Councils and Committees
Board of Trustees Committee
The Board of Trustees Community and Belonging Committee reviews, evaluates, and makes recommendations to the Board of Trustees on matters pertaining to the College’s continuous strategic efforts regarding: (i) development, implementation, and assessment of systematic plans to attract and retain more historically underrepresented students, faculty, and staff; (ii) development of educational initiatives for students, faculty, and staff about diversity and inclusion; and (iii) attention to the intersecting issues of retention and campus climate such that the environment is more supportive and inclusive of students, faculty, and staff from diverse backgrounds.
Committee members 2020-2021
- Yolanda Benitez, Director of Priority Projects and Workforce Initiatives at Wegmans - Chairperson
- Brian Cooper, Economist and Independent Scholar
- Lisa Durant-Jones, VP for Community & Belonging at Nazareth College – Administrative Advisor
- Sergio Esteban, CEO of LaBella Associates P.C.
- Marisa Geitner, CEO at Heritage Christian Services, ’92, ‘95G
- Duffy Palmer, N.Y. State Deputy Secretary of Education
- Grant Randall, President & CEO of Windsor Technology, Inc.
- Octavio Vazquez, Assistant Professor in Music - Faculty Advisor
Advisory Council
The Community and Belonging Advisory Council serves in an advisory capacity to the Vice President to advance and engage in a continual and intentional process of education, critical self-reflection and dialogue regarding privilege, power, and marginalization, promoting greater access and inclusion through systematic and structural change, and ensuring that all students, faculty, and staff reach their fullest potential individually and collectively in order to advance a community of belonging.
Council members 2020-2021
- Carey Backman, Director in Student Engagement & Leadership
- Kerry Dunn, Associate Professor and Coordinator of Clinical Assistantships in the School of Education
- Lisa Durant-Jones, Interim VP for Community & Belonging – Chair of the Council
- Nevan Fisher, Executive Director of the Center for International Education
- Victoria Gebel, Director of Residence Life & Community Standards in Residence Life
- Ana Gomez Parga, Assistant Professor in English & Communication
- Stephen Hill, Assistant Professor in Business & Leadership
- Adam Lewandowksi, Associate Director of the Center for Civic Engagement
- Michael McGwin, Assistant VP for Enrollment Strategy & Operations in Admissions
- Jed Metzger, Professor & the Rosemarie Beston Chair for International & Global Studies in Social Work
- Tabonnie Nesmith, Undergraduate Student
- Sarah Winter Robinson, Assistant Director of Alumni & Development Communication in Marketing & Communications
- Janice Scheutzow, Director of Financial Aid
- Samuel Song, Director of the English Language Institute & Asia Pacific Rim Initiatives
- Stephen Tajc, Associate Professor of Organic Chemistry and Department Chair in Chemistry & Biochemistry
- Octavio Vazquez, Assistant Professor in Music and Member of the Board of Trustees Community and Belonging Committee
Diversity in the Curriculum Task Force
The Diversity in the Curriculum Task Force has been charged with developing a strategy with deliverable outcomes to integrate diversity and inclusion into the curriculum and create on-going opportunities to develop scholarship and pedagogical practices that advance diversity and inclusion.
Task force members 2020-2021
- Marie Bell, Assistant Professor in Nursing - Co-Chair
- Isabel Cordova, Associate Professor in History & Political Science - Co-Chair
- Amber Charlebois, Assistant Professor in Chemistry & Biochemistry
- Susan Sturm, Assistant Professor in the School of Education
- Rose Hair, Associate Professor in the School of Business and Leadership
- Emily Carpenter, Executive Director of the Center for Life's Work