The Year of Equity committee continued
to focus efforts for the year on four areas
at its meeting on Oct. 7.

Subcommittees have begun planning
activities under the direction of the
Equity committee.

The professional development
subcommittee will plan activities for a
UCFV-wide event on Friday, Jan. 29.
Early plans are to model the event on the
successful Question of Balance day held
last year. Classes will be cancelled for
the day to enable all faculty and staff to
attend. A number of spaces will also be
reserved for students.

The subcommittee will conduct a
survey shortly to determine the types of
workshops people would be most
interested in attending. The survey will
also call for people who would like to
facilitate workshops or suggest names of
people who could contribute to the
event. Names of potential keynote
speakers and/or panelists for a plenary
session will also be sought. Preliminary
ideas for workshop topics include
Sharing Power, Unlearning Racism,
Employment Equity at UCFV,
Gender-free Pedagogy, and Learning
Disabilities.

The working title for the one-day
conference is Celebrating Diversity: In
Your Workplace, In Your Community.

The policy subcommittee will meet
before the end of October to begin
drafting anew UCFYV policy on
employment and educational equity. A
draft copy is expected to be ready for
discussion during the Celebrating
Diversity conference.

The events calendar subcommittee
will collect, organize and help inform ~
the community of a variety of :
equity-related events planned for the
coming year.

The subcommittee focusing on
practical issues will meet next week to
set priorities and goals. Among the
general topics they will consider are
access for persons with disabilities,
childcare referral, suggestion boxes, and
establishing a scholarship fund for
mature students.

All four subcommittees are expected
to meet over the coming weeks and

Subcommittees focus equity efforts

report their progress at the next Equity
committee meeting on Monday, Nov. 9
at noon at the Chilliwack campus.

An article appearing in Tri Our Angle,
the Student Society newspaper, sparked
discussion on the term “equity” at the
meeting. The article said that of 50
students surveyed in the Abbotsford
cafeteria, none were able or willing to
explain what equity meant to them.

The committee discussed several
ways to address this concern. One
member suggested a notice to faculty
explaining the term, which could be read
and discussed in classes. Another said a
public debate organized by the Student
Society might focus attention. Student —
Colleen Rush agreed to discuss this and
other possibilities with the Student
Society.

Jean Ballard-Kent reminded the
committee that October is Canadian
Women’s History month, and announced
a few related activities. Posters of
Canadian women in history will be
displayed. Ballard-Kent also suggested
that the library might consider a display
of resource material. The Women’s
Issues network is also interested in

Headlines/Oct. 14, 1992

setting up displays.

Ballard-Kent also announced the
following free admission films:

Oct. 30, noon — /nequity in the
Classroom |

Dec. 7, noon — After the Montreal
Massacre (both films in portable 101).

Members of Equity subcommittees
include:

Policy development: Jean
Ballard-Kent, Sybille Stegmueller, Paul
Herman, Scott Fast, Marg Penney,
Jacquie Phare

Professional development day: Paul
Herman, Jean Ballard-Kent, Lachlan
Whatley, Cathy Scott, Bob Warick,
Richard Heyman, Janice Kowal, Karola
Stinson, Brian Coulter, Cheryl
Isaac-Clark

Calendar of events: Lachlan
Whatley, Anne Russell, Janice Kowal,
Karola Stinson, Kulwant Sidhu, Suzanne
Dennis

Practical issues: Colleen Rush,
Jacquie Phare, Cathy Scott, Cheryl Dahl

Membership on the subcommittees is
open to anyone interested. For more
information contact Carol Hardy at 4210

The things a guy puts up with in the name of school spirit! Ned, the ever-tolerant seeing-eye dog of
Board member Sharon Wagner (left), gets outfitted with a UCFV scarf made by fashion design
instructor Wendy Eakins (right). There’s some consolation in being a dog though — Ned’s the only
one who can fall asleep at Board meetings with impunity.