Subject: CFDC January 6, 2004 Meeting Minutes
Present:
Sarah Watkins, Jack Bernard, Danny Heumann, Sue Bade,
Doug White,
Guests:
Diane Vasquez, Rose Bernal, Etta MacDonagh-Dumler
Announcements from the Chair
Jack
introduced a new member of the Council, Danny Neumann. Danny is a
resident of
Jack
announced Doug White as the Vice-Chair of the Council for Disability
Concerns. Doug is a Senior Housing Advisor for University Housing and has
been an active member of the Council for many years.
Jack
commented on the arrangement between Google and the University. Jack
continues to press them regarding issues of
accessibility as they move forward with this major project.
Guest Presentation
Etta,
Diane and Rose presented the new initiative, VOICES of the staff, to the
Council. This initiative has been requested by President Coleman to
gather staff thoughts and ideas about significant, campus-wide issues and have
a mechanism whereby this information can be shared
with top administration.
About 250
staff from all levels and areas from campus and hospitals will meet in a
community forum annually to identify major issues. From this information
the major 5-7 issues will be identified and network groups will be formed to
further develop the topics. Terms for network group members will be two
years. Two people will be chosen in each network group to be
"core" members who will meet periodically with the President and
Executive Officers.
Council
members provided good feedback to Etta, Diane and Rose regarding the
solicitation of nominees and the importance of supervisor support for VOICES
participants. Another excellent suggestion was the opportunity for VOICES
members to make comments or express concerns anonymously. It was
mentioned that persons with disabilities do not want to (nor should they have
to) disclose their impairment to express an opinion about access or other
issues.
Diane
encouraged Council members to consider nominating staff for the first step
which is the community forum luncheon that will beheld in February.
Nominations are to go to Diane Vasquez at dvasquez@umich.edu and
should include the nominee's name, employee ID # if known, name of supervisor
(if known), and the reason that you are
nominating the person. Staff are welcome to
nominate themselves for participation. Nominations must be received
by Diane no later than January 21, 2005.
Closing Announcements
Planning
for IAW and the Neubacher Award start in
February. Come to the next meeting with your ideas to participate in
planning or leadership!
The OIE
has provided $5,000 to the Council for projects or events that can be completed
by
The next
Council meeting will be