Colorado State University Names Four Candidates for Vice President for Diversity

The search committee for Vice President for Diversity at Colorado State University will invite four candidates – all currently employed on campus – to interview for the three-year position.

The candidates in order of their scheduled interviews on campus next week:

-Arlene Nededog – director, undergraduate retention programs, College of Natural Sciences
Interview: 2:30 – 3:30 p.m., Monday, May 3, Lory Student Center Theatre

-Irene Vernon – professor/chair, Ethnic Studies Department, assistant to dean, College of Liberal Arts
Interview: 2:30 – 3:30 p.m., Tuesday, May 4, Lory Student Center Room 214/16

-Mary Ontiveros – associate vice president, Division of Enrollment and Access
Interview: 2:30 – 3:30 p.m., Wednesday, May 5, Lory Student Center Room 203/05

-Blane Harding – director of Advising, Recruitment and Retention, College of Liberal Arts
Interview: 2:30 – 3:30 p.m., Thursday, May 6, Lory Student Center Room 203/05

“We feel this is an excellent group of candidates and are pleased with the progress of the search,” said Blanche Hughes, acting vice president for Diversity who led the search committee and the Diversity Task Force created by President Tony Frank.

Full copies of the candidates’ resumes are available at www.pres.colostate.edu.

More about the candidates:

Harding has worked as director of Advising, Recruitment and Retention in the College of Liberal Arts since 2001. He has served as a history lecturer and instructor in Key Academic Seminars. He is a diversity consultant for the National Academic Advising Association.

Nededog has 29 years experience working with diversity efforts and programs, largely at CSU. She has implemented a mentor program for ethnically diverse students and served as co-founder of the CSU chapter of Advancing Hispanics/Chicanos and Native Americans in Science.

Ontiveros has worked at Colorado State University since 1975 and has held a variety of positions from director of Admissions to associate vice president for the Division of Enrollment and Access. She is the 2010 recipient of the university’s Margaret B. Hazaleus Award.

Vernon joined CSU in 1994 as an assistant professor and has served as chair of the Ethnic Studies department since 2008. Her campus experience includes serving as associate provost of Special Projects and director of the Center for Applied Studies in American Ethnicity.

The candidates were selected after the Diversity Task Force issued a set of recommendations to Frank that included creation of the position of vice president for Diversity, separated organizationally from the Office of Equal Opportunity. Frank accepted the Task Force recommendations and decided to fund a half-time vice president for Diversity position in the draft fiscal year 2011 budget. The position is for three years, at which time the university will evaluate how to move forward.

The search was open only to current university employees.

The vice president for Diversity will be the principal diversity officer for the institution, serving on the President’s Cabinet. The position will be charged to coordinate, initiate and lead the institution’s diversity efforts to achieve a sustainable environment that is inclusive and supportive. The person in this position will lead diversity planning efforts, including assessment, evaluation and accountability; develop strategic partnerships, alliances and collaborations; organize the annual Diversity Conference; help to coordinate activities among on-campus units, commissions, committees and task forces; and represent the University through networking and collaboration with outside communities, schools and organizations.

For more information on the position, go to http://www.pres.colostate.edu/campus-messages/january-27-2010-diversity.aspx.

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