A new face in the Diversity Office

Maryam Monsef

Hello Diversity Network members. I am back in the office briefly before I continue my leave of absence and I want to introduce you to Maryam Monsef in case you haven't met her yet since she joined the team in February. As interim Diversity Coordinator, Maryam is available to students and staff in room 405, Brealey campus and by email at diversity@flemingcollege.ca. Maryam is well known to many in the community as the face of the Red Pashmina campaign, raising funds for women in Afghanistan, and she brings many great skills to Fleming College. Make sure you say hello.

It is spring at last, and that means end of year reporting on our Inclusive College priorities that we targeted this year. It is a great time for employees and students to give us feedback on what is working well and what is not working well in the areas of:

- Aboriginal student supports
- Accessible education for students with disabilities
- International & immigrant student integration
- LGBTQ student safety
- Human rights awareness on all campuses

If you want to see what this committee has been working on this year, check out the link under the gold diversity logo on the top right. The work plan is there.

Employees will also soon receive an online survey from Fleming Data Research addressing internationalization at Fleming College and how we are creating an inclusive environment for international students. New partnership projects in Brazil (ACCC) and China (SPP) will mean more students will be arriving from these destinations. Our pilot Peer Mentoring program this past semester showed there was a big need for this program, so if you are a Canadian student, get involved and help a newcomer find their place here.

Meanwhile, take the opportunity to let your voice be heard and leave a post here, or send an email to diversity@flemingcollege.ca. Your anonymous comments will be shared with the Inclusive College Committee as it plans next year's action plan in June.