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CHIEF OFFICER OF DIVERSITY, EQUITY, AND INCLUSION

Employer
Clark University
Location
Worcester, Massachusetts

Job Details

 

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CHIEF OFFICER OF DIVERSITY, EQUITY, AND INCLUSION

CLARK UNIVERSITY

Worcester, MA

Clark University, a nationally ranked private liberal arts-based research university, seeks an accomplished and strategic leader for the position of Chief Officer of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (CODEI). The next CODEI will join the institution at a critical moment as Clark, under new presidential leadership, will dramatically strengthen its community, culture, and climate through antiracist practices rooted in critical race theory, intersectionality, belonging, and social justice. With the support of a passionate and engaged student body, staff and faculty community, the ideal candidate will listen to and advocate for the needs of the faculty, staff, and student constituencies as well as possess the intellect, energy, and diplomacy necessary to generate buy-in and guide their colleagues toward transformative institutional change.

Reporting directly to President David Fithian and overseeing the Office of Diversity and Inclusion (ODI), the CODEI will lead institutional efforts to build a truly inclusive and safe community, counteract systemic racism, develop and support antiracist practices, and actively promote social justice and equity at Clark. Clark strives to become a nationally-recognized leader for its diversity, equity, and inclusion initiatives and culture of belonging across race, ethnicity, gender identity/expression, sexual orientation, religion, political affiliation, age, and ability.

The global pandemic and movement for racial justice and equity present challenges, but also opportunities, sparked by heightened awareness, raw discussions, and an overall openness – and demands – for change. As a member of the President’s senior leadership team, the CODEI will create a vision for Clark that prioritizes diversity, equity, and inclusion initiatives while also demonstrating the administrative ability to realize that vision within the context of a range of institutional priorities and resource needs.

In recognition of the importance of this work and its centrality to Clark’s identity and mission, President Fithian has committed $1 million to catalyze diversity, equity, and inclusion activities and jump-start progress, including mandatory diversity training for the senior leadership team and increased funding to support the diversification and decolonization of academic curriculum under the leadership of the Center for Gender, Race, and Area Studies. Clark’s students, faculty, and staff are passionate and eager for action. The CODEI will join an engaged community poised to do its part in bringing demonstrable and sustainable change. 

The CODEI is responsible for the advancement and implementation of a strategic vision and initiatives that demonstrate the university’s commitment to a welcoming, inclusive environment for all students, faculty, and staff with specific regard for historically marginalized groups. The successful candidate will work collaboratively with the university’s senior leadership team, deans, department chairs, faculty, staff, student groups, and other key campus and community partners to meet the university’s goals of equity, diversity, and inclusion to sustain a community in which individuals from all racial, ethnic, national, socioeconomic, gender identity/expression, sexual orientation, religion, political affiliation, age, and ability statuses are welcome and can flourish.

Clark University has retained Isaacson, Miller, a national executive search firm, to assist in the recruitment of this important position. All inquiries, nominations, and applications should be directed in confidence as noted at the end of this document.

TO APPLY

Clark University has retained Isaacson, Miller, a national executive search firm, to assist with this important search. Review of candidates will begin immediately and continue until the position is filled. Please direct all inquiries, nominations, and application materials including a letter of interest and resume, in confidence, to:

www.imsearch.com/7964

Ponneh Varho, Partner

Tiffany Weber, Associate

Isaacson, Miller, Inc.

Clark University embraces equal opportunity and affirmative action as core values: the University believes that cultivating an environment that embraces and promotes diversity is fundamental to the success of our students, its employees, and its community. This commitment applies to every aspect of education, services, and employment policies and practices at Clark. Clark’s commitment to diversity informs its efforts in recruitment, hiring, and retention. All positions at Clark share in the responsibility for building a community that values diversity and the uniqueness of others by exhibiting integrity and respect in interacting with all members of the Clark community to create an atmosphere of fairness and belonging. Clark strongly encourages members from historically underrepresented communities, inclusive of all women, to apply.

Organization

Working at Clark University
 

A relentless force for positive change

Founded in 1887, Clark University is a liberal arts-based research university committed to scholarship and inquiry that addresses social and human imperatives on a global basis. It is the place where Robert Goddard invented the modern rocket, where Sigmund Freud delivered his only lectures in the United States, and where current students stake their claim to the Clark motto, “Challenge Convention. Change Our World,” which is the rallying cry that inspires our community every day.

Located in the heart of New England — Worcester, Massachusetts — Clark University educates its approximately 2,200 undergraduate and 1,100 graduate students to be imaginative and contributing citizens of the world, and to advance the frontiers of knowledge and understanding through rigorous scholarship and creative effort.

A university on the cutting edge of higher education

Clark is a world-class research university that is small by design, giving students the rare opportunity to contribute to pioneering research projects and to benefit from hands-on experience, close collaboration with peers, and the individual mentorship of faculty.

LEEP (Liberal Education and Effective Practice) is Clark’s pioneering model of higher education,  compelling students to thrive in authentic world and workplace settings, and preparing them for lives and careers of consequence. Clark is the only university to make the development of “capacities of effective practice” an explicit learning requirement for its undergraduates. Critical to success in today’s world, these capacities include imagination, self-directedness, resilience, and the ability to manage diversity and uncertainty. A Clark education reflects a belief in the enduring value of liberal education, as well as the University’s efforts to more deeply attune students’ learning experiences to the profound changes underway in our economy, our society, and our democracy.

The Clark graduate experience reflects the importance of “engaged scholarship” — an innovative educational approach that connects students to the people and organizations intimately familiar with (and working to address) the issues they are passionate about, and that places a premium on effecting measurable outcomes.

Committed to research that advance knowledge and impacts society

The Clark University faculty is composed of world-renowned researchers who foster a culture of excellence in the next generation. At Clark, faculty and students are given the freedom and flexibility to pursue projects that transcend traditional disciplinary boundaries.

The University’s focused areas of research excellence are backed by strong Ph.D. and master’s degree programs that engage graduate students from around the world in such areas as biology, chemistry, economics, geography, psychology, urban education, management, environmental science and policy, Holocaust and genocide studies, and international development and social change. Clark faculty, students, and staff continually develop new ways of thinking and acting that have a positive impact on the lives — and livelihoods — of people throughout the world.

Clark's research profile is enhanced by the presence of a variety of research institutes and centers that build on a foundation of interdisciplinary scholarship: the Mosakowski Institute for Public Enterprise, the George Perkins Marsh Institute, the Higgins School of Humanities, the Jacob Hiatt Center for Urban Education and the Strassler Family Center for Holocaust and Genocide Studies.

Redefining our place in the world by immersing our community in it

Clark has redefined what it means to be a university in today’s interconnected world, forging robust partnerships with universities, educators, researchers, and business and community leaders at home and abroad, enabling its faculty and students to conduct in-depth research, work collaboratively to take on global concerns, and make a tangible difference. This diverse community of educators, researchers, and scholars challenge and inspire each other with their perspectives, insights, and determination. They are creative thinkers eager to defy conventional wisdom, devise inventive solutions to complex problems, and roll up their sleeves to get things done.

Clark itself plays a critical role in the health and well-being of its urban community, known as Main South, through the University Park Partnership — a national model for neighborhood revitalization. Working in tandem with the city of Worcester, Clark has been a change agent in the areas of housing and physical rehabilitation, education, economic development and social and recreational opportunities for residents. The University Park Campus School, which Clark operates in collaboration with the Worcester Public Schools, boasts an estimable record of high achievement and was recognized by President Barack Obama for its record of academic success.

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