South Arkansas Community College is on a journey of improvement - on a path to a better understanding of fundamental human rights and social justice through our collective efforts related to diversity, equity, and inclusion. Our students, faculty, and staff will lead a never-ending process of breaking down barriers and opening minds. We will have conversations that challenge us, we will disagree sometimes on the best way forward, but we will learn. We will learn about ourselves. We will learn how to appreciate lived experiences that are different from our own. And when we know better, we will strive to be better. Step by step, our path forward will reveal itself on this journey. The full course isn’t known to us yet, but in time, we will make progress. Together, we will show the world that positive change is possible, attainable, and sustainable. 

The SouthArk Task Force on Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion defines its areas of emphasis according to these broad categories - Student Impact, Workplace Culture, and Community. Subcategories will be identified within each category so that the Task Force can develop priorities, action plans, and short, medium, and long-term goals for future work.

Currently the Task Force is focused on a number of short-term goals to be completed by the end of the Spring 2021 semester. These include: 

• Review of SouthArk's shared governance membership and functions
• Review of SouthArk's hiring policies
• Initial SWOT analysis of SouthArk divisions, departments, and units through a diversity, equity, and inclusion lens.

Upcoming longer-term projects include a review of SouthArk's Administrative Procedures Manual and evaluation of how considerations of diversity, equity, and inclusion are or can be built into SouthArk's planning and budgetary processes. 

Vanessa Williams, Co-Chair

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Jennifer Baine, English Faculty

Lindsay Dixon, Student

Richard Dunlap, Alumnus/Part-Time Employee

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Tim Johnson, Student Services

Dr. Carolyn Langston, Business Faculty

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Cynthia Reyna, SouthArk Foundation

Kenya Singleton, Student

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Cleanthia Willis, Adult Education