Princeton Forms Diversity Council for Staff Related Diversity Matters

Diverse Issues in Higher Education
by Michelle J. Nealy
Jul 3, 2008, 22:10

Princeton University has formed a new Diversity Council to advise the offices of the provost and executive vice president on staff-related diversity matters.The council, co-chaired by Lianne Sullivan-Crowley, vice president for human resources, and Dr. Terri Harris Reed, vice provost for institutional equity and diversity, is composed of 28 staff members. The council’s purpose is to further extend the efforts of a pre-existing group, the Diversity Working Group.
The Diversity Working Group, assembled in 2004 by university president Shirley M. Tilghman, was charged with identifying strategies and potential barriers that affect the recruitment, hiring, retention and promotion of a diverse work force at Princeton. A year after its inception, the group issued a report that resulted in a number of changes intended to make Princeton a more diverse and welcoming workplace for people of all backgrounds. Among the changes implemented were to:

— Create and expand training for managers.
— Add multilingual employees in the Office of Human Resources.
— Hire several additional employee relations professionals.
— Add English as a Second Language programming.

In fall 2006, the working group sponsored a confidential survey of Princeton staff members on topics including the fairness of employment practices and the openness of Princeton’s culture.
The new Diversity Council hopes to use data collected from the survey to recommend and promote policies, practices and programs that foster an equitable and inclusive community, university officials report. Examining formal and informal structures that impede progress toward diversity goals and recommending improvements will be an integral part of the Diversity Council’s responsibility, officials say. [To read the entire article, go to: http://diverseeducation.com/artman/publish/article_11372.shtml ]