Is there a growing trend in higher education to hire chief diversity officers?
Yes. Higher education tends to copy the corporate sector 10 to 20 years later, and the corporate sector realized 20 years ago that the world was changing and diversity was important. In the past five to seven years, universities have hired at least 80 to 100 chief diversity officers to improve diversity and retention. You are a member of the university’s executive staff, which also includes vice presidents and other top-level officials. Why is that important? Being a member of the president’s executive staff is extremely important because having the ear of the president and provost allows you to look at diversity from a macro perspective and coordinate efforts more effectively. How do you hope to build on the university’s past diversity efforts? When I’ve talked to people on campus, they all refer to past diversity task forces and committees and say those efforts haven’t been as consistent as they would have liked or addressed diversity in a holistic, complete way. My main task is to p
