April 1, 2021 – Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion Progress

Dear campus community,

We are pleased to announce our latest step in advancing our strategic priority of Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion (EDI). In order to ensure EDI is integrated throughout the work we do on campus, we believe it is important that all new hires coming to campus understand the importance of our commitment, and have the experience needed to help further our objectives. Accordingly, the expectation is that all future recruitments will explore a candidate’s experience with EDI, and the Human Resources Service Center and the Office of Academic Personnel have partnered to develop resources to help hiring committees meet this expectation. Working together, the interim Chief Diversity Officer, the Business and Finance Diversity Committee, and the University Diversity Council have developed sample questions that can be used by committees to explore these experiences, and included themes that would be expected in responses. Committees remain free to choose their own questions or methods of exploring EDI themes with candidates, but going forward all recruitments must include some form of exploration. You will find sample EDI interview questions on the HR website under Recruitment & Selection Guidelines, “STEP TWO: Recruitment Documents.”

This action is another small step in our journey toward further Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion on our campus, and is one that we hope will convey to new campus community members how important this strategic priority is for us. Thank you to all for your work in support of these efforts.

Sincerely,

Gayle Hutchinson
President

Travon Robinson
Interim Chief Diversity Officer and Director, Office of Diversity and Inclusion