2008 Woodie Awards
Common Ground Report released
Leighanne Noonan
Issue date: 9/21/06 Section: News
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Last week, Carol Christ announced the release of the Common Ground Report. In this report, a campus committee of students, faculty, administration and alumnae identified a working definition of diversity, problems surrounding campus diversity, and potential courses of action to achieve "common ground" at Smith.
This project was initiated in December 2004 by the Office of Institutional Diversity and has since been an ongoing issue. According to Martha Ackelsberg, professor of government and women's studies and a faculty member of the Common Ground Committee, "This process was a long one."
The group met initially "for quite a number of months to talk about where we were, past efforts at Smith to address diversity issues, what we meant by 'diversity,' and a range of other issues," Ackelsberg said. From this discussion, three major diversity goals were identified.
The three goals were to get members of the community to recognize the varied backgrounds, cultures, traditions and capacities that are specific to each of its members; to "foster critical thought on equality, inequality, power and privilege in society" and to "reduce inequalities on the college campus that are based upon these differences," according to the Common Ground Report.
In addressing these goals the committee turned to the populace. "We decided to move ahead with a series of focus groups, in order, in a sense, to take the 'pulse' of the campus on this whole range of issues," states the Common Ground Report. These focus groups took place throughout the 2005-2006 school year. With the aid of the researchers, the committee "reviewed the findings to derive from them a set of themes and concerns that would help us think about how to move the campus forward," said Ackelsberg.
Over 300 members of the Smith community contributed to these focus groups. According to President Christ, the results contain a merit of accuracy. "The survey sample quite deliberately included larger percentages of staff, faculty and students of color in the focus groups. With this parameter, the survey sample was randomly selected."
This project was initiated in December 2004 by the Office of Institutional Diversity and has since been an ongoing issue. According to Martha Ackelsberg, professor of government and women's studies and a faculty member of the Common Ground Committee, "This process was a long one."
The group met initially "for quite a number of months to talk about where we were, past efforts at Smith to address diversity issues, what we meant by 'diversity,' and a range of other issues," Ackelsberg said. From this discussion, three major diversity goals were identified.
The three goals were to get members of the community to recognize the varied backgrounds, cultures, traditions and capacities that are specific to each of its members; to "foster critical thought on equality, inequality, power and privilege in society" and to "reduce inequalities on the college campus that are based upon these differences," according to the Common Ground Report.
In addressing these goals the committee turned to the populace. "We decided to move ahead with a series of focus groups, in order, in a sense, to take the 'pulse' of the campus on this whole range of issues," states the Common Ground Report. These focus groups took place throughout the 2005-2006 school year. With the aid of the researchers, the committee "reviewed the findings to derive from them a set of themes and concerns that would help us think about how to move the campus forward," said Ackelsberg.
Over 300 members of the Smith community contributed to these focus groups. According to President Christ, the results contain a merit of accuracy. "The survey sample quite deliberately included larger percentages of staff, faculty and students of color in the focus groups. With this parameter, the survey sample was randomly selected."
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