ࡱ> %'$7 h bjbjUU "7|7|h l KMMMMMM$ lqq KKFKK QQz KK0K.K SENATE EDUCATION, HEALTH AND ENVIRONMENTAL AFFAIRS COMMITTEE TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 26, 2008 Testimony of Dr. John Wolfe, Associate Vice Chancellor in Support with Amendments to SB 438 Plans for Programs of Cultural Diversity Chair Conway, Vice Chairman Dyson, members of the Committee. I am John T. Wolfe Jr., Associate Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs and Diversity for the ĢƵ. I thank you for an opportunity to testify on Senate Bill 438. The University System strongly supports Senate Bill 438 Plans for Programs of Cultural Diversity. At some USM institutions, programmatic efforts to increase inclusion and diversity remain substantial and ongoing. Senate Bill 438 allows us to reaffirm and strengthen our drive to become more culturally competent and engaged. The institutions of the ĢƵ embrace the concepts of multicultural diversity among its students, faculty, staff, and all members of our campus communities. As you know, we have implemented numerous initiatives to ensure our institutions become more culturally competent and representative. For example, the 13-institution Diversity Network was established in 1995 to serve as a catalyst to promote a greater awareness of and appreciation for diversity. Today, the Diversity Network works collaboratively with the administration of the USM institutions to meet the increasingly difficult challenges of a diverse world. Since 2003, the Faculty Initiatives Committee has sponsored a successful annual conference and the USM Womens Forum brings together academics and professionals to enhance the status of women in all facets of higher education. Of course, such efforts do not encompass all of higher education, but they do point to USMs commitment and engagement in programs and services that contribute to greater cultural diversity. We thank the Chairman for incorporating, verbatim, the amendments proposed last year by the USM and MICUA. We appreciate the opportunity to have had an impact on the bill. While we support this bill, we respectfully offer the attached amendment to clarify that the hate crimes reporting provision be connected to Marylands hate crime law. With the adoption of the amendment, the ĢƵ urges a favorable report on the legislation. I am available for any additional considerations of SB 438. h 5CJaJA\]/0lm ] ^  * + g `$a$h g h  1h/ =!"#$% i8@8 NormalCJ_HaJmH sH tH <A@< Default Paragraph Fonth h g h  h 8@0(  B S  ?j j j ChrisC:\Work\legis\SB438JW.doc@0E h P@UnknownGz Times New Roman5Symbol3& z Arial"h¦¦ &\g!r0 h 3qHSenate Bill SB 438 John WolfeChrisOh+'0 $ @ L X dpxSenate Bill SB 438ena John Wolfe ohnohn Normal.dot Chris.d2riMicrosoft Word 9.0@F#@w@rCz@rCz\՜.+,D՜.+,\ hp  ĢƵN  Senate Bill SB 438 Title8_AdHocReviewCycleID_EmailSubject _AuthorEmail_AuthorEmailDisplayNameaHearing HB 376paclark@umsa.ums.edu Andy Clark.  !"#&Root Entry FǜQz(1Table WordDocument"SummaryInformation(DocumentSummaryInformation8CompObjjObjectPoolǜQzǜQz  FMicrosoft Word Document MSWordDocWord.Document.89q