May 1,2010

To: kristendbush@gmail.com
Cc:

 Subject: Re: Untitled document


Dear fellow students,
As you may know, the capstone committee has scheduled a mandatory meeting with each capstone group individually tomorrow at different times throughout the day. We are disappointed that the capstone committee has chosen this forum rather than the more open forum requested and as planned for last Thursday.

Below are some sample questions that students have come up with that you may have too. Feel free to send these questions, along with your own, to the capstone committee by their deadline tonight at 7pm in order to get the full truth of the matter. We had hoped and continued to hope that the CUSSW administration address these important questions in a public forum in the spirit of collaboration, transparency, and to promote healing among the CUSSW community and for Ms. Eli PaintedCrow as well.

Getting all the info; what happened?

·         What was the entire process of selecting the capstone materials, contacting (or not contacting) people concerned (SWAN, Eli PaintedCrow), etc.?

·         Which of the student demands does the committee and deans plan on meeting?



Students passing capstone:

·         Will students who choose not to violate the NASW Code of Ethics and respect the dignity and worth of Ms.PaintedCrow by participating in capstone in alternative ways, still pass? What are all the conditions under which a student could not pass capstone?

·         What do you see as the role of social work students in addressing their concerns through organizing, as we are taught to do within this school?

·         What learning is already going on as students engage in various ways with the ethical issues of this assignment?



Supporting Eli PaintedCrow in Healing:

·         Have you apologized yet to Ms. PaintedCrow for the harm done to her? If not, what is the barrier of the capstone committee and deans in saying and showing "sorry" to a woman who has told the committee and students directly that she has been extremely harmed by this project?

·         When we graduate, what will be done to support Ms. PaintedCrow in healing?



Making sure the ethical violations in this capstone project don’t happen in future projects:

·         When we graduate, what will be done to ensure that the ethical violations present in this capstone project do not happen in future CUSSW projects?

·         Who owns the capstone materials produced? Who has rights to distribute or use these materials? What is the process for dissent or non-consent by the creators of the materials?



Reflecting on the process:

·         Why did you, the capstone committee, specifically choose a Native American woman's story? Was this intended to fill gaps in curriculum on Native Americans, people of color in general, and veterans? Was the CSWE re-accreditation a concern in your reasoning for crafting this assignment?

·         Given that we are taught that racism and white supremacy are real and pervasive forces in the US today, what is your understanding of how racism is active in this school? How has it informed this assignment?

·         From your professional and personal perspective, did you think that a journalistic account based on one interview with a woman experiencing multiple traumas is sufficient, ethical, or responsible to ask 400 students to write "assessments and interventions" for their culminating project? Knowing what you now know about Ms. PaintedCrow's stance on the capstone project, what would you have done differently?

·         Why was Helen Benedict chosen to speak at kickoff instead of Ms. PaintedCrow? If the concern was retraumatization for Ms. PaintedCrow, what are your thoughts about the social work value of self determination with regards to this situation?

·         Given that the assignment has been modified in some ways, do you acknowledge the ethical or moral wrongs that have taken place?

·         Does the fact that Ms. Benedict is a Columbia Professor and a close friend to many members of the school, cause a conflict of interest? impact the integrity of the actual project?

·         Why weren't actual first hand narratives considered for this project, knowing that there are available narratives supported by SWAN that could have been used?