Questions remain surrounding permanent director of diversity education job
It's been nearly two months since finalists for the position of director of diversity education held open forums on campus.
With a decision to postpone the search until May, questions remain regarding the current state of diversity education at Central Michigan University. The status of the previous finalists, who made the decision to postpone the search, how much money has the university spent on this search and whether a deadline on a decision went unanswered following inquiries Thursday by Central Michigan Life.
"We have decided to defer this search until the spring semester in order to review and enhance the position responsibilities to better address the needs of the university," Traci Guinn, interim associate vice president of institutional diversity and executive director for the Center for Inclusion and Diversity, said in an email Saturday. "Once the position has been updated, we will welcome applications at that time."
Guinn did not respond to requests for comment Thursday, and it is unknown as to who made the official decision to postpone the search or when this decision was made.
Questions also remain regarding the status of the three finalists announced earlier this year: David Smith of Georgia State University, Theodore Ransaw of the University of Nevada-Las Vegas and Velecia Humes from Scottsdale, Ariz., all of whom held open forums Oct. 9, 10 and 15, respectively, to discuss their vision for the job.
Smith, currently the director of the Office of African American Student Services at Georgia State University, could not be reached for comment as of Thursday night. His profile on the GSU website listed only an email address.
A search of the UNLV website and his personal website reveals that Ransaw is a doctoral student. The contact number listed for him, last updated in 2004, was disconnected. Upon calling the UNLV main phone line, an operator said Ransaw was not listed in the UNLV directory at all.
A Google search of Humes produced no information regarding her current location of employment.
According to the job description, the director of diversity education will help create an accepting atmosphere for diversity at the university by educating faculty and students and assist in fulfilling the diversity goals of CMU.
Denise Green resigned as assistant VP for institutional diversity in June to take the job of assistant vice president of equity, diversity and inclusion at Ryerson University in Toronto.
