A soul food restaurant and a faculty task force to promote the hiring of professors of color are the first steps SF State is taking to address student concerns from "Summit on Race and Culture" meeting in the fall.

Speaking to about 40 faculty members at the Academic Senate meeting, Kenneth Monteiro, dean of human relations, reported on the progress that has been made since the summit.

“A map has been produced and now is the time to get various departments on campus involved in implementation of the goals talked about at the summit,” Monteiro said.

Among the goals set at the meeting, which was attended by 400 students, staff and faculty members, was to improve outreach and retention of faculty, staff and students of color.

Conducting business in several different languages and providing fairness in the classroom were other goals in the report.

“It is false to say that these are new issues,” Monteiro said. “We are at the beginning stages of actual implementation.”

Monteiro said that although the summit got many students and faculty excited, it was now time to do something productive, such as set up committees to address issues of classroom conduct and to promote the cultural awareness of the diverse student population.

In order to achieve this goal, “ ethnic, cultural and social diversity workshops will be presented for each new faculty member, staff member or administrator during their orientation period,” suggested the report.

The next step for Monteiro's office is to set educate adminstration officials and faculty on how to achieve tangible results.

“The summit was a sexy idea, but it is the day-to-day work that is important here,” Monteiro said. “Real sustainable change is done in the trenches.”

He said that he would like to see a more diverse faculty hired to match the increasing minority population in California.

“Are we hiring enough African-American and Latino professors with PH.D.s ?” Monteiro asked.

The report also said that an African-American themed restaurant is in the works and that the idea is sparking the interest of outside vendors.