1) Engagement; (2) Communication; and (3) Education.
Some of the group’s accomplishments last semester include the following: a proposal that resulted in the approval for a Public Safety Satellite Office; the passing of the PEACE Bill (1516-0010) via the SGA Senate; and a joint social event during IC Color Week with the Public Safety/Residential Life Workgroup.
While the meetings are agenda driven they are also extremely flexible which allows us opportunity to discuss issues, concerns or other topics of interest as they develop. For example, last semester we decided as a group to forego the agenda and spend our weekly time partaking in our traditional meal and sharing information and experiences related to what was occurring on campus and around the world. Additionally, Dr. Roger Richardson, Interim Chief Diversity Officer, joined us last semester and will remain with us this upcoming semester as his schedule allows.
As the result of some of our student members graduating or studying abroad this semester, Public Safety and our students who are returning to the workgroup are seeking other students to join us. The group is largely informal and intimate (8-10). If you are interested in meeting and eating with Public Safety this semester and you have ideas that you would like to contribute, please contact me directly at tastewart@ithaca.edu or call (607) 274-3758. There are no criteria or conditions for becoming a member of this group outside from a genuine interest in helping us advance our goals while strengthening the relationship between our students and your Public Safety providers.
The meeting schedule (frequency, day and time of day) will be largely determined by our students, and will be our first agenda item of the first meeting of the semester. Please contact me directly with interest or if you would like to learn more. I look forward to hearing from you!
Terri Stewart
Director and Chief, Office of Public Safety and Emergency Management
https://www.ithaca.edu/intercom/article.php/20160913100111699