Recently, Senior Vice President for Equity Enobong (Anna) Branch wrote to announce the launch of the Universitywide Diversity Strategic Planning process. We are pleased to write today to formally initiate this process at Rutgers-Newark.
The priorities articulated in the Universitywide Diversity Strategic Planning Toolkit highlighted by Dr. Branch no doubt seem familiar, as they reflect sharply the ethos and priorities of our own Rutgers-Newark Strategic Plan, which has been guiding our collective action since 2014—reflecting, in turn, our core identity and our history as an anchor institution that has been cultivating and leveraging the diversity of Newark and New Jersey for generations. The present Rutgers-wide diversity strategic planning process gives us the opportunity to focus and elevate our work even more intently to continue transforming our institution and the academy, as suggested in the Building An Inclusive Academy Symposium, at which Chancellor Cantor and Executive Vice Chancellor Butterfield were featured contributors.
In keeping with the broad and flexible structure of the universitywide process, the Chancellor’s leadership team, including the deans and senior leaders of the administrative divisions of Rutgers-Newark, will serve as the steering committee. The Chancellor’s Commission on Diversity and Transformation will serve as the administrative committee, which will help coordinate the strategic planning process across the university. In the coming weeks, these committees will be communicating with constituencies across campus to advance our objectives under this process, but if you have questions or suggestions in advance of that, please feel free to send them to ccdt@newark.rutgers.edu.
Meanwhile, it is paramount that the voices of the Rutgers-Newark community be heard through the Diversity Strategic Planning Survey. We urge you to complete this survey as soon as possible, if you have not already done so.
One of the essential motivating questions with which we began our strategic planning process seven years ago this spring was: If this is our moment, what shall we do? The numerous ways in which the past year has laid bare identity-based inequities woven into the fabric of our nation and our world leave no doubt whatsoever that this, indeed, is our moment.
It has to be our moment, because living up to the potential of diversity, equity, and inclusion is the only way to take on the challenges we face today. We look forward to working with you in this collective effort as we continue to address those challenges head-on.
Cordially,
Nancy Cantor
Chancellor
Sherri-Ann Butterfield
Executive Vice Chancellor
Ashwani Monga
Executive Vice Chancellor and Provost
