Position Overview

The Assistant Vice Provost in the Office of Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Belonging (DEIB), will assist in leading institutional planning, implementation, and assessment of goals and strategic priorities of the University of Kansas as it pertains to diversity and inclusion as well as equity and belonging for staff. The incumbent will be an integral member of the DEIB office, reporting to and serving at the pleasure of, the Vice Provost for Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Belonging, with a dotted line reporting relationship with the Chief Human Resource Officer/Vice Provost for Operations.

This position will be specifically tasked with the oversight for diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) initiatives for staff as well as partnering with the Associate Vice Provost in Faculty Development and the Assistant Vice Provost in Student Affairs to ensure collaboration and development of a campus-wide, synergistic approach to collectively benefit the entire university community. Primary responsibilities will include leading and facilitating an internal strategic planning process, providing campus leaders and employees with the resources, training, and strategies needed to achieve DEI outcomes, and developing holistic, ongoing programs to support staff with varied social identities. Additional responsibilities will include building and oversight of programmatic activities/events, developing relationships to foster a culture of inclusion and belonging, engaging with partners to address campus challenges, and increasing diversity and inclusion efforts for the recruitment, hiring, and retention of top talent staff for the university.

Due to current COVID-19 restrictions, this position is a hybrid position with some work completed on-site and some remotely. When the campus is cleared to fully reopen, this position will report to campus. In a continuing effort to provide equal educational and employment opportunities, the university actively encourages applications from members of underrepresented groups in higher education. The successful candidate must meet all position requirements by the effective date of the appointment.

The University is located in Lawrence, a city with a population exceeding 95,000. The community is known for its support of the University, education, arts, and research and regularly appears in various “best town” listings. Lawrence is centrally located between the State of Kansas Capitol in Topeka and the major metropolitan community of Kansas City.

Job Duties:

Strategic Leadership (40%)

• Develop and implement strategic direction and provide leadership in campus goal setting to grow and maintain a campus community culture reflective of the Office of DEIB and university strategic objectives.

• Collaborate with the Vice Provost for DEIB on strategic planning, implementation, and assessment of both a campus-wide DEIB strategic plan as well as unit-specific DEIB strategic plans.

• Collaborate with Vice Provost for DEIB to annually monitor each of the units’ DEI plans according to a universal set of metrics.

• Collaborate with the Vice Provost for DEIB to monitor and analyze institutional data for staff in the context of national data related to diversity initiatives and climate. This includes climate studies, demographic data, and policy analyses.

• Develop and coordinate ongoing programs and initiatives to support and retain marginalized and underrepresented staff.

• Propose innovative and creative solutions to existing policies and/or structures that will further the goals of creating a workplace that is both inclusive and equitable – helping to retain the university’s underrepresented staff.

• Provide frequent feedback to the VP of DEIB on current issues emerging in the community and the university.

• Provide regular data-driven feedback to the KU staff community on the effectiveness of the University’s efforts.

• Build partnerships with fellow diversity officers on campus to bring clarity and consistency of DEIB efforts for staff.

• Develop and maintain active partnerships with the external community and other groups in support of diversity, equity, and inclusion for staff at KU.

• Exercise discretion and ensure a strict adherence to confidentiality pertaining to sensitive matters.

Training, Education, and Consultation (30%)

• Develop and deliver educational programming in multiple formats (trainings, presentations, role playing exercises, social media outlets, speaker series, discussion groups, etc.) to engage in professional development opportunities for topics related to diversity, equity, and inclusion for staff; coordinate with campus partners including Human Resources Management on the development and delivery of educational programming.

• Assist staff navigating DEIB-related workplace concerns through individualized consultation, information sharing, and ongoing support in conjunction with other university offices.

• Work with committees (i.e., Staff Fellows, Governance, Faculty/Staff Councils) to address DEIB issues and to increase awareness and engagement with movement toward a more positive work and campus culture of belonging.

• Engage with existing Faculty and Staff Identity Councils. Serve on various committees, councils, and taskforces as appropriate.

Project Management and Reporting (25%)

• Oversee the various project initiatives related to staff equity, inclusion, and belonging. Establish key performance indicators to measure progress outcomes.

• Collaborate with HRM on education of Affirmative Action Plan goals and initiatives.

• Collaborate with HRM, the AVP in the Office of Faculty Development, and the AVP in the Office of Student Affairs to continuously evolve hiring strategies, procedures, and actions to strengthen institutional retention efforts of underrepresented minority staff.

• Work collectively with the AVP for DEIB within Faculty Development and the Senior Human Resources Officer or designee to develop KU as a Higher Education Recruitment Consortium (HERC) regional leader. This includes programming, development, fund raising, and administration with the national office.

• Initiate “pulse” surveys with HRM leaders to identify need areas/gaps and determine progress indicators.

Other Duties as Assigned (5%)

Position Requirements

Due to current COVID-19 restrictions, this position is a hybrid position with some work completed on-site and some remotely. When the campus is cleared to fully reopen, this position will report to campus.

Required Qualifications

1. Master's degree and three years of progressively significant leadership experience in the field of diversity, equity, and inclusion OR a terminal degree and one year of related experience.

2. Professional work experience in coaching or mentoring.

3. Experience in developing and delivering DEIB related training.

4. Experience in data analysis and program assessment.

5. Strong oral, written, and interpersonal skills as demonstrated through application materials, interview, and references.

Preferred Qualifications

1. Earned doctorate or other terminal degree.

2. Experience in strategic planning to further institutional DEIB goals.

3. Experience at a large higher education institution as a director or administrator; OR work experiences that demonstrate an understanding of and effectiveness at working on DEIB issues within a complex higher education institutional setting.

4. Professional work experience in coaching or mentoring in the context of advancing DEIB goals within an organization.

5. Demonstrated ability to apply the foundational practices and theory of DEIB issues in complex organizational settings such as those articulated in the National Association of Diversity Officers in Higher Education (NADOHE) standards.

6. Demonstrated understanding of intersectionality and the ways in which multiple identities intersect in efforts to foster diversity, equity, and inclusion across campus.

7. Demonstrated ability to provide anticipatory and solution-oriented thinking around the impact of broad cultural and societal concerns on a diverse workforce.

8. Commitment to professional development and professional associations as demonstrated by memberships and/or presentations. Examples of professional associations may include: Social Justice Training Institute, Creating Change, Facing Race, Consortium of Higher Education LGBT Resource Professionals, National Conference on Race and Ethnicity in Higher Education (NCORE), Intergroup Dialogue Training, NASPA, and/or ACPA.

Additional Candidate Instructions

The University of Kansas is accepting online application materials at: https://employment.ku.edu/staff/18675BR.

Evaluation of requirements will be based upon a letter of application describing your work and experiences as it relates to the position and qualification requirements, a resume and contact information (email and phone) for three professional references. Only complete applications will be considered.

In addition to the materials above, learning about each applicant's contribution and engagement in areas of diversity is an important part of KU's mission. As a result, applicants will be presented with the following question at the time of application. The response must be within 4,000 characters or less.

• Describe your experiences working with people from diverse backgrounds and explain how those experiences reflect your commitments to diversity, equity and inclusion.

Applicant deadline for this position is Sunday, April 11, 2021. If you have any questions about this position, please email us at employ@ku.edu.

KU is an EO/AAE . All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex (including pregnancy), age, national origin, disability, genetic information or protected Veteran status.

See full policy at https://policy.ku.edu/IOA/nondiscrimination