Strategic Planning for Diversity and Organizational Change

Executive Summary

This briefing is designed for senior academic leaders and others engaged in the work of campus diversity and organizational change, whether at the president, provost, dean, or department head level, or participating in campuswide diversity planning committees and commissions as students, faculty, and staff. Although the briefing focuses on the key role of academic leadership, we developed it so that it would be helpful for the full spectrum of individuals often charged with intersecting with the diversity planning and leadership process. It is based on several concepts that emerged as part of a project by the Association of American Colleges and Universities (AACU) on the future of diversity work in higher education, Inclusive Excellence (Williams, Berger, & McClenden, 2005); a project examining dedicated executive-level diversity leadership, The Chief Diversity Officer Project (Williams & Wade-Golden, 2006; in press); the scholarly literature on diversity and organizational change; and our individual experiences building sustainable capacity to support and nurture diversity as administrators, researchers, consultants, and thought leaders nationally and at our respective institutions.

We describe the context for understanding the environmental dynamics of diversity in the 21st century and the challenge of the diversity planning process. Next, we identify three key existing diversity models and a new multidimensional model that offers promise for enhancing diversity efforts on college and university campuses. We conclude with multiple principles-- which we call change levers--important for academic leaders interested in applying this model to leading and managing diversity in a way that is systematic, focused on diversity's implications for all students, driven by accountability techniques, and intended to create real and meaningful change at all levels of institutional culture: the Inclusive Excellence Model of organizational change and diversity (Williams et al., 2005).