Director of Equity and Inclusion - Bellingham, United States - Western Washington University

Description

Position Title Director of Equity and Inclusion
About the University Western Washington University, with over 16,000 students in seven colleges and the graduate school, is nationally recognized for its educational programs, students and faculty. The campus is located in Bellingham, Washington, a coastal community of 90,000 overlooking Bellingham Bay, the San Juan Islands and the North Cascades Mountain range. The city lies 90 miles north of Seattle and 60 miles south of Vancouver, British Columbia. Western is the highest-ranking public, master's-granting university in the Pacific Northwest, according to the 2022 U.S. News & World Report rankings. Western Washington University is committed to achieving excellence through advancing inclusive success, increasing our Washington impact, and focusing on transformational education grounded in the liberal arts and sciences and based on innovative scholarship, research, and creative activity. Western's greatest strength is the outstanding students, faculty, staff, and alumni/ae who make up its community. Western supports an inclusive governance structure for all and provides a learning and working environment in which everyone can thrive. In pursuit of this excellence, individual employees are expected to establish and maintain productive and effective inclusive working relationships amongst diverse populations including staff, faculty, administration, student, and external constituents. Further, individual employees are expected to have the ability to operationalize sustainability concepts (economic, societal, environmental) into all aspects of performing their job duties.
About the Department The Office of Equity supports Western's mission, which states that together with our students, staff, and faculty, we are committed to making a positive impact in the state and the world with a shared focus on academic excellence and inclusive achievement. We encourage applications from women, people of color, people with disabilities, veterans, and other candidates from underrepresented backgrounds and with diverse experiences interested in this opportunity.
The Office of Equity brings together two complementary functions: the existing compliance function and a more robust education and community training function.

While the compliance function is currently housed in the Office of Civil Rights and Title IX Compliance, the vision for the new Office of Equity is much broader than the traditional compliance function. An assessment of patterns in our compliance issues can lead to a deeper understanding of barriers in Western's systems and structures. The Office of Equity also encompasses the broader functions of engaging individuals and groups in education, dialogue and learning; building community; examining Western's systems and structures through an equity lens; and providing visibility to, and advancing, key initiatives for inclusive student success and ADEI work on campus.

About the Position
The Director is a critical member of the Office of Equity team and collaborates with all university units and divisions to align and coordinate Accessibility Diversity Equity Inclusion efforts and support Western's mission, core values, and strategic priorities. The Director works alongside the CDO/ED, to set the direction for and alignment of institutional ADEI work. Additionally, the Director will oversee office operations, facilitate development of office strategic plan, and implement ADEI programs and initiatives. Central to the director's role is developing opportunities to foster an equitable and inclusive learning and working environments for all students, faculty, and staff, overseeing office operations, professional development, and education.

% of time Duties / Responsibilities

50

Unit Operations and Strategic Leadership

Collaborate with all University units and divisions to coordinate the implementation of ADEI goals and initiatives throughout the University.

Lead, support, and guide institutional level efforts to review all Institutional policies and procedures through an equity lens.

Annually evaluate institutional Accessibility, Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion strategic priorities for the Office of Equity and Inclusion, as well as multi-year strategic planning.

Participate in the development of written reports including the university's Annual Appraisal Report outlining the university's ADEI efforts and demonstrated progress in implementing such efforts.

Direct/lead the design, development, and implementation of programs and projects (e.g., cultural events, campus-wide conversations, etc.) that will foster a greater sense of community.

Build new relationships and strengthen existing relationships with external stakeholders and community partners.

Monitors and directs the maintenance of the unit's budget. - Monitors and directs the fiscal work for the Office of Equity.

Represents the Office of Equity and Inclusion and the Chief Diversity Officer at meetings, gatherings, conferences, and community events.

In partnership with university leadership (e.g., AVPs, deans, directors, department chairs, etc.) leads and facilitates efforts to cultivate a university culture of equity, accessibility, and inclusion.

Lead the university ADEI advisory board including convening regular meetings, and subcommittees meetings, to facilitate the alignment of ADEI efforts.

Supervises professional/support staff. Hires, evaluates, trains, mentors, guides, and engages in corrective action as necessary.

Works collaboratively with the Director of Civil Rights & Title IX Compliance to evaluate trends in bias and discrimination complaints and to develop appropriate corrective actions, programs, and initiatives.

Works with Program Manager Institutional ADEI Training to develop and implement training programs to promote cultural understanding and competency, and a climate of equity and inclusion.

Participates in and supports the recruitment and retention of underrepresented groups and serves in an advisory role on the diversity of candidates in the hiring process.

Plans, schedules, reviews, and evaluates the work of assigned staff.

30

Program and Organizational Development and Consultation

Provide consultation to staff, faculty, or departments in the identification of challenges, or barriers, to providing inclusive, accessible, equitable, and culturally responsive services and provide recommendations on strategies to address these challenges or barriers.

Co-lead with the Program manager for Institutional ADEI training the development and implementation of evaluation instruments to collect participant feedback and assess training/learning outcomes; use data to modify trainings and to develop resource materials.

Facilitate the exploration (defining and discussing) of diversity, equity, inclusion, antiracism, and accessibility topics among university stakeholder groups. The outcomes of these discussions will provide valuable feedback to be incorporated into Office of Equity strategic planning process as well as the development of new or modification of existing ADEI training and programs.

Lead the implementation and alignment of Accessibility, Diversity, Equity, Inclusion efforts across the university.

Coordinate the assessment and evaluation of Accessibility Diversity Equity Inclusion programs including outreach, advocacy, and education.

Write and submit grants to state, federal, and private agencies. Essential

20

Communications and Information Management

Manage information dissemination and communication for the Office of Equity and Inclusion.

Manage the development of a variety of types of publications regarding ADEI programming, education, and community development.

Direct the development and implementation of web communications and updates for the Office of Equity and Inclusion.

Lead and facilitate the assessment and communication of data as needed to determine the impact of programs, policies, practices, and processes on students or employees from marginalized and underrepresented populations.

Provides analysis of state, or state and federal legislation and regulations related to equity.

Work with the director of CRTC on information for students, faculty, and staff on topics related to policies, prevention, reporting, and appropriate response to incidents involving equal opportunity, discrimination, and accessibility of individuals with a disability, sexual harassment, and violence.

Directs and prepares correspondence, reports, and presentations as relates to university wide ADEI issues.

Required Qualifications
• Master's degree in a relevant field (organizational/social psychology, community development, education or related field)

• Five years of experience in ADEI programming, professional development, compliance, organizational development, or related field.

• Experience working with Federal and/or state statutes, regulations, and agency guidance.

• Understanding the complex nature of the work of diversity, equity, inclusion, anti-racism, and accessibility in institutions of higher education and how to address them through training and programming.

. Demonstrated ability to facilitate difficult ADEI conversations.

• Strong analytical and critical thinking skills.

• Excellent writing and interpersonal communication skills.

• Demonstrated strong training skills and ability to design, implement, and evaluate training, curricula and pedagogy for faculty, staff, and students.

• Strong program development, management, and implementation skills.

Preferred Qualifications
• A relevant Ph.D. (e.g., organizational/social psychology, community development, or related field, etc.) and 3 or more years of relevant ADEI experience.

• Five plus years of experience developing a comprehensive educational program to affect cultural change in a large complex organization.

• Experience working in a higher educational setting.

Salary
Hiring range for position is $106,479 - $122,451/year. Through longevity position tops out at $138,423/year.