Committee member Saralyn Chesnut discussed the group's work at the Nov. 13 meeting of the President's Commission on Lesbian/Gay/Bisexual Concerns (LGB Commission).
Chesnut, who also serves as LGB Commission co-chair, said the committee is considering a three-pronged approach: 1) asking academic departments to commit a salary line for a faculty member at the junior or tenured associate level specializing in lesbian and gay studies; 2) writing descriptions for an introductory lesbian and gay studies course and a special topics course; and 3) proposing a faculty development seminar in lesbian and gay studies that would include a visiting scholar leading sessions to provide Emory faculty with valuable information for developing lesbian and gay studies courses, or for incorporating a lesbian and gay perspective into their existing courses.
Chesnut said the directors of the ILA and Women's Studies programs have expressed an interest in helping to develop lesbian and gay studies at Emory.
In other business, Jody Usher reported that prospects for providing health insurance for the same sex domestic partners of students don't look good at the moment. Usher said some discussion has occurred within the administration about a new method of providing student health insurance that would more closely resemble an HMO such as PruCare. State insurance laws prohibit Emory from offering HMO coverage to the domestic partners of students and employees because domestic partners have no legal standing. The University is able to offer EmoryCare coverage to employees' domestic partners because the plan is self-insured.
"No Emory money has ever been spent on providing student health insurance," Usher said. She also said the prohibitive cost of offering EmoryCare to students and their spouses and domestic partners makes it unlikely that such coverage will be offered in the foreseeable future.
Graduate student Ami Mattison was elected Commission co-chair to replace Chesnut, whose term as co-chair expires at the end of the semester. Mattison will serve as co-chair with Bill Baird of Oxford College through May.
Harris said the stop is needed because cars parked in spaces along Asbury Circle south of Fraternity Row block the view of drivers attempting to turn left from Fraternity Row onto Asbury Circle. Harris said the committee also has recommended that Woodruff Circle between Woodruff Memorial Building (WMB) and Anatomy and Physiology be blocked with a chain once again. The chain was removed several months ago after the completion of the WMB West Wing Addition. Harris said that concerns over the safety of pedestrians in the area prompted the committee to make its recommendation.
Topics discussed by the Council's Special Issues Committee:
*The possibility of Emory helping to provide affordable after-school care and summer day programming for the children of employees: Jo Taylor of Emory College said this issue is of special concern for parents with children who are too old for traditional day care and too young to be left unsupervised. The possibility of Emory negotiating a contract with a local YMCA was mentioned.
*Banning leaf-blowers from campus: Several Council members said they have received complaints that noise from leaf-blowers is disrupting office and classroom activities. Harris, who works in Facilities Management, said that while it is unlikely leaf-blowers will be banned, arranging for them to be used only at times when offices and classrooms are not being used heavily is a possibility.
*A recommendation to end the practice of requiring departments to interview all internal candidates deemed qualified by Human Resources. Council member Jeanne Thigpen, who works in Human Resources, said the recommendation comes from the Human Resources Advisory Council, which made the recommendation to provide departments with more flexibility in deciding which candidates have the best potential for filling a job. She said that adoption of the recommendation as a policy would not prevent Human Resources from forwarding the names of all internal candidates they deem qualified to hiring departments, and would not preclude departments from interviewing qualified internal candidates.
--Dan Treadaway