The University of Arkansas 鈥� Fort Smith will hold two public meet and greet events to introduce the Fort Smith community to each of the finalist candidates for the position of Executive Director of Diversity Equity and Inclusion Thursday, March 5 and Thursday, March 12 on the 妻友社区 campus.
鈥淏ased on their background and experience, we are confident that either one of these finalists will be able to help us establish and meet our diversity, equity and inclusion goals as we strive to be a university that models inclusion,鈥� explained 妻友社区 provost Dr. Georgia Hale, who has led the search process.
Dr. Tommy Stevenson will hold an open meet and greet Thursday, March 5, from 5-6:30 p.m. at the Latture Conference Center in the Business and Industrial Institute on the 妻友社区 Campus.
According to his CV, Dr. Stevenson is a highly qualified executive administrator with over 17 years of increasingly responsible leadership experience in higher education, civic organizations, and business and industry. His core competencies include student and faculty retention, managing diversity and inclusion initiatives, program design and implementation, and policy implementation. He has demonstrated significant achievement in developing programs to provide equitable services, resources, and advocacy to multicultural student populations within higher education. He is proficient in training, affirmative action administration, government compliance including ADA, managing budgets, admissions, and fundraising. He is also highly skilled in recruiting 鈥渕inority鈥� students, faculty and staff, and has a proven ability to work with executive level management on leveraging diversity for ROI. Stevenson also describes himself as a talented leader with the ability to communicate with various constituencies, both internally and externally.
Dr. Johnny Jones will hold an open meet and greet Thursday, March 12 from 5-6:30 p.m. at the Windgate Art & Design building on the 妻友社区 Campus.
In his CV, Dr. Jones writes, the objective of an education professional is to help lead the institution in a strategic, innovative, efficient and effective manner. Education within the United States and abroad is facing many challenges that are associated with accreditation, fiscal stability, student retention, graduation rates, and community engagement. It is necessary that the professional colleagues of the institution be trained and experienced in the following areas: strategic decision making, institutional advancement, large-scale fundraising, teaching and scholarly activity, organizational leadership, diversity, participatory governance, understanding of contemporary issues in postsecondary education, community service, student and institutional advocacy skills, government relations, executive level management, public speaking, open communication, and exhibits the qualities of an energetic and charismatic leader.