Program Schedule 2008-2009

January 13, 2009 - Recruit and Retain a Diverse Workforce

January 28, 2009 - Managing Diversity at a Predominantly White Institution: Leadership or Reaction?

February 12, 2009 - Panel Discussion

February 23, 2009 - The Power of Small

March 19, 2009 - Diversity and Disparities: Parallel Challenges for 21st Century Health Care

Mach 23, 2009 - Interracial Romance in American Film

April 3, 2009 - Strategic Leadership for the New Millennium

April 4, 2009 - Spring Student Social Cancelled

April 21, 2009 - Understanding Workplace Harassment - Do You Know the Law?

May 11, 2009 - NEPDEC Representative Retreat

Tuesday, January 13, 2009

Recruit and Retain a Diverse Workforce

Scott Richardson, M. Ed. Director, Northeastern Pennsylvania Diversity Education Consortium Associate Director, The Diversity Institute at Misericordia University

This workshop is designed to identify recognized best practices for recruiting and retaining a diverse student population and workforce.

Mr. Scott Richardson has worked in secondary and higher education for the past fifteen years. He has served as an administrator, teacher, trainer, educator, counselor, and advisor. Some of Richardson's work experiences include Director of Assessment (Reading Area Community College) and Director of Educational Opportunity (Pennsylvania State University, Berks Campus). Mr. Richardson holds a B. A. in Music and an M. Ed. in Curriculum Development and Pedagogy from Kutztown University. He is a doctoral candidate in Higher Education Leadership, Organization and Policy at Widener University.

Wednesday, January 28, 2009

Managing Diversity at a Predominantly White Institution: Leadership or Reaction?

Blaine E. Steensland, Ed. D. Chief Student Affairs and Enrollment Officer Penn State University Berks Campus

This interactive workshop is designed to challenge thinking about why a college should be purposeful in designing structures, processes, and environments that support diversity. It is generally accepted that we need to attract and graduate more students from our colleges and universities who represent the diverse backgrounds and cultures that comprise our state and national population. Participants will examine institutional characteristics and values that appear to support this goal, and be provided an opportunity to create their own model.

Dr. Blaine E. Steensland is the chief student affairs and enrollment officer of Penn State University Berks located in Reading, Pennsylvania. He is a graduate of Davis& Elkins College (B. A. ) and West Virginia University (M. Ed. andEd. D. ), and has worked for over 30 years in the fields of enrollment management, and academic and student affairs. He is recognized for designing programs that create welcoming and supportive campus environments for all students.

Thursday, February 12, 2009

Panel Discussion

This panel will actively engage participants in a discussion of the social and educational impact of the recent presidential election, and how to engage in meaningful dialogue with students and colleagues about the issues raised as the first African-American president in the United States takes office. Participants will share and identify successful strategies, policies, and procedures for managing stressful situations engendered by discussion of diversity issues in the classroom, the hallways, the boardroom, and at team meetings. Panelists will address the impact of the election from the perspective of Women, African Americans, Muslims, and the GLBT Community.

Monday, February 23, 2009

The Power of Small

Arthur Breese, M. A. , M. S. Director of Diversity Geisinger Health Care Systems

This workshop addresses the small, yet powerful, biases communicated in the workplace. It focuses on one of the most hidden barriers to success: the subtle, usually subconscious, messages we all send that can devalue, discourage, and ultimately impair performance in the workplace at all levels of an organization. Participants will learn to identify micro-messages, gain an understanding of the effects of such messages in the workplace, and develop critical skills for communicating master messages that drive rapid and beneficial behavior changes in the workplace. These skills will help improve the quality and productivity of daily interactions with colleagues.

Mr. Arthur Breese has a Bachelor's Degree in Psychology from Temple University, a Master of Arts Degree in Education, and a Master of Science Degree in Organizational Management from Misericordia University. He worked for more than 15 years asa family crisis counselor, before taking the position of Director of the Northeastern Pennsylvania Diversity Education Consortium and Associate Director of the Diversity Institute at Misericordia University.

Arthur has completed the Anti-Defamation League World of Difference Program, and presented locally, regionally, and nationally on diversity education and issues, including several presentations for the National Conference on Race and Ethnicity.

Breese has been the Director of Diversity and Mediation at East Stroudsburg University, and currently serves as Director of Diversity for Geisinger Health Care Systems (www. geisinger. org). He is on the Board of Directors of the Diversity Institute and on the Executive Committee of the Board of Directors of the Northeastern Pennsylvania Diversity Education Consortium. Mr. Breese currently serves as co-chairperson of the Luzerne County Diversity Task Force

Thursday, March 19, 2009

Diversity and Disparities: Parallel Challenges for 21st Century Health Care

Janice L. Dreachslin, Ph.D. Professor Health Policy and Administration Penn State University Great Valley

Ameliorating racial and ethnic disparities requires not only culturally competent clinicians, but leaders who create an organizational context in which cultural competence is enabled, cultivated, and reinforced. The presenter will summarize current knowledge about strategic diversity management and the power of top-down commitment to diversity leadership in health care organizations. Workshop participants will discuss how self-reflective leadership, cognitive reframing, and goal setting can be used to assess and develop our personal performance on an evidence-based set of diversity leadership competencies. The ability to identify and develop our dominant and accessible majority and minority identity statuses across multiple dimensions of diversity and the ability to recognize and manage our own implicit biases will be explored in depth.

Dr. Janice L. Dreachslin is Professor of Health Policy and Administration in the Management Division at the Penn State University Great Valley School of Graduate Professional Studies in Malvern, Pennsylvania and Professor-in-Charge of Biotechnology and Health Industry Management programs for the school. Her Ph.D. was awarded by Wayne State University in Detroit, Michigan. She also holds a B. A. in Sociology from Wayne State University and is a member of the Phi Beta Kappa and Beta Gamma Sigma honorary societies.

Dr. Dreachslin teaches Biotechnology and Health Industry Overview, Diversity Leadership, and Behavioral Sciences in Business. She is the recipient of the 1994 Penn State University Great Valley Graduate Center award for teaching excellence, the 1999 award for service excellence, and the 2003 award for excellence in research and scholarship. Dr. Dreachslin has worked in the fields of health and human service administration for over thirty years.

Dr. Dreachslin has consulted in the US, Canada, Great Britain, and Australia, and has authored many articles in the area of diversity and health care management. She is the author of the first academic book on strategic diversity management in health care, Diversity Leadership, published by the American College of Healthcare Executives Health Administration Press (June1966). She maintains an active consulting practice in diversity leadership.

Monday, March 23, 2009

Interracial Romance in American Film

Celeste A. Fisher, Ph.D. Visiting Scholar, The Diversity Institute at Misericordia University

Dr. Fisher will provide the audience with an understanding of how race and romance are represented in mainstream cinema. Specific attention will be given to exploring the ways in which the cultural productions of such films speak to race relations in the United States.

Dr. Celeste A. Fisher is the Diversity Institute Visiting Scholar at Misericordia University for 2008-2009, where she teaches courses in communication and sociology. Fisher has published articles in the areas of film audiences, race and representation, as well as identity politics and urban studies. She has served as a special issue editor for The International Journal of Media and Cultural Politics (Intellect Books, 2005) on a project titled, "Black Women's Politics through Cultural Expression," which examines the ways in which black women have creatively articulated their political views within the context of social and cultural movements. Her book, Black on Black: Urban Youth Films and the Multicultural Audience, focuses on the role of film in the meaning-making process (Scarecrow Press, 2006). Dr. Fisher is a graduate of Syracuse University (B. S. ), the State University of New York at Buffalo (M. S. ), and New York University (Ph.D. ).

Friday April 3, 2009

Strategic Leadership for the New Millennium

Damon A. Williams, Ph.D. Vice Provost & Chief Diversity Officer University of Wisconsin-Madison

Across all sectors of organizational life, leaders in higher education, corporations, non-profit, and government are striving to help their institutions maximize financial and human resources. To achieve this goal, officers, managers, and team leaders must embrace and develop organizational capacity to engage issues of difference, and meet the challenges and opportunities presented by changing demographics in our country. Diversity management in the current climate is no longer an option, it is a survival necessity.

Dr. Williams will discuss the development of trained diversity professionals throughout organizational structures as a key component in successful strategic planning for changing workforces and constituencies. He will address the question, "Do changes come from the top of the ladder, or from the bottom--and by the way, who's going to do what needs to be done?"

Dr. Williams, nationally acknowledged as an expert in the area of diversity management, uses his own research and consulting experience with organizations such as Proctor and Gamble, University of Virginia, NCAA, Coca Cola, and Harvard University, to share with his audiences the kinds of training, practices and policies that have helped organizations more effectively achieve their goals.

NOTE: There maybe space for six private consultations. Please call 570-674-6217, to reserve your space in the morning and afternoon sessions, as space is limited and lunch reservations are necessary.

Dr. Damon A. Williams' work centers on diversity, inclusion, and organizational change across all areas of organizational life. As a scholar, administrator, and change agent, he actively engages issues of diversity and inclusion as a matter of first priority in his research, university leadership, and public life working with others across the country. He is driven by a burning desire to not only understand issues of diversity, but to collaborate with others and make a difference in the lives of individuals and organizations locally, nationally, and globally.

Dr. Williams serves as Vice Provost and Chief Diversity Officer and a member of the faculty in the Department of Educational Leadership and Policy Analyses at the University of Wisconsin--Madison. In this newly expanded role, Dr. Williams provides leadership for a large public university on issues of access, equity, campus climate, and preparing all students for a world that is diverse, global, and interconnected.

Dr. Williams is a national leader in the discussion of inclusive excellence, strategic planning for diversity, academic engagement, and organizational change in higher education. He is considered by many to be among the nation's leading experts on building sustainable diversity capabilities based upon his landmark research on chief diversity officers, and examination of diversity planning and implementation processes at colleges and universities, corporations, and other types of organizations.

In 2008, the American Council of Education (ACE) published an invited monograph by Dr. Williams & Dr. Katrina Wade-Golden of the University of Michigan titled, "The Chief Diversity Officer: A Primer for College and University Presidents." Supported by ING Financial Services Corporation, this publication was sent to over 2,700 college and university presidents. His new book, The Chief Diversity Officer: Strategy, Structure, and Change Management, also with Dr. Wade-Golden is expected in the spring of 2009 from Stylus Publishing Press

Dr. Williams received his Ph.D. from the University of Michigan Center for the Study of Higher and Post-Secondary Education (CSHPE), where his focus was organizational behavior and management. He received his master's degree in college student personnel services and his bachelor's degree in sociology/Black World Studies from Miami University.

Saturday, April 4, 2009 Cancelled

Spring Student Social - "Open Mic Expo"/Talent Show

Dance the night away while you network with students from the 15 colleges and universities that are part of NEPDEC.

Enjoy the food, music, and "Open Mic Challenge," while meeting your colleagues at other schools in northeastern Pennsylvania!

Tuesday, April 21, 2009

Understanding Workplace Harassment - Do You Know the Law?

Barry H. Dyller, Esquire

Participants will receive information on Pennsylvania law regarding workplace harassment, and discuss policies and procedures which can help their organizations be proactive in establishing welcoming productive work environments. Active involvement will include discussion of participant organizations' policies and procedures which have proven effective, and examination of best practices in this area of organizational policy as it pertains to anti-discrimination law.

Barry H. Dyller, Esquire grew up in New York City and its suburbs. In 1982, he earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in Philosophy from the State University of New York at Stony Brook. In 1985, he earned his Juris Doctor degree from Boston University School of Law, where he graduated cum laude, having also been awarded the Paul J. Liacos Distinguished Scholar and Edward F. Hennessey Scholar awards. Mr. Dyller's short-term goal after graduating law school was to work with a large New York City lawfirm in order to learn his craft from some of the most talented lawyers in the country.

In 1992, Mr. Dyller moved to Wilkes-Barre to marry his law school sweetheart, Attorney Lesa Gelb. With Lesa's encouragement, Mr. Dyller dared to fulfill his lifelong dream: to fight for civil rights. Mr. Dyller founded a civil rights law practice, and has been fighting ever since for victims of racial, gender, age and disability discrimination and harassment. Mr. Dyller also fights for victims of police brutality, racial profiling, and other governmental violations of citizens' constitutional rights.

Mr. Dyller has been involved in many community and law-related organizations, including the Luzerne County Diversity Commission, the Great Wyoming Valley Audubon Society, Temple Israel, the Jewish Community Center, and the Wilkes-Barre Law and Library Association. Mr. Dyller is on the Executive Committee of the Civil Rights Section of the American Association for Justice, and will become its chairman in July 2009. Mr. Dyller participated in the Wilkes-Barre NAACP's Know Your Rights Seminars, and was the keynote speaker at its 1999 Racial Summit. In 2004, Mr. Dyller was awarded the Wilkes-Barre NAACP's Diversity Leadership Award, its highest honor. Mr. Dyller's goal is to pass forward to others through his work, his words, and his deeds, the blessings bestowed on him. Mr. Dyller's greatest joys in life are his wife Lesa Gelb, and his sons Nathan Gelb-Dyller and Benjamin Gelb-Dyller.

Monday, May 11 2009

NEPDEC Representative Retreat

This retreat will focus on strengthening member institutions' diversity programming, meeting and greeting one another as colleagues to form a support group for diversity educators, and dialogue identifying NEPDEC strengths, weaknesses, assets, and threats to future success as part of a strategic planning initiative.