Diversity, Equity and Inclusion

Mission Statement

Our mission is to seek out and encourage opportunity and competitive advantage for the further advancement of equity, diversity, and inclusion for IT Division leadership, faculty, staff, and students. To this end, we aspire to increase and retain underrepresented faculty, staff, and students through strategic, equity-minded, and inclusive initiatives. To be impactful, our team will embrace the cultural change in our workplace through the data we use, the innovative technical solutions we provide, and the diverse representation of our Division.

Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Plan and Report Card

Learn about our goals for staff hiring and representation, climate, and technology solutions, and how we did in 2022-23.

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ITD Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Plan (PDF)ITD Diversity, Equity & Inclusion Report Card 2022-23 (PDF)

Our goal is to build a safe, accepting, and successful environment together. To narrow gaps of diverse representation within our team, we will press beyond mission and value statements and strive toward action and accountability to achieve our goals of continuously improving diversity and the engagement of our SDSU community.

Goals

  • The ITD Diversity Council will create, implement, review and continually improve a Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) Plan to support divisional and campus efforts to create an evolving inclusive environment.
  • The ITD Diversity Council will sponsor events to inform IT Division employees that increase awareness and improve the division’s climate as it relates to diversity, equity, and inclusion to promote a working environment centered on respect for all.
  • Encourage critical review in relation to diversity, equity, and inclusion within IT solutions.
  • Collaborate with the greater San Diego State University community to support a culture of diversity, equity, and inclusion.

Membership

  • The committee shall consist of a mix of representatives from different IT units (i.e. AIS, ITS, ITUS, ITNI, ITIO, Web, DADO, College IT, ITSO) on a voluntary basis.
  • The terms of service of committee members would ideally be a minimum of one year, with no limit to the time served. It is the responsibility of the council member(s) to notify the DEI Council Chairs if they wish to extend or leave the council.
  • The DEI Council Chair(s) shall be selected by the ITD Diversity Council. Nominations can originate from committee members or self-nomination.
  • The DEI council shall meet at minimum average of once per month from starting in January 2021.

24/25 Council Members

  • Dr. Crystal English (Chair) | CollegeIT 
  • Kevin Cartlidge | ERP
  • Dominic Daoud | IT Library and Web Services
  • Yiftach Levy | ITUS
  • Kumar Narayanan | ITD
  • Layna Pena-Buskirk | CollegeIT
  • Gina Sullivan | ERP
  • Yvonne Tempel | ITD 
  • Aurora Velasco | ITS
  • Jasmine Walker | ITUS

Educause DEI Pledge

Vice President & Chief Information Officer Dr. James Frazee committed to the Educause DEI Pledge. The CIO Commitment was a national campaign asking senior higher education IT leaders to jointly endorse a common set of actions that supported the belief that diverse and inclusive workplace environments will foster more effective and creative teams of IT professionals.

"As a CIO, I resolve to take the following actions to promote diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) for the benefit of the technology profession in my institution and in the profession generally:

  1. Raise my personal awareness about challenges and opportunities related to DEI in the technology field, and work to raise awareness departmentally and institutionally.
  2. Work to increase opportunities for women, people of color, members of the LGBTQ community, and individuals with disabilities to be information technology professionals and leaders.
  3. Work with EDUCAUSE and other professional organizations to encourage efforts to make transparent and publish technology workforce demographic data.
  4. Become aware of institutional and/or regional demographic trends and work toward creating an institutional and/or regional technology workforce that keeps up with demographic trends.
  5. Partner with institutional colleagues to create/advance programs that aim to expand opportunities and eliminate the barriers for students from underrepresented populations interested in computer science, data sciences, other technology-related fields, both in undergraduate education and post-graduation programs.
  6. Advocate for DEI practices, help develop appropriate DEI practices, resources, and tools, and mentor colleagues seeking to contribute to DEI efforts."