Colorado State University is excited to announce the renaming of the Office of the Vice President for Diversity to the Office of Inclusive Excellence, reflecting a renewed focus under the leadership of Vice President for Inclusive Excellence Kauline Cipriani.
Along with the divisional reorganization of diversity, equity, inclusion and justice (DEIJ) focused staff and services under the Office of Inclusive Excellence, the division name shift signifies the University’s continued commitment to these efforts moving forward.
“This next chapter in DEIJ work at Colorado State will place inclusive excellence tenets at the forefront. Inclusive excellence is about everyone, and requires an institutional climate that equitably supports students, staff and faculty from underrepresented and disenfranchised identities, while also supporting productive engagement across our differences,” said Cipriani. “This reorganization will help elevate and galvanize this work across campus.”
The reorganization of the Office of Inclusive Excellence will also expand the scope of the division’s focus, previously concentrated on faculty and staff, to include student efforts which were led by the Division of Student Affairs. Bringing together DEIJ efforts for faculty, staff and students under one unit will enable greater collaboration, resource sharing and alignment as CSU moves into the next chapter.
Additional staff structure changes
As part of the reorganization, Shannon Archibeque-Engle has assumed a new role as associate vice president for inclusive excellence. Archibeque-Engle’s institutional knowledge, skills and experience will be invaluable assets to the Office of Inclusive Excellence and the entire CSU community as DEIJ efforts are strengthened and expanded.
“I am humbled to work more closely with such talented professionals who have dedicated their careers to advancing diversity, equity, inclusion and justice,” said Archibeque-Engle. “I’m excited about the next chapter under Dr. Cipriani’s leadership and the work we can accomplish together through this new divisional structure.”
In addition to the staff and services of the SDPS cultural and resource centers, the Office of Inclusive Excellence is excited to welcome to the team Kathy Sisneros, assistant vice president for inclusive excellence supporting the SDPS office cluster, Fleurette “Flo” King, equity educator, and Mimi Lewis, executive assistant to Sisneros.
Bridgette Johnson, former managing director of DEI and student success, is also being welcomed to the team with a new appointment as assistant vice president for inclusive excellence. In her new role, Johnson will provide strategic leadership over Inclusive Excellence’s student success initiatives for underserved students, enhance employee affinity and belonging programming and co-lead university bias reporting and assessment efforts. While the SDPS centers and staff will remain at the Lory Student Center, Sisneros, Johnson, King and Lewis have relocated to the Office for Inclusive Excellence at 645 S. Shields St.
Fall 2021 priorities and initiatives
As the Office of Inclusive Excellence continues working through the transition of the reorganization, efforts are well underway on several initiatives the CSU community knows and values. The 2021 Diversity Symposium concluded on Oct. 29 and session recordings are now available; the Employee Climate Survey launched on Oct. 19 and survey responses are due Nov. 19; and a new model for DEI-focused trainings launched in August for all CSU employees.
OIE is also eager to more closely support the many cultural, history, awareness and heritage programs and resource center services and activities out of the SDPS cluster, which collectively serve a variety of students across identities including race, gender, disability, survivors, LGBTQIA+ and more. Support for the recent launch of the student Diversity, Inclusion and Belonging Module is also being prioritized as OIE moves forward. Additional information on each of these efforts and more will be released to the university community in the coming weeks and updates can also be found on the newly relaunched inclusiveexcellence.colostate.edu website.
