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In Review

NEW FACES, NEW ROLESLeaders Focus on Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion
respect_leadersBeth Olivares (left), Kevin Beckford, John Barker (Photo: J. Adam Fenster)

Culture of Respect

Find More Online

Rochester’s Culture of Respect Rochester.edu/respect

Office of the President Rochester.edu/president

Vision and Values Statement Rochester.edu/president/vision-and-values/

Commission on Women and Gender Equity in Academia Rochester.edu/commission- women-gender-academia/

As part of an effort to highlight ways in which the University can bring more attention to improving Rochester’s climate for students, faculty, and staff, several people have been tasked with new and expanded responsibilities.

Beth Olivares, the dean for diversity in Arts, Sciences & Engineering, has taken on new responsibilities designed to “give a voice to people in the University community who don’t feel their voices are heard.”

Reporting directly to Rick Waugh, the interim dean of the faculty of Arts, Sciences & Engineering, Olivares is charged with leading and coordinating efforts to bring more diversity to the unit’s faculty and to improve the climate for students. She will continue in her role as executive director of the David T. Kearns Center in Arts, Sciences & Engineering, a position she has held since the center opened in 2002. In that capacity, she reports to Jeffrey Runner, dean of the College.

Kevin Beckford, a former executive at Eastman Kodak and Bank of America, has been named the University’s first senior director of staff diversity, equity, and inclusion.

In the new role, he will oversee efforts to build a more diverse staff at the University. He plans to pay particular attention to Rochester’s salaried staff positions, a category that represents about 6,000 people in positions that often have significant responsibility and that often lead to senior leadership roles.

John Barker ’09W (PhD), most recently the dean of international education at Tufts University, has been named senior associate dean of the faculty for Arts, Sciences & Engineering.

In the new position, he will lead the creation and implementation of programs to promote faculty professional development, particularly in the context of improving workplace culture.

He also will serve as faculty ombudsperson, a role in which he will provide resources for faculty issues related to climate, family-friendly policies, and career advancement. He also will help to add faculty positions and develop new programs and coursework that support the University’s diversity and inclusion efforts.

From 2000 to 2007, Barker was assistant director of the Ronald E. McNair Post-Baccalaureate Program at the Kearns Center.