DIVERSITY STRATEGIC PLAN

Thank you to everyone who spent time and effort to provide expertise and feedback over the last three years during the drafting process for the Diversity Strategic Planning (DSP). The final DSP has been approved by President Cheng and is ready for implementation. However, due to the Covid-19 Pandemic the official launch has been pushed to spring 2021 to allow time for everyone to focus on the immediate work of teaching in a very different environment. The DSP deserves a launch that is not hindered by other immediate and unavoidable priorities related to the Pandemic. It is also a fitting time to release the DSP as spring is a time of renewal and the DSP is a renewal of our commitment to diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) across NAU. The Diversity Commissions and Chief Diversity Fellow are working tirelessly to develop a marketing and support plan that everyone, university-wide, will receive. DEI efforts are everyone’s responsibility and with the DSP as the foundation, units across the university will begin to transform our campus in big and small ways. The launch of the Diversity Fellows Program this spring will provide support and expert advice and research to our DEI efforts as well. Eight fellows (four faculty and four staff) from across campus make up the inaugural class. We are excited at the possibilities and look forward to working with the campus communities to bring diversity, equity, and inclusion to the forefront of all we do at NAU as a True Diversity University.