The Office of Equity, Diversity and Community Engagement has partnered with the Office of Quality and Continuous Learning to bring the first ever Diversity Certificate program to UT employees as professional development.    Not only is this program a first for UT, it is unique to NW Ohio as well.  25 faculty and staff members from across all UT campuses have been attending the certificate workshops throughout this spring semester.   Workshops are facilitated by UT faculty and staff who are subject matter experts and who are volunteering their time to support this important initiative.

Workshops are interactive and focused on building a culture of diversity at the University of Toledo.  Workshop topics include an exploration of related UT policy, Gender Roles, Cross Cultural Communication, Religious Diversity, Diversity in the Arts, Successful Aging, Global Citizenship and much more.   As Diversity Certificate workshops are coming to an end for this semester, participants are being reflective of the overall program and identifying ways that the experience will help them to support and promote UT’s value  and definition of diversity;

UT’s Definition of Diversity: Human diversity is variety in group presence and interactions.  It includes, but is not limited to, age, color, ethnicity, gender, religion, disabilities, socioeconomic status, sexual orientation, gender identity, and national origin.

UT’s Core Value of Diversity, Integrity and Teamwork:  Create an environment that values and fosters diversity; earn the trust and commitment of colleagues and the communities served; provide a collaborative and supportive work environment, based upon stewardship and advocacy, that adheres to the highest ethical standard.

UT’s Diversity Certificate program will be offered to all UT employees again in fall, 2013.  Details will be released over the summer.  For more information about the certificate program or any of the individual workshops within the program, contact Jeff Witt, the Program Manager in the Office of Equity, Diversity and Community Engagement.

Jeffery.witt@utoledo.edu   419.530.8573

Good Morning UT!

I hope you all are having a wonderful start to your spring semester. Today marks the start of a very exciting week at UT: Unity Week. These next seven days will be filled with wonderful opportunities that support the messages of Dr. Martin Luther King and this year’s theme of “Make a Way”. To find a complete list of the Unity Week events please visit http://www.utoledo.edu/studentaffairs/osi/unityweek2013/untitled.html.

Another unique aspect to this week is that it marks the end of the “Make a Way” Food Drive. You may have seen boxes around campus, in fact there are more than 50 boxes located across Main, Scott Park and the Health Science Campuses. There is still time to donate non-perishable items, please follow this link to learn more about where and what to donate http://www.utoledo.edu/diversity/oed/unity.html. All of the items donated will go directly to the MLK Kitchen for the Poor in central Toledo.

The accumulation of all of these events is the MLK Unity Celebration on Monday, January 21 in Savage Arena. The program begins at 9 a.m. and it is free and open to the public. There will be a free community luncheon following the celebration. I highly encourage everyone to attend; it is one of the most special events that I have ever attended at UT.

Please bring loved ones and a non-perishable item to all of these wonderful events that honor Dr. Martin Luther King’s legacy.

Toledo Interfaith Mass Choir at the 2012 MLK Celebration

If you didn’t know, Wonder Woman is on campus.  She exists in a great collection of dolls and memorabilia in the Eberly Center for Women and in the real life hero Ms. Wanda Butts  with her Josh Project.

For a short amount of time, more than 100 statuettes, toys, action figures and books about Wonder Woman will be on display in the Eberly Center.  This collection includes pieces from the 60’s and 70’s as well as some of the more modern, iconic images of the heroine.  We hope that you will stop by and see it before it leaves the campus.  Thank you to Diversity Program Manager Jeff Witt for sharing this great treasure.

As super heroes go, not too many can match up with Ms. Wanda Butts, creator of the Josh Project.  The Josh Project, located in the the UT Minority Business Development Center, was born out of the tragic drowning death of Ms. Butts’ son Josh Butts and has the sole mission to teach at-risk children how to swim.

For all her life-saving efforts, CNN has recognized Ms. Butts as one of 10 international heroes for 2012 and you can help her take the top spot by voting up to 10 times a day between now and November 28.   Take a moment to see and hear how she saves lives by clicking here for the CNN website feature.   The CNN 2012 winner will be announced live on December 2 at 9:00 pm. and don’t forget to vote!

Are you finding that the beginning of the school year brings a wave of appointments, meetings, or classes to attend that fill your calendar?

If you are like me you may be asking where is the time going. Or perhaps how can I find time to squeeze in a phone call to touch base with a colleague.

My solution came in the form of a Welcome Back Women Reception at the Eberly Center for Women. This event will be on Thursday, September 6 from 4:30 -6:00 p.m. and is open to everyone. You can follow the crowd and listen for the music in the Eberly Center Courtyard (in front of Tucker Hall on Campus Road) for a casual afternoon of light refreshments and networking.

It may be awhile since you visited the Eberly Center but please bring a friend or colleagues with you.

If you have never stopped into the Center, the event will be the perfect time to check it out. We have been hard at work this summer renovating a couple of the rooms, including a new lactation room. The whole team will be present to answers questions and to give tours of our great facilities.

Please call 419-530-8570 if you have any questions and I hope you get it on your busy calendar!

As many of you know, we are at the peak of golf season in the Midwest. At the Catharine S. Eberly Center for Women, we have been taking full advantage of the warm weather and green fairways.

In June and early July, the center sponsored a golf clinic for beginner golfers. We had 11 women join us for the 3 nights of instruction at Quarry Ridge Golf Course. We reviewed golf etiquette, putting and chipping techniques, and we hit a lot of golf balls on the range. Everyone did a wonderful job! We are working on expanding the clinic for next summer.

Tuesday Night Golf Clinic Group

On July 23, the center hit the links again for the “Golfing for Empowerment” outing at Brandywine Country Club. We co-sponsored this event with ASSETS Toledo, a local non-profit that provides low-cost entrepreneurial training. This was an extra special day for us at the Eberly Center because it fell on what would have been Catharine S. Eberly’s 90^th birthday. The outing was a wonderful way to honor the legacy of our namesake. Thank you to the 55 golfers who braved the high temperatures to play last week! We had some great scores and we gave away more than 20 raffle prizes.

If you are interested in learning more about the woman behind the center’s name, come to our Legacy Courtyard Celebration on September 12, in Libbey Hall at 5:30 pm.

The Eberly Family Foursome

Thanks for reading another edition of the University of Toledo Blog. We hope to see you all on the links soon!

UT’s support to the community involves the UT Diversity Supplier Program. This program is an institutional commitment to making contract and service opportunities available to minority, women and veteran owned business enterprises. Join us on Friday, July 20 from 11 am -2 pm on the Centennial Mall (Main Campus) to meet some of the small business owners who furnish some of the goods and services we use at the first Supply UT event. Enjoy a free BBQ and music from WXUT! There will also be three iPad drawings at: 11:30 am, 12:30 pm and 1:30 pm – you must be present to win. This event is provided by the Division of External Affairs, Office of Equity, Diversity and Community Engagement, Department of Purchasing and University Marketing and Communications.

Every big business was a small business at some point. Just ask Mark Zuckerberg,
founder and CEO of Facebook or any big business for that matter. People often don’t realize the work it takes to develop a business. To make a business flourish requires a lot of hard work. It’s not unusual for a small business owner to maneuver as a one person show for a while. He/she is likely to function in every capacity of the business until it becomes strong enough to bring others on board. So a small business owner may be the President/CEO when trying to sell his/her goods; he/she may be the Secretary when preparing a bid application or perhaps the janitor if the office must be cleaned.

In case you didn’t know, we have our own Minority Business Development Center (MBDC) located on the Scott Park Campus of Energy and Innovation. UT provides assistance and nurturing to the tenants to help foster economic growth in this community. The challenge is always to find the right fit between a business and a receiver. We have invited approximately twenty-five minority, women and veteran owned businesses to be present for the Supply UT event. Come out to meet them and have a great start to your weekend.

A job fair will be hosted by UT Human Resources &Talent Development. The job fair will take place simultaneously and in the same location as the vendor event. Please help spread the word that employment information and job opportunities will be available from UT and other community resources.

The 8th annual African- American Festival is scheduled for Saturday, July 14 and Sunday, July 15 on the UT Scott Park Campus. UT is proud to host this two-day community event on our campus. It’s an opportunity to share the campus in a manner we don’t often get to do. It also allows us to be support the festival with hands on assistance through several departments;  the Office of Equity, Diversity and Community Engagement, the Office of Enrollment Management, Undergraduate Admissions, the Maintenance Department and the Community Health & Wellness Program to name a few. Each year as the festival has continued to grow; UT has been present to lend a hand. Hosting this festival is one of coolest things we do. While our commitment to diversity is evident on campus in many ways, it’s not enough to talk about its importance amongst ourselves. We have to be about showing and sharing our commitment to diversity in ways those not on this campus can see and feel. Hosting and supporting the African-American Festival is just one way to wear our commitment on our sleeve.

The festival features a health screening fair each day, free rides for children, entertainment and food, food and more food. The entertainment alone is worth attending the festival. This year’s featured artist on Saturday is Harold Melvin’s Blue Notes and on Sunday, it’s The Rance Allen Group and Vickie Winans. There are also local artist such as: Jesse Coleman with the Jamm Band, Athena Johnson & Friends, Dezire, the Bluesman Bobby G & Friends, The Toledo Youth Choir, Cornerstone Church Choir, Darius Coleman, Toledo Interfaith Mass Choir and comedian Darrell Banks.

This event is one size fits all; it’s the ideal happening to bring your whole family to and it’s also the perfect occasion for just the two of you. Back in the day, the saying was, “be there or be square” and that saying works well here now. Get your party shoes, house slippers, flip-flops or whatever makes you comfortable – just be there!

As businesses and institutions move toward a more inclusive business approach, buyers of goods and services for large corporations and institutions have more diverse ways of meeting spend goals. There was a time when an emphasis was placed on MBE (Minority Business Enterprises) sourcing, but now goals can be met outside of traditional minority groups. Initiatives like the State of Ohio EDGE (Encouraging Diversity Growth and Equity) program now allow socioeconomic certification to groups outside of the traditional minority groups.
Most minority business owners seem to be frustrated at the system because of the perception that the old rules of affirmative action still apply. The reality is that there is a shift in the population of minority groups because of America’s globalization and the increase of access to higher educational opportunities for certain minority groups. As a result, there is now a more broad pool of business owners who are considered minorities and consumers now have more options in sourcing to accomplish their diverse spend goals.
Minority Business Enterprises must realize that business will not be secured based on entitlement programs or historical injustices. In today’s global competitive market, consumers are sourcing to businesses that are cost conscious and innovative in their delivery of goods and services. The traditional ways of doing business is rapidly fading away as we engage more feverishly in this technological society.
Change is always required, because change is inevitable.

Last week more than 130 students, staff, faculty and community members came together for the 2nd annual Women’s Empowerment Summit. This half-day seminar is this year’s signature event for the President’s Lecture Series on Diversity. It was co-sponsored by the Office of Equity, Diversity and Community Engagement, the Catharine S. Eberly Center for Women and the Medical School’s Office of Faculty and Student Diversity. The theme of this year’s event was “Healthy Personal and Professional Relationships.”

We were so fortunate to have Ohio Supreme Court Justice Yvette McGee Brown as the keynote speaker, her speech was the perfect way to start the summit. She shared many inspiring stories with the audience including stories of the obstacles that she overcame throughout her life and the relationships that helped her become the first African American woman to serve on Ohio’s highest court. If you were unable to attend the event, I highly recommend watching the video of it online. Click here to visit the Knowledge Stream website and view her speech.

Justice McGee Brown Addressing the Summit

After breakfast, Dr. Lisa Pescara Kovach, an associate professor in the Judith Herb College of Education, Health Science and Human Service presented on “Workplace Aggression.” Dr. Kovach had a powerful message for everyone in the room and she provided tools on what to do if you find yourself in a dangerous or uncomfortable situation in the workplace. If you would like to know more about Dr. Kovach’s work please visit the Culture Building Institute, click here to watch the video about bullying.

The second session featured Ms. Fatima Roohi Pervaiz, program coordinator for the Office of Multicultural Student Success teaching about healthy personal relationships. She specifically spoke about how women can negotiate safer sex at any age. For more information about Ms. Pervaiz’s presentation click here.

The final presentation was titled, “How to Get What You Want.” Dr. Margaret Hopkins, UT associate professor in the College of Business and Innovation facilitated the session that focused on how to succeed and help others succeed in the professional world. The group worked together to come up with advice and tools. It was the perfect way to end the summit.

This was a wonderful conference from start to finish. As the co-chair of the President’s Lecture Series on Diversity I couldn’t be more proud of the committee for hosting another wonderful conference. We would like to thank all of the presenters who took time out of their busy schedules to share their knowledge and for all of the guests for attending. To receive information about next year’s summit follow us on Facebook by clicking here.

We have extra materials and resources from the conference, if you would like a copy please contact plsd@utoledo.edu.

Thanks for reading and I hope to see all of you at the upcoming diversity week events!

Over the past two years, The University of Toledo Minority Business Development Center which is located on the campus of Scott Park has worked toward the mission to foster an environment that offers assistance for minority-owned, early-stage firms.

As part of our continued efforts, the center will host a “2012 Diverse Business Symposium”. The symposium will take place on Saturday April 28, 2012 from 8:30am until 12:30pm in the Auditorium on the Scott Park Campus of Energy and Innovation.

Deadline for registration is Friday, April 6. The cost to attend is $20 and includes continental breakfast and lunch. Reservations can be made by phone at 419.530.8570 or in person at the Catharine S. Eberly Center for Women in Tucker Hall on Main Campus.

The symposium will include a presentation on “The History of Entrepreneurship in The African-American Community” as well as three informational breakout sessions with guest speakers from UT and the Toledo community. The presenters will provide their insight on how to “Increase Sales by Marketing”, “Improve Your Bottom Line by Planning” and “Get Business Bank Loans”.

The event is open to the public and all minority-owned businesses and those considering entrepreneurship are encouraged to attend.

The symposium is sponsored by The Catharine S. Eberly Center for Women and the UT Minority Business Development Center. For more information, contact Erik Johnson at 419.530.3170 or erik.johnson@utoledo.edu.