by Louie Rodriguez, Associate Vice President for Student Affairs, The University of Texas at El Paso
NASH Steering Committee
At the NASH TS3 convening, held virtually on April 29, 2021, I had the honor of moderating a panel discussion featuring three colleagues serving in lead diversity and equity roles within their university systems. The panelists were Theodosia Cook (University of Colorado System), Andriel Dees (Minnesota State Colleges and Universities), and Lais Martinez (Utah System of Higher Education). At latest count, 10 NASH member systems have a chief diversity officer or equivalent role and interest in this kind of system-level position continues to grow.
Throughout the panel discussion, a recurring theme heard from all three speakers regarding success in this role was the need for strong partnerships, including fostering trusting relationships with the individual campuses within their systems. Beyond these and other commonalities, our colleagues shared insights and highlights from each of their systems.
Theodosia Cook, Chief Diversity Officer in the University of Colorado System, shared that her role incorporates many functions including bringing individuals and groups together for conversation, facilitating, strengthening collaborations, connecting campus work, and bridging the space between campuses and system administration. For a system that serves more than 68,000 students and employs more than 37,000 people, it is clear that coordination of effort and strong communication channels are essential for success. Theodosia and her colleagues’ work has resulted in an exciting new diversity, equity, and inclusion Innovation Fund to foster additional programming and initiatives. Another highlight of Theodosia’s work is a renewed system-wide emphasis on equity, validity, and diversity in university hiring.
Andriel Dees, Interim System Diversity Officer at Minnesota State Colleges and Universities, showcased her system’s strategic vision Equity 2030. Built around the bold goal of eliminating “the educational gaps at every Minnesota State college and university” by 2030, this strategy is focused on six key dimensions: enhanced access, academic success, student engagement, evidence-based decision making, financial resources for students and campuses, and workforce and talent diversity. We hope to check in with Andriel later in her system’s journey to Equity 2030 and learn more from their innovative work, including new guided learning pathways, Equity by Design methodology, and Equity Scorecard, all designed for the success of their more than 340,000 students attending their 37 institutions.
Finally, Laís Martinez, Assistant Commissioner on Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion for the Utah System of Higher Education, discussed her work within a system of 16 institutions, both degree-granting and technical education, that collectively serve more than 193,000 students. Two important milestones from the last several months include the Utah Board of Higher Education – Governing Board’s adoption of both the Resolution to Advance Equitable Systemic Change and the Equity Lens Framework modeled on the Oregon Higher Education Coordinating Commission’s Equity Lens, and further developed in collaboration with Utah Higher Ed Chief Diversity Officers. Both documents are inspiring in their scope and ambition and will no doubt pave the way for even more long-lasting equity work within the USHE system, including the newly adopted 5-year strategic plan identifying equity as the guiding tenet for its implementation.
All three systems represented by our panelists have demonstrated remarkable action in many of the NASH Equity Action Framework’s essential equity practices, including public commitment, leadership, faculty and staff hiring, and more. Congratulations to Theodosia, Andriel, and Lais on their leadership and successes in shaping these important achievements and a big thanks for sharing these stories at the NASH spring convening.