After 30 years of service WMU’s Assistant Director of Equity says farewell

By David Alexander
Western Herald

In a small office tucked away near the Parking Services Building, Jewell Street began to get emotional about the idea of leaving a place she has many fond memories of.

Alyssa Herter/Western Herald | Retirement Reception for Jewell Street, celebrated 31 years of service at Western Michigan University. Street poses with her family: Hugh, Sarah, and Nick at her retirement reception.

After more than 30 years as Western Michigan University’s Assistant Director of Equity, Street said her farewells to colleagues, on March 14.

During a reception last week, WMU honored Street for three decades of service in its Department of Institutional Equity. Street described her job as one that aims to ensure equal opportunity for every group in every department by way of an affirmative action plan.

“We’re the checks and balances, if you will, for the university,” Street said.

A graduate of WMU college of business, Street received her degree in management and business administration in 1974.

Following graduation, Street spent five years at Borgess Medical Center in its Human Resources department where she developed a nurse-recruiting program.

She returned to WMU in 1979 where she began working for the Department of Institutional Equity implementing policies that would open doors for minorities.

“What you’re really trying to make certain is that there are no barriers,” Street said.

Affirmative action is often misconstrued and complicated by politics and notions of the government forcing businesses to hire people of a certain race or ethnicity, Street said.
“Technically speaking you don’t operate in a quota environment,” she said.

“A quota is something that would be set by a court after you have been found of out-and-out discrimination, so we aren’t talking about a quota. What we are talking about is if you had opportunities and you missed that opportunity then you need to explain why.”

The Department of Institutional Equity looks at the percentage of each group on campus and determines whether its representation within a given field is proportionate to its overall presence on campus.

If a group is underrepresented, by WMU’s affirmative action plan—executive order 11246, the university must try to engage them in outreach, Street said.

Although her department typically focuses on underrepresented groups, Street said all groups, even those in the majority are examined for disparity within each field.

“There’s not as many males, or white males, in nursing, and the research bears out that that also has an influence on the salary and the pay,” she said.

As far as hiring practices go, Street said her main job is to ensure that there is honest competition between potential employees, and that employers are hiring people based on the criteria they advertise.

The Department of Institutional Equity is the only office, other than the President’s Ombudsman Office, whose scope encompasses the entire university, something Street said is very gratifying to her. Her office has sign-off authority on all hiring, advertising on campus, and conducts any investigations regarding issues of equality.

Sexual harassment and civil right complaints also go through the Department of Institutional Equity, and employees can come for counseling in such matters.

“What we usually try to do in this office is de-escalate the situation,” Street said.

Street said the building is deliberately located out of the way so that those coming to lodge a complaint do not feel as though they are under close scrutiny.

Throughout the course of her 31 years working in her field, Street said she has seen many changes, mostly for the better.

“We have come a long way,” she said.

Street’s coworkers in the small office where she works said her departure is bittersweet for them.

“She has developed many, many skills that are useful to this office and to the university, especially in the area of compliant investigation and resolution,” said David Glenn, associate vice president of Institutional Equity.

“We are basically in the business of people problems and she’s good at that.”

Tammy Miller, equity compliance specialist, who Street called her twin, is Street’s replacement. She has been in Street’s office for 10 years, and Glenn said she possesses many of the same qualities as Street.

“She’s a close friend and I see her every day,” Miller said, “She’s such a positive person. She absolutely deserves it.”

Street said she is going to miss all those at WMU but will use her newfound time off as an opportunity to catch up with family and become more involved in her community.

“I think Western is a good institution full of good people,” Street said.

“This whole community, Kalamazoo and so forth, is a good community. I think it’s unique. I really think it’s a model for the nation.”

Sexual harassment and civil right complaints also go through the Department of Institutional Equity, and employees can come for counseling in such matters.

“What we usually try to do in this office is de-escalate the situation,” Street said.

The building is deliberately located out of the way so that those coming to lodge a complaint do not feel as though they are under close scrutiny, Street said.

Throughout the course of her 31 years working in her field, Street said she has seen many changes, mostly for the better.

“We have come a long way,” she said.

Street’s coworkers in the small office where she works said her departure is bittersweet for them.

“She has developed many, many skills that are useful to this office and to the university, especially in the area of compliant investigation and resolution,” said David Glenn, associate vice president of Institutional Equity.

“We are basically in the business of people problems and she’s good at that,” he added.

Tammy Miller, equity compliance specialist, who Street called her twin, is Street’s replacement. She has been in Street’s office for 10 years, and Glenn said she possesses many of the same qualities as Street.

“She’s a close friend and I see her every day,” Miller said, “She’s such a positive person. She absolutely deserves it.”

Street said she is going to miss all those at WMU but will use her newfound time off as an opportunity to catch up with family and become more involved in her community.

“I think Western is a good institution full of good people,” Street said, “This whole community, Kalamazoo and so forth, is a good community. I think it’s unique. I really think it’s a model for the nation.”

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Posted by HeraldAdmin on Apr 5 2010. Filed under News. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can leave a response or trackback to this entry

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