Chancellor's Commissions on Equity by Design

The purpose of the Chancellor’s Commissions on Equity by Design is to tap into national organizations and partners to explore current issues, insights, research, best practices, and resources to create and sustain change to foster an equitable environment on our campus, with a focus on increasing student success and professional fulfillment. Each Commission also is focused on implementing objectives and action items in our Strategic Plan as well as new opportunities. Anticipated plans for each Commission for the 2022- 2023 academic year, according to each, are:

Commission on Disability & Advancing Accessibility

This Commission is looking forward to reviewing findings from the campus accessibility audit of physical spaces conducted in summer 2022 and providing offices with a guide for infusing an accessibility framework into their processes and services.

Members

Michael Sturm – Faculty – Chair
Kari Berton – Staff
Janeen Madison – Faculty
Elizabeth Parrett – Staff
Peggy Signorella – Faculty
Eliel Acosta Solalinde – Staff
Kathy Yanoshak – Faculty

Commission on Empowering Women

The work of this Commission must continue to be aimed at cultivating meaningful relationships between members of our community who create a sense of belonging, shared identity, and well-being to promote the empowerment of women.

Members

Andrea Randolph-Krisova – Faculty – Chair
Tina Brackett-Wood - Staff
Rhonda DelViscio – Staff
Nannette D'Imperio – Faculty
George Eleftherakis – Faculty
Falesha Ghee – Administrator
Alyssa Hamm – Staff
Maryam Khan – Staff
Jon Manteau – Faculty
Dana Martin – Faculty
Alison Murphy – Faculty
Zoia Pavlovskaia – Faculty
Aaron Rape – Faculty
Marina Skyers – Faculty
Eliel Acosta Solalinde – Staff
Nasibeh Zohrabi – Faculty

Commission On Interfaith & Spiritual Inclusion

This new Commission will explore and identify topics and areas of focus to promote interfaith and spiritual inclusion on campus.

Members

Jasmaine Price-Thornton – Staff – Chair
Evan Bradley – Faculty
Stephanie Fitzgerald – Staff (part-time)
Falesha Ghee – Staff
Paul Greene – Faculty
Janeen Madison – Faculty
Kimberly Schultz – Faculty
Eliel Acosta Solalinde – Staff

Commission on Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, and Queer (LGBTQ) Equity

This Commission anticipates working with Student Affairs to strategize any number of issues including gender neutral bathrooms and updating the campus website to include local resources. The Commission also looks to organizing to provide more visibility and resources for the LGBTQ+ population, and to create spaces so that this population could express itself and meet each other with in a safe and accepting environment.

Members

Teresa Slobuski – Faculty – Chair
Evan Bradley – Faculty
Donald Brennan – Staff
Laura Evans – Faculty
Jane Homan – Staff
Kristen Schaubhut – Faculty (part-time)
Eliel Acosta Solalinde – Staff
Shane Sternberg – Staff
Sarah D. Wert – Staff

Commission on Racial & Ethnic Justice

This Commission plans to continue working on the list of recommendations they developed in their initial work and that span the campus community. Recommendations include supporting creation of council addressing issues of anti-racism, diversity and inclusivity; developing a Brandywine-specific statement on the campus’ commitment to antiracism, equity, and belonging; providing guidance for assessing physical spaces on campus; continuing to work on the Equity Scorecard, specifically looking at the retention and graduation of all students of color whose retention is impacted by both financial issues, as well as issues of belonging on campus. The Commission also looks forward to laying the foundation for hiring a campus equity officer with power to make a difference at Brandywine.

Members

Marinda Harrell-Levy – Faculty – Chair
John Baffoe-Bonnie – Faculty
James Berkey – Faculty
Christine Brown – Faculty
Ed Dixon – Staff
Laura Evans – Faculty
Falesha Ghee – Staff
Sandra Lawrence – Faculty
Myeisha Matos – Staff
Danielle Osborne – Staff
Ben Park – Faculty
Elizabeth Parrett – Staff
Eliel Acosta Solalinde – Staff

Commission on Veteran & Military Success

This Commission anticipates once providing the opportunity for Veteran and military students and their family members to attend the 2022 Military Appreciation Game at University Park; to planning Veteran’s Day activities for Brandywine; to recruiting students to apply for the new scholarships at Brandywine with a first preference for veteran and military students and their family members; and to overall, growing the population of veteran students, increasing their visibility on campus, and ensuring that they have the best experience possible at Brandywine.

Members

Andy Landmesser – Faculty – Chair
Tina Brackett-Wood – Staff
Margaret Buban – Staff
Maureen Fielding – Faculty
Maryam Khan – Staff
Janeen Madison – Faculty
Dennis Mejias – Staff
Gary Miller – Staff
Shruti Shrestha – Faculty
Eliel Acosta Solalinde – Staff
Diaonne Taylor – Staff

Commission on Student Success

The purpose of the Chancellor’s Commissions on Student Success will be focused on continuing to implement the objectives and action items in our Strategic Plan. For the 2022-2023, the Commission will be organized into workgroups focused on the objectives in our Strategic Plan. This approach also aligns with President Bendapudi’s “ABCs of Student Success” – Academic Preparedness, Belonging, Cost. Anticipated plans for each workgroup for the 2022- 2023 academic year are:

Academic & Career Success Workgroup

Facilitator – Wiebke Strehl, Director of Academic Affairs

  • 1st, 2nd, and 3rd year seminars
  • Exploration of new majors and minors
  • Review of course content to ensure alignment with the job market, it’s needs and demands

Members

Christine Allen – Staff
James Berkey – Faculty
Christine Brown – Faculty
Bobbi Caprice – Staff
Nannette D'Imperio – Faculty
George Eleftherakis – Faculty
Gary Miller – Staff
Rachel Skinner – Faculty
Robin Stokes – Staff
Michael Yatauro – Faculty

Financial Solutions Workgroup

Facilitator – Nicola DiFronzo-Heitzer, Director of Enrollment Management

  • RaiseMe Transfer scholarship promotion / growing transfer students
  • Brandywine Scholarship promotion and awarding
  • Implementing the Strategic Enrollment Management Plan that the team developed last year

Members

Dawn Massini – Staff
Elizabeth Parrett – Staff
Robyn Pettiford – Staff
Shawn Riley – Staff
Patty Snell – Staff
Shane Sternberg – Staff
Diaonne Taylor – Staff
Kathy Thorley – Staff
Sarah D. Wert – Staff

Connections & Belonging Workgroup

Facilitator – Brad Kovaleski, Director of Student Affairs

  • Co-curricular learning outcomes
  • Infusing DEI programming in campus operations
  • Initiating a student leadership development curriculum

Members

James Berkey – Faculty
Lexie Berry – Student
Tina Brackett-Wood – Staff
Donald Brennan – Staff
Christine Brown – Faculty
Falesha Ghee – Staff
Jessica Gore – Student
Dana Hallahan – Student
Myeisha Matos – Staff
Gary Miller – Staff
Bobby O’Neil – Student
Deb Ousey – Faculty
Alyssa Palumbo – Student
Angela Putman – Faculty
Ny’Keh Saunders – Student
Diaonne Taylor – Staff
Pauline Thompson – Faculty
Bill Tyson – Staff
Sarah D. Wert – Staff
Chris Zurita-Fonseca – Student

Commission on Sustainability

The purpose of the Chancellor’s Commissions on Sustainability will be to promote and support sustainability initiatives across campus, in coordination and collaboration with others on campus and across Penn State, especially Penn State’s Sustainability Institute. Anticipated plans for 2022- 2023 are:

  1. Expansion of involvement in the campus garden, now managed by the Center for Social Impact, from a curricular and co-curricular perspective.
  2. Continued enhancement of our campus’ Fair Trade status, and engagement with students on related practices;
  3. Heightened attention to Brandywine’s sustainability-oriented teaching, and development of related critical thinking skills;
  4. A broadened operations working group with interests in greenhouse gas emissions, the electric charging stations, and potential for solar panel and greenhouse investments; and

A renewed emphasis on sustainability communications, including website, news and other publicity, along with support for student engagement via the Sustainability Club.

The Co-Chairs will meet periodically with the Chancellor to discuss priorities, progress, and impact.

Members

Mark Boudreau – Faculty – Co-Chair
Julie Stanton – Faculty – Co-Chair
Margaret Buban – Staff
Lynn Hartle – Faculty
David Macauley – Faculty
Josh Marquit – Faculty
Zoia Pavlovskaia – Faculty
Marina Skyers – Faculty
Tim Swierczek – Staff