Office strives for successful ASU work force

<p>The Office of Equal Opportunity and Affirmative Action is packing up and moving to a new location. But a new office is not the only change to come.</p><separator></separator><p>The office and its staff are taking on a new location, name and role at the university.</p><separator></separator><p>Recently, the office moved to Human Resources from General Counsel and became the Office for Diversity. The new name best represents its purpose of being an advocate, educator and consultant to university leaders when it comes to developing a diversified work force, says Matthew McElrath, associate vice president and chief human resources officer, who recently joined ASU to manage its human resources operations.</p><separator></separator><p>“Recruiting diverse and talented professionals is critical to the success of ASU and human resources want to improve recruitment efforts so that we can focus more on the outcome, not the process,” he says.</p><separator></separator><p>The Office for Diversity staff members will play a more visible role as diversity leaders, assisting deans and department supervisors on how to reach out to diverse communities for recruitment. Additionally, the office will focus on creating programs that can help departments further develop and retain talented professionals once they join ASU.</p><separator></separator><p>“We see the Office for Diversity as a tremendous step forward in building and strengthening the diversity of ASU,” says Mark Searle, vice president for academic personnel in the office of the executive vice president and provost.</p><separator></separator><p>Searle says the provost office plans to collaborate with human resources to build programs and policies that empower the colleges to take greater responsibility in recruiting and retaining diverse faculty.</p><separator></separator><p>The university can expect to see enhancements to the office over the next few weeks, including modifications to the recruitment and hiring process. The office, in conjunction with human resources, will continue assisting staff and faculty with workplace claims related to equal opportunity.</p><separator></separator><p>To lead the Office for Diversity in its new role, ASU welcomes Kevin Salcido as senior director of human resources. Salcido, who served as a senior manager in human resources at Arizona Public Service (APS), will oversee the diversity, recruitment and employee relations divisions of the department.</p><separator></separator><p>The Office for Diversity will move from Wilson Hall to a new home in the University Services Building by June. All employees of the office will remain within the human resources department.</p>