The University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee’s internal search for an Associate Vice Chancellor for Diversity and Climate is near completion, with a decision expected by early next week.

The decision will come nearly six months after Marquette University hired Keenan Grenell as its provost of Diversity.

The Associate Vice Chancellor for Diversity and Climate will have oversight of campus-wide programs that promote diversity and an inclusive climate for faculty, staff and students.

This person will report to Provost and Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs Rita Cheng and work in collaboration with two other associate vice chancellors and the rest of the provost’s office in the Division of Academic Affairs.

As articulated by Chancellor Carlos Santiago, the university currently has two important goals: to enhance UWM’s research stature and to ensure student access and success. Increasing diversity is key to achieving both goals, said Ruth Williams, associate vice chancellor of Academic Affairs.

“We really need to bring someone into the provost’s office who has specialized skills and ideas to ensure that the initiatives are successfully implemented,” Williams said.

There are two candidates for the position: Anthony Lemelle, a professor in the Department of Sociology and Wanda Blanchett, associate dean of the School of Education and an associate professor in the Department of Exceptional Education.

Both candidates were present at open campus-wide meetings, the last of which was held on Oct. 5. Comments from the university community were accepted through Oct. 17.

The position of Associate Vice Chancellor for Diversity and Climate is a 50 percent appointment, in which candidates must be tenured faculty members and are expected to remain active members of their regular academic departments.

The provost’s office is enthusiastic about gaining a person whose portfolio of responsibilities is completely dedicated to the university's diversity initiates.

“It will be nice to have someone to work side by side with,” Williams said.

An increasing number of colleges and universities are hiring chief diversity officers, said William Harvey, vice president and director for the Center for Advancement of Racial and Ethnic Equity for the American Council on Education, Washington, D.C.

Harvey said the appointment of diversity leaders is the result of demographic trends that indicate larger percentages of prospective college students who are racial minorities. These increases, he said, are expected to continue in the future.

“Colleges and universities are trying to be more comprehensive and efficient in terms of their response to diversity issues,” he said. “In order to see success, institutions are recognizing someone needs to oversee that.”

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