Equal Rights Advocacy Director
Time Commitment: 11-19 hours per week
Organizational Role
Access to and success in institutions of higher education has often been denied to students from marginalized backgrounds. ASPSU believes that all students, regardless of who they are or how they identity, should have equal access to higher education and the benefits that come from it. Therefore, the Equal Rights Advocacy Director (ERAD) shall concern themsevles with advocating for policies, programs, services, and activities that remove institutional barriers for the success of all students. The ERAD is tasked with having specific connection and relay information on behalf of students with disabilities, students with children, Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Queer plus (LGBTQIA+), non-traditional students, and female students,I th to the rest of ASPSU and, subsequently the university as a whole. The ERAD serves as an advocate, ally, and activist on behalf of these, historically marginalized, students.
Duties and Responsibilities
First Month
Survey Committee members and find a regular day to meet for fall term.
Email all resource centers related to ERAD to introduce yourself and learn what specific needs these centers might have.
Collect callendars of events happening at each of the resource centers and provide that
Termly
Summer Quarter
Survey Committee members and find a regular day to meet for fall term.
Plan for committee meetings
Create Folders for minutes, agendas, and discussion items in the ASPSU google drive
Send out callendar invite for committee members for all of fall term.
Contact each of the resource centers and let them know you are the new ERAD. Ask how you might be helpful to them and invite them to come present to senate about their center and their events.
Fall Quarter
Survey Committee members and find a regular day to meet for winter term.
Create "get to know you" activities for first few committee meetings.
Create end of term summery memo highlighting accomplishments, ongoing work, and plans for next term and present memo to Senate at last meeting of term.
Send out callendar invite for committee members for all of Winter term.
Send meeting agenda/minutes from last meeting, and meeting details to STU-public list serve at least 24 hours before committee meetings.
Upload minutes, agenda, and attendance to public and shared drive weekly.
Establish and publish goals and objectives of position by the first Fall meeting of the Student Senate.
Work with the SHAC, WRC, QRC, VRC, DRC, and RCSC to identify issues affecting underrepresented students.
Winter Quarter
Survey Committee members and find a regular day to meet for Spring term.
Create end of term summery memo highlighting accomplishments, ongoing work, and plans for next term.
Send out callendar invite for committee members for all of spring term and present memo to Senate at last meeting of term.
Send meeting agenda/minutes from last meeting, and meeting details to STU-public list serve at least 24 hours before committee meetings.
Spring Quarter
Send meeting agenda/minutes from last meeting, and meeting details to STU-public list serve at least 24 hours before committee meetings.
Create end of year summery memo highlighting accomplishments, ongoing work, and plans for next years ERAD and present memo to Senate at last meeting of term.
Ongoing
Ongoing.
Act in the interests of the students first.
Seek out opportunities to co-program events with the various identity-based resource centers.
Attend and advertise events promoting diversity and equity/inclusion.
Weekly.
Upload minutes and agenda to public and shared drive weekly.
Provide updates to the student senate regarding work completed and information shared in other groups/meetings.
Attend Exec meetings and participate in discussion.
Attend Student Senate meetings and provide updates on the work of your committee.
Attend and participate in Leadership Fellows course.
Chair the student senate equal rights affairs meetings.
Monthly.
Finalize attendance and communicate and committee members following below attendance guidelines.
Serve as connector
Participate in check-in meetings with ASPSU president and chief of staff.
Quarterly.
Submit review of position activities taken.
As needed.
Submit information/request to the chief of staff for members of committee not meeting attendance requirements of their positions.
Read and respond ASPSU relate emails within 48 business hours
Outreach to students across campus to spread awareness and gather feedback on issues impacting
Research related to position, including gaining understanding of Robert’s Rules of Order, budget maintenance, and any necessary preparations for meetings.
Draft and help pass resolutions through the student senate that meet the diverse needs of students.
● Monitor and track the policies of the Student Health and Counseling Center.
Points of Contact
Points of Contact
● Vice President, Enrollment Management & Student Affairs
● Dean of Student Life
● Executive Director, Student Health and Counseling
● Director, WRC
● Director, DRC
● Coordinator, QRC
● Coordinator, RCSC
Queer Resource Center
Women's Resource Center
Disability Resource Center
Resource Center for Students With Children
School of Social Work: Disability Collective - disjustice.pdx@gmail.com
Words of Wisdom
(This section, except for Senators as there would be too many to fit on a page, would be a good place to put in our reflections at the end of the year to pass them on to the next organization. The one on the page can cycle every year, but we can store all the reflections themselves in a Google Doc for posterity and less clutter.)
First of all. Breathe! What you have ahead of you in this position will be challenging, will force you to be vulnurable, and will ask you to be uncomfortable. This work will challenge you, but I also promise you that it will be incredibly rewarding. Today, and this year, you have the power to help eliminate barriers and provide support to students at Portland State that may not feel seen or heard on our campus. You have the power to lift up their voices and create lasting changes at the University.
Director of Equal Rights and Advocacy | Reflection
Unfortunatly I was hired during the first week of Spring term and as such, there was little time we had to work on supporting students outside of ASPSU. We created a resolution holding PSU accountable for not meeting the needs of students regarding commencement and requesting, formally, that students be involved in conversations related to commencement in the future.
We also worked on changing Zoom policies so that students could easily change the name that is displayed on their Zoom profile when they enter any meeting through their @pdx.edu email address.
Finally, we worked on asking PSU to add pronoun markers to student ID cards and staff/faculty ID cards moving forward. This would be an option that individuals could choose when getting their ID cards.
Refresh Contacts
Queer Resource Center
Womens Resource Center
Disability Resource Center
Resource Center for Students With Children
School of Social Work: Disability Collective - disjustice.pdx@gmail.com
Onboarding. This Information will be used for the onboarding checklist, and supplement the checklist for this position. It *might* not be on this page. Fill these sections with your thoughts about what onboarding should look like for your position so I don't have to send out 2 links for y'all :)
Starting in Summer
Mid-Year
● Oregon Student Equal Rights Alliance Board
● ADA/Physical Access Committee
● SAGE: The Commission on Sexual and Gender Equity
● ADA/Physical Access Committee
● RCSC Advisory Board
● WRC Advisory Board
● QRC Advisory Board
● DRC Advisory Board
Expectation of Time: (11-19 hours per week)
● Attend weekly executive meetings
● Attend bi-weekly senate meetings
● Chair committee meetings
● Sit on designated board or delegate senators to sit on designated boards
● Weekly office hours
● Work on campaigns as directed by the President and Vice President
● Outreach to relevant contacts