Department of Dance (DoD) Diversity Committee:
The charge of this committee is to advise the Chair of the Department of Dance on issues related to diversity, equity, inclusion and access (DEI+A) within the department. While the voicing of specific individual student concerns or complaints should follow the process outlined on our “How Should I Voice A Complaint” webpage, the DoD Diversity Committee can bring more general issues to the attention of the Chair of the Department of Dance. The Chair of the Department of Dance may also bring issues to the Diversity Committee for the committee and the chair to consider together.
The committee is comprised of:
Representative |
Role in Diversity Committee |
2023-2024 |
| 1 full-time faculty member, selected by the Department Chair | Serves as Chair of the Diversity Committee | Alana Isiguen, aisiguen@uw.edu |
| 1 staff member, selected each year by staff consensus | Serves as Secretary during Diversity Committee meetings |
Katie Daugherty, uwdance@uw.edu |
| 1 graduate student, selected each year by graduate student consensus |
Cameo Lethem, cameo1@uw.edu |
|
| 1 member of the Arts Diversity Council (ADC), selected each year by ADC consensus |
TBD |
|
| 1 member of the Dance Student Association (DSA), selected each year by DSA consensus |
TBD |
The faculty member will serve as the Chair of the DoD Diversity Committee due in part to the extra work that will be required of the chair to call and run meetings, and to serve as Arts Diversity Liaison for the Department of Dance (see below). This work is part of the service load for which faculty are paid. The faculty member will serve as Chair of the DoD Diversity Committee also because of their position of authority within the department, which may be necessary to leverage when difficult conversations need to be had. Serving as an Arts Diversity Liaison for the Department of Dance entails quarterly meetings with liaisons from other arts units within the College of Arts and Sciences. These meetings are run by the Divisional Dean of the Arts and provide additional training on matters pertaining to DEI+A, support, and opportunities to connect with colleagues in other units.
The staff member will serve as secretary and be the person responsible for taking notes during DoD Diversity Committee meetings and then providing those notes to the Chair of the Department of Dance. This extra work will be part of the time for which the staff member is compensated. Other members of the Diversity Committee, however, are also welcome to take their own notes during meetings and share those notes with the Chair of the Department of Dance.
While the committee may meet as often as desired, the recommendation of the current Chair of the Department of Dance (Christina Sunardi) is that the committee plan to meet between 1-3 times per quarter, including trainings or other events the committee organizes, to keep the time commitment to the committee feasible. During the Autumn Quarter, the Chair of the Department of Dance will schedule a meeting with the Diversity Committee to work with the committee to develop a set of goals and priorities for the upcoming academic year as well as a plan for meetings for the upcoming academic year.
Updated October 2023