DEI Task Force Town Hall

Past Event

Wednesday, November 10, 2021 12:00 PM to 1:30 PM KST
Zoom (https://gmu.zoom.us/j/99422526753)

DEI Task Force Town Hall will be held on Wednesday, November 10th from 12 PM to 1:30 PM, when representatives will present their initial recommendations for your review and feedback. The DEI Task Force is co-chaired by the Associate Dean for Faculty and Academic Affairs, Dr. Shannon Davis and the Associate Dean for University Life, Yorgun Marcel.  The overall membership of the Task Force consists of 5 students, 5 staff, and 7 faculty. We felt it was important that we also provide you with an update on the work of the Task Force so as to allow you the time to gain a deeper understanding of the context which led to the recommendations that you will be asked to consider.

DEI Task Force Town Hall 

The Task force has met weekly since September 27th, and first worked on identifying key problems relevant to the Mason Korea community which fell within the realm of diversity, equity, and inclusion matters to serve as the foundations for the recommendations that they developed.

To facilitate this process, the DEI Task Force formed several subcommittees which modeled the approach of our home campus in the United States. The purview of these subcommittees and their membership are as follows:

  1. Student Voice:  Claire (Suk In) Jung, LJ (Leslie) Haider, Helaina Burke, Ilya Kim
  2. Campus & Community Engagement:  Won Seok Park, Brian Colchao, Kieun Kwon
  3. Curriculum & Pedagogy: Deborah Kwak, Kimberlie Fair, Claire (Suk In) Jung
  4. Policies & Practices: Jun Kim, Kent Zimmerman, LJ (Leslie) Haider
  5. Research: Hye Yun Kang, Eunhee Seo, Helaina Burke
  6. Training & Development: Jiye Chang, Ilya Kim, Amy Lewis

Each subcommittee has identified distinct problems or concerns that they wanted to solve with their policy and program recommendations.  These are listed below:

  1. Student Voice:
  • Being mindful of what DEI is in Korea and this Mason Korea campus – what issues will be our priorities
  • Student organization (RSO) and on-campus discrimination based on language barrier (English, Korean) and cultural backgrounds

    2. Campus & Community Engagement:

  •  How to assess community engagement?
  •  How to approach community engagement in Mason Korea context?
  • Different groups in our community, student with different socio-economic classes, staff with different backgrounds, meaning it is hard to address all groups’ concerns 

    3. Curriculum & Pedagogy:

  • Anti-racism" may not be an inclusive enough term; use of gender-neutral terms, experience, race, class and gender.
  • Dealing with the vulnerabilities that discussions of DEI may uncover.
  • Helping faculty engage with topics that are outside of their experience.
  • What are the equity and inclusion issues of concern in the Korean cultural experience?

    4. Policies & Practices:

  • Student experience can drastically vary depending on language efficiency or barrier.
  • International students often feel there is insufficient guidance related to academic advising, finance, activities, adjustments to life in Korea, etc.
  • Disparity and division exist between faculty and staff at Mason Korea, including feelings of preferential or otherwise unequal treatment and lack of recognition on each side.

    5. Research:

  • Funding for DEI related research
  • Majority of domestic Koreans are oblivious about or indifferent to diversity issues while others have their perspectives or attitudes about homogeneity.
  • Faculty, staff, and students with diverse backgrounds and statuses (international, domestic, transnational, etc.) have their struggles, challenges, expectations, perspectives, positions, and/or attitudes toward other groups; yet, less effort has been made to bring them together by embracing various backgrounds and accommodating needs and expectations of those who are different from one.
  • Expatriates including international students experience the difficulty of accessing the Korean community, learning target language and culture, and developing a deeper relationship with local people.
  • Faculty, staff, and students may see themselves as separate entities…

     6. Training & Development

  • Are there additional trainings that are not required but part of the Mason package of trainings or in the process of being developed as a result of ARIE?
  • Are they relevant to the Mason Korea context?
  • How do you motivate the broader community to participate in trainings and development?

We share these preliminary components of the work undertaken by the DEI Task Force in an effort to engage you in considering these concerns, and any others that you feel may not have been considered at this point. In addition, we ask that you reflect on what recommendations for policies or programs that would address the concerns listed by the Task Force, as well as any others that you may want the DEI Task Force to consider as it works towards formulating its final recommendations to Dean Matz.

In preparation for the November 10th Townhall, we hope that this information will help you to think through how you will contribute to the work of the DEI Task Force.  The Task Force is working on behalf of the entire Mason Korea community, so your input in the concerns and the recommendations are critical to the outcomes of the Task Force.

At the conclusion of the Townhall where the committees will present their draft recommendations to address the concerns listed above, all members of the Mason Korea community will be provided with a direct means of providing feedback to the committee. We need your contribution and we need your voice.

To join us, please RSVP HERE by Monday, November 8.

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