In Support of Promoting Open Dialogue and Strengthening Community

Resolution Number: RS17-357

February, 2017

Whereas:

the Senate Chair opened our academic year reminding us that “by working together, engaging in productive and respectful dialogue, as well as being open to inevitable change, we will adapt so that we can continue to thrive as an institution ,” and

Whereas:

our campus community faces challenges that mirror those of our larger national and global community, and

Whereas:

an important strength of membership in an academic community is its reach for new knowledge and understanding, of our individual disciplines and of each other, through dialogue, and

Whereas:

our dedication to the education of our public, for public and social good, reaches all levels of our institution including our staff, faculty, administration and our students, and

Whereas:

our fortune in the diversity of our community is that we have the opportunity to participate in dialogue with people of different experiences, perspectives, and orientations that may be new or unfamiliar to us, be it therefore

Resolved:

that the Academic Senate work actively and collaboratively with faculty, staff, administrators and students across campus to engage the entirety of our campus community in a practice of dialogue with each other, and be it further

Resolved:

that the Academic Senate, as leaders and models for engaged dialogue on campus, support, promote, and organize opportunities for our campus community to learn helpful strategies of collaborative and productive communication about challenging and important issues, so that we might spread a practice of productive discourse and dialogue throughout the campus and into the surrounding community.