The next day I had a series of meetings, in between which of course, there was the inevitable onslaught of e-mails as well as informal visits with colleagues. The first scheduled meeting was with Michele Payne in our Development and Alumni Relations Office and Susan Williams who is our Pro Bono Coordinator. That was a very pleasant meeting during which we planned an event to recognize our many students who participate in the pro bono program. Later in the afternoon I attended a meeting with the campus diversity evaluation team. This was a group of three academicians from other campuses with special expertise in the area of diversity. They were helping the University of Arkansas look at its programs and think strategically about how we might advance our diversity initiatives in a more structured and systematic manner. The team members were: Dr. Charlie Nelms, Chancellor and Professor of Education at North Carolina Central University; Dr. Nancy “Rusty” Barcelo, Vice President and Vice Provost for Equity and Diversity at the University of Minnesota; and Dr. Lester Monts, Senior Vice-Provost for Academic Affairs at the University of Michigan-Ann Arbor.

I have to say that when I saw the meeting on my calendar I thought, “Oh, no, not another task force,” but they were very, very sharp. They asked insightful and pointed questions and shared their insights from other campuses. It turned out to be a much more focused and interesting meeting than I had anticipated and I was really glad I was able to attend. The folks who were in my session included Dean Allen, Dean Beene, and Dean Collis Geren, along with Nancy Barcelo. Our meeting started a little bit later and ran a little bit longer than anticipated, so I missed the Faculty Senate meeting that day.

I think I mentioned in the blog posting about the trip to San Diego that while there I needed to go and get a conditioner because I’ve been losing hair. Well, I have a wonderful woman in Rogers at the salon in J.C. Penney, Lora, who is helping me both to keep and regrow my hair, so after the diversity meeting it was time to scoot out for that.