He will use these feelings to help him as he assumes his new role as the associate vice provost for faculty development and diversity on Jan. 1.
Nieto-Phillips will work with the Office of the Provost and the Office of the Vice President for Diversity, Equity and Multicultural Affairs to focus on creating a more inclusive faculty.
“The task at hand is pretty formidable,” Nieto-Phillips said. “We’ve got lots of work ahead, and I’m eager to get started.”
As he takes the position, Nieto-Phillips said he will meet with faculty from all parts of the campus to get their input and feedback as they develop a plan, as well as departments and programs as they develop their diversity initiatives.
Some of his goals include measuring success in hiring and retaining minority faculty and women. The University is currently beginning a diversity assessment that will help Nieto-Phillips and his colleagues create a baseline to use to track these successes.
“IU is a world-class public institution,” Nieto-Phillips said. “We need to be ambitious and proactive if we want retain our stature. But more than that, we should aspire to be a leader in diversity at all levels.”
He added that it is important to ask if they are doing all they can to keep the current faculty and if they are developing a comprehensive road map for the future.
“Diversity is fundamental to our mission and our responsibility as a public university,” he said.
Nieto-Phillips will also be working closely with Eliza Pavalko, vice provost for faculty and academic affairs.
Pavalko said she, along with Nieto-Phillips, James Wimbush, vice president of DEMA, and IU-Bloomington Provost Lauren Robel, has ambitious goals for what they hope to accomplish.
“A key objective set in IU-Bloomington’s strategic plan is to make IU-Bloomington a campus that attracts and retains a talented, diverse faculty across all fields,” Pavalko said.
Nieto-Phillips’ focus in particular will be on working with various schools and the College to develop strategies to attract a more diverse faculty to campus, she added.
One of Nieto-Phillips’ first priorities will be to reach out to faculty to learn more of what aspects of campus are supporting their teaching and research and what aspects make it more difficult for them to do their best work.
Pavalko said Nieto-Phillips will be building on existing ways of developing a strong sense of community among faculty and will also develop ideas to increase that.
“My hope is that John helps our office become an even better resource for all faculty,” Pavalko said.
Nieto-Phillips is the ideal person to fill this position, Pavalko said, because he has devoted his entire career to the study of race, ethnicity and identity.
“John cares deeply about the well-being of all faculty, and I think he is someone faculty will feel very comfortable working with,” Pavalko said. “He will be an outstanding resource for our faculty.”
Nieto-Phillips said students and faculty, at IU and around the country, are frustrated about the continuing under-representation of minorities in higher education, as well as gender inequities.
Student interest in diversity is evident in growing enrollments in classes that deal with race and ethnicity. Scholarship about race and ethnicity has also grown exponentially in the recent years. However, IU’s hiring needs to respond to that growth, Nieto-Phillips said.
“The disparities are not acceptable,” he said. “I think we all bear a responsibility to be active and find solutions. I hope that in my new capacity I can do that. It’s part of my personal mission.”
