Summary Of Position
Reporting to the Associate Vice President for Human Resources, the Executive Director(ED) is the expert, strategist, and change agent who provides overall strategic leadership to advance the University’s core value of Diversity, Inclusion, and Respect. The individual is responsible for leading and coordinating the university’s inclusive excellence efforts to create a diverse and welcoming environment for all. The ED will develop and execute on a Strategic Plan for Diversity, Inclusion and Belonging. Given the importance and broad scope of this work, the selected leader will be a visible presence on campus, actively partnering with students, faculty, staff, alumni, senior leadership, and administrators. To be effective, the ED must demonstrate a strong commitment to serving others and to enhancing a culture of collaboration. While building on our diversity and inclusion commitment and foundation, the ED works to develop multi-year, impactful campus-wide plans to move the university forward. In partnership with: ● Office of Human Resources: Ensuring and supporting equitable practices and policies that positively impact employee knowledge, recruitment, retention, training, workplace culture, professional development, and engagement. ● Office of Academic Affairs: In collaboration with the Director of Faculty Development and Immersive Learning and the Teaching and Learning Committee, design and implement professional development programs focused on inclusive teaching practices, cultural awareness, a sense of belonging, and equitable learning environments. ● Office of Enrollment Management and Marketing: Research, recommend, and implement best practice initiatives to increase recruitment and retention of a diverse body of students. ● Office of Student Life: Develop, promote, and oversee initiatives and events that promote inclusiveness, understanding, and belongingness among the student body, in student leadership, and among staff whose primary purpose is the education and service of our students and their families. ● Senior Leadership Team: Defines, tracks, assesses progress, and regularly reports on key metrics and milestones.
Minimum Qualifications
Minimum Education and Experience Qualifications include… ● Master’s Degree in a relevant discipline. ● Minimum of 10 years of progressively responsible experience in the development, implementation, assessment and leadership of diversity, inclusion, and belonging strategies and practices Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities required to perform this role effectively include… ● Excellent written, oral, and interpersonal communication skills, including ability to build rapport and collaborate with diverse constituents both internally and externally. ● Excellent leadership, diplomacy, and team management skills with the ability to engage others through a participative process, while serving as key decision maker. ● Demonstrated ability to establish effective partnerships with campus community members including student, faculty, and staff organizations, academic units and departments, as well as community and alumni constituents. ● Demonstrated leadership in the creation and/or delivery of organizational diversity, inclusion, belonging, cultural competency, and bias training programs. ● Demonstrated excellence in budget preparation, decision-making, supervision, personnel management, long-range planning, organization, and conflict management. ● General understanding of laws relating to equal opportunity, affirmative action, and claims of discrimination and harassment (e.g., Title IX). ● Evidence of nuanced, broad, contemporary, and sophisticated understanding of identity and intersectionality. ● Demonstrated strengths in public speaking and presenting. ● Ability to successfully plan, prioritize, schedule, and coordinate numerous simultaneous activities ● Experience working autonomously effectively; ability to work independently; judgment and discretion to make recommendations and decisions based on university policy, precedent, and best practice ● Ability to consistently perform well under stress and diffuse conflict situations, maintain confidentiality, and work as a collaborative team member ● General computer, applications, and cloud-based solutions competence ● Ability to be appropriately proactive and astutely reactive, take initiative and make decisions, and understand the need for urgency in actions but also the importance of accountability
Preferred Qualifications
● Master’s Degree in student affairs, higher education, human resources management, sociology, psychology, counseling or related field with significant relevant leadership experience in higher education diversity and inclusion programming. ● Bilingual with preference for Spanish proficiency. ● Teaching experience.