Washington University has formed the Coordinating Council for Diversity Initiatives to address diversity and gender balance in the faculty ranks and in the managerial-level administrative ranks, Leah Merrifield, special assistant to the chancellor for diversity initiatives, told the Washington University Record.
A series of discussions between Merrifield and Chancellor Mark S. Wrighton began after the North Central Association released its re-accreditation report on the university.
It concluded that Washington University had not improved in the area of diversity as much as it had in several other areas.
“The overriding goal is to improve the racial diversity and gender balance (where appropriate) among the faculty and professional staff at Washington University,” Merrifield said.
“The initiative is designed to assist the university in attracting and maintaining a diverse and more representative population of faculty and staff.”
The coordinating council hosted a daylong retreat with the University Council on Oct. 15, which brought the university’s top leadership together with the diversity group to begin identifying the university’s diversity needs and strategies to address those needs.