The three final candidates for the new position of senior director for institutional equity will speak at public forums on campus Sept. 22 and 24. Community input will be important in the selection of the person to lead the new Office for Institutional Equity, a unit of Human Resources & Affirmative Action.

Provost Paul N. Courant and Chief Human Resource Officer Barbara Butterfield announced in April the creation of a new Office for Institutional Equity to develop programs to prevent workplace discrimination and harassment and to investigate complaints. The decision to establish the new office reflects the importance of continuing to build a work environment and campus climate that invite and celebrate difference in an atmosphere of mutual respect, Courant said.

The group of finalists is the result of a national search that produced 103 applicants. After narrowing the group by a series of telephone and on-campus interviews, the three frontrunners will return to Ann Arbor for open presentations and discussion with the campus community. Two candidates will speak 2-4 p.m. Sept. 22, and the remaining candidate will speak 2-3 p.m. Sept. 24 in the Pendleton Room of the Michigan Union. They will be asked to address what they see as the current and future challenges to creating and sustaining an inclusive, respectful environment in higher education, and to discuss the strategy they would use to address these challenges at U-M.

All interested faculty and staff are invited to attend and offer comments on the candidates before a final hiring decision is made. Attendees at the talks will be given instructions on submitting comments directly to the search advisory committee.

The new Office for Institutional Equity combines the staff and programs currently housed in the Office of a Multicultural Community and the Sexual Harassment Policy Office. The Office for Institutional Equity will be responsible for:

• Implementation and oversight of U-M policies related to equal opportunity, affirmative action, harassment and nondiscrimination;

• Outreach, consultation, educational programming and identification of resources to promote greater cross-cultural understanding;

• Individual consultation and coaching for managers, supervisors, staff, faculty and administrators;

• Counseling, advice and program design support for unit-based affirmative action programs and plans;

• Responding to complaints of harassment and discrimination, and making referrals to appropriate services;

• Development of climate surveys, ongoing data analyses and reports to measure effectiveness of policies and programs.

Questions can be sent by e-mail to hraa@umich.edu. Information on the April announcement of the new office is at the University Record online, http://www.umich.edu/~urecord/0203/Apr21_03/02.shtml.