The purpose of Affinity Groups is to accomplish the following:

• Support the values of MWSU and its commitment to diversity and inclusion as stated in the Strategic Plan
• Contribute to a campus climate that affirms the value of diversity among employees
• Through contributing to such a campus climate, improve MWSU’s ability to recruit and retain diverse faculty and staff. This goal is based on the understanding that workplaces where there are efforts to value the perspectives, voices and experiences of diverse employees, are better able to tap into the talents and contributions of those employees.
• Function as support networks for their members
  Function as a recruitment tool

The process of creating Affinity Groups shall involve the following:

• One of the co-chairs of the Committee (assuming the Committee structure remains such that there are two co-chairs) shall be in charge of the Affinity Group Project
• The co-chair will send initial communication to all employees of MWSU to announce the start of the Affinity Groups Project and invite employees to consider participating
• Employees can self-select to serve as Convenors for specific Affinity Groups. Convenors shall be responsible for maintaining an email list of their groups, for organizing meetings of their groups and for sending a yearly report to the Committee about the activities of their groups
• In order to begin groups, employees who wish to serve as Convenors shall submit a brief description of their groups and their goals, to the Committee
• The Committee will review and discuss submissions from employees who wish to serve as Convenors for Affinity Groups.
• The initial roll-out for the Affinity Group Project is the Fall 2019 semester, with the expectation that by the end of the Fall 2019 semester, groups will be set up and operational.
• Affinity Groups shall be listed on the MWSU website under Human Resources and the Center for Multicultural Education

The expectations for Affinity Groups are as follows:

• Have a Convenor whose name and contact information (email) is listed in the online locations of Affinity Groups
• Convenors shall maintain an email list of all members who are part of their groups
• Meet or hold informal activities at least twice a semester
• Ensure that meetings occur outside of regularly scheduled work hours
• Issue semesterly invitations to MWSU employees to join Affinity Groups
• Have a description of the groups and their goals on file with the Committee Chair or Chairs and with the Office of Human Resources
• No more than a month after the end of the spring semester of the academic year in which an Affinity Group was active, file a report of group activities during the academic year with the Committee
• At the time of filing the activity report for the academic year, indicate if the group description and / or goals may need to be updated. If updates are needed, this may trigger a new review of the group by the Committee.

The Review of Affinity Groups will be held as follows:

• The Committee will review the activities of Affinity Groups. They will rely on the yearly reports to determine whether the activities of any given Affinity Group are in keeping with the policies of MWSU.
• The Committee shall also serve as a forum to which members of the campus community can turn if they have concerns about the activities of any given Affinity Group possibly violating MWSU policies. If a member of the campus community contacts the Committee in writing to express concern regarding Affinity Group activities potentially violating MWSU policy, the Committee will initiate a review.
• The Committee will maintain a log of the reviews of Affinity Groups, indicating the meeting or forum in which the review took place, and the findings of the review. The findings will be recorded simply as “activities in keeping with MWSU policies” if no infraction is found.
• If the Committee’s review finds that a given Affinity Group’s activities violate MWSU policies, they will convey the findings in writing to the Affinity Group. The Committee’s communication will indicate which policies were violated, as well as whether the Committee intends to issue a warning only, or also remove the Affinity Group in question from the official list of Affinity Groups.