**NPA Diversity Task Force**

**Minutes -- July 10, 2006**

**9:30 am Mountain Time/10:30 Central Time**

**Members in attendance**: Barbara King, Dr. Chandler, Garnet Francesca,
Kevin Dahl, Dr. Eduardo Casas, Dr. Gautum Sarath, Lori Dimmer, Janet
Fergen, Sue Sorum, Diona Austill, Holly Johnson, Beth Redlin, Dr.
Francisco Calderon, Dr. Theresa Pitts-Singer, Dr. Bill Kemp

**Members absent**: JoAnne Gresens, Dr. Dana Blumenthal, Missy Stuart

1.  **Welcome and Roles: Dr. Chandler:**

> Dr. Chandler welcomed new and continuing members, and introduced the
> new members: Ms. JoAnne Gresens; Dr. Gautum Sarath, Dr. Dana
> Blumenthal; Dr. Francisco Calderon; and Dr. Theresa Pitts-Singer. The
> new Chair is Kevin Dahl.
>
> Dr. Chandler pointed out that in order to facilitate communication and
> perhaps face to face meetings among working groups, members were
> assigned to regional working groups: East (Education); Northeast
> (Outreach); Northwest (Visibility); and West (Recruitment). The
> member's terms are set at 1-3 years. Each working group will have one
> opening each year and members may be reappointed. The Leadership core
> members are: Barbara King, Dr. Chandler and Kevin Dahl. Their
> responsibility is to make sure things happen, set target dates for
> tasks, and present items of interest to Dr. Blackburn. Always be sure
> the 3 Leadership Core members are copied on all items. The Area Office
> Advisory Team is made up of Area Office members and Dr. Blackburn has
> the final approval.
>
> Dr. Chandler said there are two activities that Dr. Blackburn would
> like to see the Task Force complete by the end of this calendar year.
> The first is to publish an Area-wide newsletter and the second item is
> to conduct a survey of employees. The newsletter will be a combined
> effort between the Northwest and Northeast Working Groups (Visibility
> and Outreach), while the survey will be a combined effort between the
> West and East Working (Education and Recruitment) Working Groups.

2.  **Introductions and Discussion of Sharepoint: Kevin Dahl:**

> Everyone introduced themselves, and then Kevin discussed the
> Sharepoint site for the task force:
> <https://arsnet.usda.gov/sites/NPA/DTF/default.aspx>. Kevin noted that
> a membership list is on the Sharepoint site (in the Administrative
> Documents folder under Shared Documents) as is a document containing a
> biographical sketch of each member.
>
> Several features have been added to the site, and members are
> encouraged to check-out the site and contact Kevin or Barbara if they
> are unable to access the site. Each person can control their own
> alerts (choose whether they want to receive an email each time the
> site is updated). Discussion boards have been created for each working
> group as well as one for the entire task force. It is expected that
> Sharepoint documents and discussion boards will help facilitate
> communication.

3.  **Explanation of Working Groups: Kevin Dahl**

> Kevin would like each working group to designate a coordinator for
> their group. The Chair (Kevin) and Coordinator (Barbara) will try to
> attend regional face to face group meetings and participate in all
> regional teleconferences. As pointed out previously, Larry, Kevin and
> Barbara should be copied on all correspondence, emails, etc. It is
> critical that each working group establish and maintain systematic
> communication with each member of the working group. Each working
> group is encouraged to have at least one face to face meeting each
> year if possible. If locations are unable to fund travel for a face to
> face meeting, contact Barbara for a case by case review.
>
> It is expected that each regional group will establish their own
> meeting schedule. The Sharepoint site includes a discussion board for
> each group, and a folder has been created for each working group in
> the Shared Documents section. Working groups can also keep in touch by
> teleconference, and email. The Sharepoint site includes, in the Shared
> Documents in the Administrative Documentation, two power point
> presentations, and data on the NPA employment profile.
>
> Barbara discussed the responsibilities of the working groups, and
> noted that these descriptions are not all-inclusive. There is some
> overlap, and working groups have the flexibility to further
> refine/expand these concepts:
>
> [Visibility]{.underline} -- internally publicize Area/location
> diversity efforts and how diversity impacts locations
>
> [Outreach]{.underline} -- what locations/Area is/are doing to forge
> relationships with external groups (schools, universities, community
> organizations, etc.
>
> [Education]{.underline} -- raise awareness of diversity; what it is
> and why people should care; inclusive, beyond race, gender, ethnicity,
> disability
>
> [Recruitment]{.underline} -- workforce diversity; assist locations in
> hiring/recruitment process. Recruitment likely to become major in
> coming years due to anticipated retirement bulge and ever-tighter
> budgets. To remain competitive, ARS must hire talented individuals
> representing a wide swath of diversity.

4.  **Discussion of Survey and Newsletter: Barbara:**

> Barbara indicated that Dr. Blackburn has two priorities for this year:
> a newsletter and survey. The purpose of the Newsletter is to inform
> the Area about diversity-related events, activities, and initiatives.
> The process will be the NE and NW working groups will take the lead in
> identifying topics and story lines, with input from the two other
> groups. It is recommended that NE and NW groups each designate a
> coordinator; and the coordinators will in turn contact one another and
> establish a teleconference for initial brainstorming -- one or more of
> the Leadership Core (Kevin, Larry, and Barbara) will participate. The
> format for both the survey and newsletter will be electronic and the
> target date for completion is December 2006. Examples of possible
> content for the newsletter would be the Native American summer
> internships and the New Scientists Professional Development Program.
> The frequency, topics, and length of the newsletter are all yet to be
> determined.
>
> The purpose of the survey is to identify diversity-related needs and
> accomplishments, and use the results as a guide for future task force
> activities. The process will be the W and E groups will take the lead
> in identifying topics/areas of interest (i.e., recruitment process/how
> people learn of jobs, how to positively impact recruitment process for
> diversity outcomes; quality of life issues; educational
> needs/successes, etc.), with input from the other two groups. It is
> recommended that E and W groups designate a coordinator; and the
> coordinators in turn contact one another and establish a
> teleconference for initial brainstorming -- one or more of the
> Leadership Core (Kevin, Larry, and Barbara) will participate. The
> format will be on Sharepoint and the target date for completion is
> December 2006.
>
> By July 14^th^, each working group should designate a coordinator;
> Eduardo, Lori, Diona and Francisco each volunteered to coordinate the
> selection of a coordinator among their respective groups. The
> coordinators of the NE and NW working groups will then determine a
> time for a joint teleconference, and the E and W coordinators will
> also schedule a joint teleconference. Kevin will send out
> teleconference setup instructions to each working group's coordinator
> once they have been selected.
>
> Timelines for completing each project were discussed. Although the
> target date for each is December of 2006, it was suggested that the
> newsletter come out prior to the survey, and include some publicity
> for the survey. By the October meeting, an outline of the newsletter
> should be ready, as should draft questions for the survey.

5.  **Meeting Schedule: Kevin**

> The entire task force will have quarterly teleconferences (4^th^
> Tuesday), with the following dates established for the next 12 months:
>
> Tuesday, October 24, 2006: 1:00 to 2:00, MT
>
> Tuesday, January 23, 2007: 1:00 to 2:00, MT
>
> Tuesday, April 24, 2007 : 1:00 to 2:00, MT
>
> Tuesday, July 24, 2007: 1:00 to 2:00, MT