PULLMAN – Raúl Sánchez, director of the Center for Human Rights (CHR) at Washington State University, said he is often asked to provide people with the tools necessary to diversify their workplace. While most WSU leaders want to increase diversity among their faculty and staff ranks, many do not know how to do it effectively.
In cooperation with the Offices of the Provost and Vice President for Equity and Diversity, the CHR is bringing special consultants to campus to assist in the educational process. WSU administrators, deans and directors are invited to attend a workshop conducted by DiversityWorks, Inc., a consulting firm based in Champaign, Ill. that specializes in working with universities and colleges on diversifying their workforce.
“These consultants have developed a unique methodology to address these complex issues utilizing both a video and workbook. Their stated purpose is to change the way people think about recruiting for diversity — in other words, to create new paradigms,” said Sánchez.
Interested WSU personnel can choose from three dates, Oct. 3, 4 and 5, 10 a.m.-3 p.m., at Pullman’s Quality Inn at Paradise Creek. A train-the-trainer workshop will be held on Oct. 6 and is offered on an invitation-only basis.
CHR staff member and event organizer Rebecca Armstrong said the consultants Pauline E. Kayes and Yvonne Singley will describe the rationale for and the benefits of having a diverse faculty and staff; examine common experiences, struggles and challenges of diverse faculty and staff on predominantly white campuses; analyze how the culture of an institution can create an unwelcoming climate for diverse faculty and staff; and create new strategies, resources and practices for recruiting, hiring and retaining diverse faculty and staff.
Sánchez stresses that the DiversityWorks, Inc. presentation is just one of many tools CHR has created to assist university leaders. Among those tools are recruitment resources placed on CHR’s Web site www.chr.wsu.edu and a new publication titled “Guidelines for Recruiting and Hiring a Diverse Workforce at WSU for Faculty and Administrative Professional Positions” scheduled for release later this fall.
“The effectiveness of these tools is limited unless people first have a good understanding of why these efforts are important. This workshop does an excellent job of providing people with this foundation and we plan to continue offering it with our own trained staff until we see progress at WSU far beyond our current success,” he said.
The three workshops are filling rapidly and seating is limited. For more information, contact Armstrong at 509-335-8288 or armstro@wsu.edu.
