Update on Search for Presidential Associate for Inclusion and Chief Diversity Officer

May 26, 2022

Dear Cal Poly Pomona Community:

Fostering a climate that supports a diverse, equitable and inclusive community is a core Cal Poly Pomona value and remains one of our most pressing endeavors. To provide strategic leadership and institutional coordination for this ambition, we undertook a national search for a permanent Presidential Associate for Inclusion and Chief Diversity Officer (CDO). I write with an update on the status of our search.

The search committee did an outstanding job of recruiting and evaluating potential candidates, resulting in three finalists. I want to thank the committee as well as the campus community for participating in the search process. Ultimately however, we were not successful in recruiting an incumbent.   

Because of the importance of this role to our campus, our vision and our mission, I have decided to extend the search for a permanent CDO. Many of the existing members have already agreed to continue serving on the extended CDO search committee, and I thank them for their continued commitment to this work. The committee will consider a refreshed pool of candidates early in the fall and will engage stakeholders in the process as soon as possible, with the intent to make an appointment before Spring 2023.

You may recall when CPP received a 10-year reaffirmation of accreditation in 2020, the final report acknowledged our commitment to diversity, equity and inclusion while also asserting the need to accelerate progress on our goals. This work is urgent and must continue to move forward even as we continue the search for a permanent CDO. To assure our momentum, we have engaged Nyree Gray, Associate Vice President for Diversity and Inclusion and Chief Civil Rights Officer at Claremont McKenna College, to provide strategic counsel. Ms. Gray will work in partnership with me, Provost Brown and the Cabinet to support planning and actions that strengthen our inclusive campus climate, as well as to help us reflect on our lessons learned in preparation for our special visit by the WASC team in Fall 2023.   

I will continue to provide updates as the search for a permanent Presidential Associate for Inclusion and CDO continues. I also take this opportunity to ask that we all consider our individual responsibility in achieving inclusive excellence at Cal Poly Pomona, and how we can each work to promote a campus experience where all feel the sense of belonging and affirmation so central to our work as an institution of higher learning.

Sincerely,

Soraya M. Coley, Ph.D.
President