Published July 26, 2013 This content is archived.
Dear UB Faculty and Staff,
The university is actively seeking to recruit our first Vice Provost for Equity and Inclusion (VPEI), a leadership position that will be responsible for planning, coordinating and monitoring UB’s efforts to institutionalize a university-wide culture of equity and inclusion. Details regarding the responsibilities of the VPEI and the related qualifications may be found on UBJobs (no longer available). Superior candidates are encouraged to apply.
Creating the conditions for inclusiveness and equity among faculty, staff and students is critical to providing transformational learning and scholarship environments that will ensure UB’s reputation for excellence in the highly globalized and rapidly changing 21st century. In establishing the role of VPEI, we are affirming the inextricable link among excellence, equity and inclusion.
The creation of this position coincides with the most recent phase of UB’s strategic planning effort, Realizing UB 2020, and has been informed both by the work of the Commission on Academic Excellence and Equity (CAEE), chaired by Professor Athena Mutua, as well as the efforts of an associated Implementation Committee, chaired by Dean Arjang Assad. The Implementation Team based its course of action on the recommendations of the CAEE but broadened the scope of its work to include staff and students in addition to faculty. The Implementation Team’s inclusion objectives went beyond issues of gender and race to reflect the full diversity of our community more broadly.
I want to offer my sincere appreciation and thanks to Professor Athena Mutua, Dean Arjang Assad and the members of both committees for their thoughtful, careful analysis of the issues, for their important recommendations and for their service on behalf of all UB faculty, staff and students.
Best,
Chip
Charles F. Zukoski
Provost and Executive Vice President for Academic Affairs