The Building Community Committee (BCC) in the College of Forestry was formed in Spring 2002 to address a major goal identified in the College’s Strategic Plan. (Creating Our Future, Goal 7):
Build a strong sense of community within the College. Promote and honor diversity in faculty and staff; improve communication; improve participation in College activities; enhance equity in status and value of non professorial staff and fixed-term professorial faculty; enhance the College’s recognition and reward system.
The committee first met on May 20, 2002 with co-chairs Becky Johnson and Tom Adams. Since then, more than 20 faculty, staff and students have been members of this committee. The current BCC is made up of 10 individuals, representing professorial faculty in the College’s four departments, research support faculty, classified employees, the College Executive Committee (FEC), and students. The committee has organized and promoted many community building activities including the monthly Pay Day Coffee (All-College coffee break), all college meetings in the Fall, Dean’s Awards receptions, and social events (e.g., Food Drive Karaoke (Spring 2003), Mardi Gras (Spring 2005), and Spring Ice Cream Socials). As a result of a BCC recommendation, the recognition of classified staff was added to the yearly Dean’s awards.
In the past three years, the BCC has had the responsibility of developing a Diversity Action Plan (DAP) for the College. Each unit in the University has the responsibility for creating a DAP tailored to their specific needs. The process for developing the College’s plan involved many meetings of the BCC, a college-wide questionnaire to solicit feedback on a draft of the plan and to assess the “climate” in the College, and vetting the plan with the FEC and the College of Forestry Advisory Committee. The DAP, as officially adopted can be found here. The plan includes a set of goals, actions, and assessments designed to provide a welcoming climate in the College, increase diversity among or students, staff and faculty, and increase knowledge and understanding of the diverse perspectives on natural resource issues. This plan is a living document and is expected to be updated and change as the BCC leads implementation of the action items in the plan.