UND names Sandra Mitchell Associate Vice President for Diversity and Inclusion

The University of North Dakota has announced that it has successfully completed its search for an Associate Vice President for Diversity and Inclusion, launched in late 2013, and has named Sandra Mitchell to the position. Mitchell, who currently holds the position of Chief Diversity Officer at Regis University in Denver, will assume her new role on July 14.

In her new role, Mitchell will be responsible for implementing a strategic vision and operational plan for advancing diversity and strengthening an inclusive work and learning environment. She will work to ensure diversity is integrated within each of the strategic priorities of Exceptional UND and will foster collaborations between academic and student affairs and strengthen campus-community relationships.

Mitchell will report to the Provost and Vice President for Academic Affairs and will also have a dotted line relationship with the Vice President for Student Affairs. As a member of the Provost's Office, she will lead campus wide efforts to develop, strategize, plan, collaborate, and assess with UND community members on various diversity related programs and initiatives. She will also supervise and support the program goals and success of a number of existing diversity-related offices including American Indian Student Services, Multicultural Student Services, International Centre, GLBTQA services, and the Women's Center.

Said Mitchell, "I am very excited for this opportunity to work with such a wonderful group of faculty, staff, and students, and to help lead
UND in this next exciting phase of its diversity initiatives."

Said Provost DiLorenzo, "We are delighted that Sandra Mitchell will be joining the UND community and devoting her considerable experience to strengthening and advance the University's commitment to diversity and inclusion. The creation of this position is the result of the cumulative work of many UND groups. We thank them, and in particular we thank the Search Committee, who worked so diligently for the past several months to bring this process to a successful conclusion."

Members of the Search Committee include:

• Cara Halgren, Associate Vice President and Dean of Students (Co-Chair)
• Debbie Storrs, Dean of Arts & Sciences (Co-Chair)
• Daniella Irle, Deputy Director of Athletics and Senior Woman Administrator
• Leigh Jeanotte, Director of American Indian Student Services
• Kay Mendick, Director of the Women's Center
• Malika Carter, Director of Multicultural Student Services
• Julie Anderson, Associate Professor, Nursing & American Council on Education Fellow
• Mason Longnecker, President, Ten Percent Society (student representative)
• Jacque Gray, Associate Professor, Rural Health
• Colleen Berry, Associate Professor, Modern & Classical Languages & Literatures
• Kanishka Marasinghe, Associate Professor, Department of Physics & Astrophysics
• Daphne Pedersen, Associate Professor, Sociology
• Suzanne Gandrud, Administrative Support