6o ‘ENVISIONEER’ ACHIEVING
INCLUSIVE ONEONTA BY 2025
ONEONTA – Sixty citizens spent half a day today “envisioneering” – a term coined by late Mayor Dick Miller – on what ONE-onta ought to look like in 2025. “You have unity in your name,” observed the keynote speaker, Corning Inc. Ph.D. Mark Vaughn.
The occasion was an Inclusivity Summit, hosted in Foothills Performing Arts Center, and while discussion included the need to make a diverse population welcome, also discussed was how to make everybody – college students, homeowners, natives and newcomers, the well-off and less well-off – be at home in the “City of the Hills.” One simple suggestion: Encourage everyone to say “good morning” to everyone they meet.
City Schools Superintendent Joseph Yelich and Vaughn made the same point: STEM, science, technology, engineering and math, is our future. Or perhaps STEAM – an acronym that adds art, the means of bringing people together.
Vaughn, a scientist who assembled Corning’s success UPWARD diversity program, reported that only 50 percent of people entering the work force in the Southern Tier have “basic competency” in seventh- and eighth-grade math. Yet, by 2016, eight of the top 10 jobs in the Southern Tier will require STEM education.
While there are 3.7 workers for every job opening in that region, STEM jobs are going vacant because qualified people can’t be found. Raising STEM skills equals prosperity.
Following Vaughn’s address, attendees broke into 10 groups to brainstorm on ways to create a more welcoming Oneonta, then reported back their findings. The day ended with “gang voting,” whereby each attendee placed five stickers next to the most compelling recommendations.
Susan Turell, dean of SUNY’s School of Social Science, chaired the steering committee that put together today’s summit. She said the steering committee will meet to compile the findings and report back.