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Chairperson Tim Price called the meeting to order at 1:30 p.m. Guest Speaker: Carlos Garza introduced guest speaker, Jerry Beat, who is the Executive Director of SACNAS (Society for Advancement of Chicanos and Native Americans in Science), which has its national headquarters in Santa Cruz, CA. Beat previously worked in the NOAA Office of Civil Rights and had been on a special assignment to SACNAS. Beat said that the NOAA office of OAR has always been very active in SACNAS and now all the line offices of NOAA have some level of involvement. The purpose of SACNAS is to get Chicanos and Native Americans to pursue advanced degrees in math, science and engineering fields where they have been under-represented. Historically, SACNAS has received a lot of support from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and as a result, many SACNAS students have gone into the medical fields. The NIH has been interested in hiring students right out of college so the result has been that these students do not pursue advanced degrees. The main way that SACNAS fulfills its purpose is through their annual national conference. This year the conference will be held in Anaheim, CA Sept. 26-29. About 2,000 people attend this conference including 600 undergraduate students, 200 graduate students, 200 teachers and various scientific professionals, including scientists from federal agencies. President Clinton had issued an executive order asking federal agencies to be involved in SACNAS and other minority-serving institutions and to report to him on these activities. President Bush is continuing the support, but has not asked agencies to report to him. The annual conference is modeled after professional organizations’ conferences. Scientific symposia are held where professionals tell students about the research they are doing. Minorities are encouraged to be on these panels and serve as role models. Professional development sessions are held to show young scientists how to advance in their careers. Sessions are also held on resume preparation. Sometimes the AA for fisheries has been the keynote speaker at these conferences. Undergraduates practice giving oral presentations or poster papers. Two hundred exhibitors are present and some exhibitors may be looking for interns to work in their organizations. There is a strong program for K-12 teachers and an effort is made to hook teachers up with scientists so that they can help each other. Beat also addressed how the EEOAC and NOAA Fisheries could be involved in SACNAS. NOAA employees could attend the annual meeting. Scientists are needed to judge the 300 or more posters that are presented. Scientists could sit down with students and talk about research opportunities. Speakers are always needed for the symposia. Employees could assist with the NOAA booth. Carlos Garza attended the conference last year and said that NOAA was well represented. People can contact Jerry Beat at jerry@sacnas.org or check the Web site http://www.sacnas.org for more information. Marty Golden reported that he provided the Society for Advancement of Chicanos and Native Americans in Science a detailed template for a new Web page on scientific societies related to marine science and fisheries that they can add to their Web site. Jerry Beat had requested this assistance during his presentation to the SWR/SWFSC EEOAC meeting on May 1, 2002. Discussion of Beat’s talk will be held in the subcommittee meetings and at the next full committee meeting. Officers’ reports: Tim Price reported that "Bring your child to work day" was a big success at the Long Beach office. Six children aged 3 to 8 attended. A committee put together a program to entertain and educate the children. A write up with pictures has been submitted to Access NOAA. Price contacted Polytechnic High School in Long Beach to see about getting an intern who will be a visual information specialist and whose duties would include designing outreach material. Santa Rosa will also be getting an intern to manage a GIS database and conduct literature searches for Endangered Species Act consultations. Sub Committee Reports: Programs Subcommittee: Golden reported that the subcommittee is working on a draft Individual Development Plan (IDP) Work plan. Administrative Subcommittee: Rob has been trying to get additional EEOAC training materials for our new members but he has been unable to get a hold of Natalie. If we are unable to reach her, we may have to duplicate these materials in house. Rosalie and Rob met with Janet Norem WASC to discuss coordination of the job announcement listserver. The next subcommittee meetings will be as follows: Administrative May 8 - 10:00 Personnel May 8 - 11:00 Program May 6 - 1:30 Old Business: Carlos reported that the Bulletin Board work plan is still in the brainstorm stage. Both Garza and Price have received positive feedback when they spoke about the possibility of having this bulletin board. New Business: Rod McInnis has decided to revive the SWR Advisory Committees and Leona Stevenson sent out an e-mail asking for volunteers. In 1998 Bill Hogarth established four committees: Diversity, Personnel Management, Facilities, and Public Outreach. Price said there may be some overlap between these advisory committees and the EEOAC. Members of the EEOAC may wish to volunteer to be on one of these advisory committees and help keep the EEOAC posted on events. Hopefully all committee reports would be posted to a Web site where all employees could read them. Announcements: Maria Harris announced that Rod McInnis put Tim Price in for a Special Act or Service award for his three years of heading the EEOAC. —a well deserved award. The July meeting will be on the 17th of the month and we will try to get a speaker from the NOAA Office of Civil Rights. Garza will contact Beat for recommendations of speakers. The next meeting will be held on June 5, 2002 at 1:30 p.m.. The meeting adjourned at 3:00 p.m. |
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All information in the web page was approved
by the SW EEOAC Executive Committee. This site was last updated Tuesday, November 22, 2005 11:34 AM |