Membership & Approach
The Working Group includes more than 30 faculty, staff and student volunteers from across campus.
Since summer 2020, Working Group Chairs have meet with members of the campus community (faculty, staff, students and alumni) through virtual meetings or virtual listening sessions. The decisions helped to inform the areas of focus for the DEI initiative. The chancellor and provost also participated in some of the virtual meetings.
The Working Group will be divided into subgroups to develop recommendations for each area of focus.
Working Group Leads
- Ann Lampkin-Williams, Dean, College of Education, Health, and Human Services
- Deborah Smith Pollard, Professor, English Literature and Humanities and Co-Chair of Strategic Planning Initiative
Membership and Areas of Focus Working Groups
The areas of focus were developed based on input received during the strategic planning process, the DEI Listening Sessions (for faculty, staff and students) as well as from the ideas submitted in response to the August call for Big Ideas. The following areas of focus will be addressed by the working group, in close consultation with the campus community.
- Denise Bozeman, Office of the Registrar
- David Hawkins, Department of Public Safety
- Jerrard Wheeler, Student Affairs
- Marilee Benore, CASL
- Suzanne Bergeron, CASL
- Mykala Dowdell, CASL
- Ivy Forsythe-Brown, CASL
- Lisa Martin, CEHHS
- Brahim Medjahed, CECS
- Mercedes Miranda, COB
- Scott Riggs, Office of the Provost
- Marc Brigolin, Business Affairs
- Debi Butler, CECS
- Sara Byczek, CAPS
- Sharon Lobdell, Academic Affairs
- Claudia Lugo-Meeks, CEHHS
- Urana Pridemore, Enrollment Management
- Nitya Sethuraman, CASL
- Kristine Day, Student Affairs
- Thomas Deneau, CASL
- Pam McAuslan, CASL
- Jacklynn Paten, Academic Affairs
- Theadora Strother, ITS
- Karen Thomas-Brown, CEHHS
- Judith Walker, Student Affairs
- Tracy Hall, Office of Community Engaged Learning
- Celia Robinson, Department of Public Safety
- Natalie Sampson, CEHHS
- Gabriella Scarlatta, CASL
- Janelle Simmonds, Office of the Provost
The Working Group will approach its work through:
- Competence: increase awareness and build on skills, knowledge and abilities.
- Compliance: Ethics, integrity and compliance. This approach goes beyond adhering to relevant laws, regulations, policies and procedures. This requires that we review our processes, procedures and systems to ensure equitable treatment for all members of the community. In accordance with our values, we create access and opportunity.
- Culture: Fostering an environment in which individuals feel welcome and included, individual differences are valued and we understand how our individual success is interconnected/linked to that of the success of the campus as a whole.