Two finalists for the position of assistant vice president and chief of staff in the University of Oregon's Office of Equity and Inclusion will be on campus this month for interviews and to give public presentations.

Eric Mokube will visit the UO campus on Tuesday, March 12. He is director of scholarships and special projects for the Office of Diversity, Equity and Multicultural Affairs at Indiana University, Bloomington.

James Mohr will be on the UO campus a week later, on Tuesday, March 19. He is acting assistant dean of student success and outreach for the Community Colleges of Spokane's Institute for Extended Learning.

A third finalist, Tomas Baiza of the University of Michigan, was also invited to campus. He declined the invitation because he recently accepted a position at Boise State University.

Each of the two remaining finalists will give a presentation at the UO on "the role of the chief of staff in facilitating equity and inclusion at University of Oregon." CVs for James Mohr and Eric Mokube are available for viewing.

Members of the campus community are welcome to attend the candidates' presentations. Mokube's session on March 12 will be from 2:30 p.m. to 4 p.m. in the EMU's Oak Room; Mohr's March 19 session will also be from 2:30 p.m. to 4 p.m. in the Oak Room.

Light refreshments will be served at each of the presentations.

The job posting for OEI's assistant vice president and chief of staff describes the position as second-in-command for the office, which is headed by Vice President Yvette Alex-Assensoh. The person hired for the job will develop and oversee academic programs, connect domestic and international diversity initiatives, assist the vice president in implementing strategic action planning processes and oversee the office's administrative and budgetary functions.

Alex-Assensoh is in the process of updating OEI's strategic plan for diversity for the first time since 2006. She is implementing a "distributed model" in which equity and inclusion will be the responsibility of everyone at the UO, and will come into play in all processes and procedures.

Alex-Assensoh was hired last spring after a national search, when Charles Martinez returned to research and teaching. She took office in August as vice president of what had previously been the Office of Institutional Equity and Diversity.

OIED became the Office of Equity and Inclusion before Alex-Assensoh was hired, with a reorganization of its structure and priorities envisioned.

- from the UO's Office of Equity and Inclusion