Second OMA director candidate to present Dec. 1


LAWRENCE — The second of three finalists for director of the Office of Multicultural Affairs at the University of Kansas will make a public presentation on Tuesday, Dec. 1.

Andre Brown, program director of TRiO Student Support Services at Arizona State University, will address the suggested topic, “Strategic Leadership at KU’s Office of Multicultural Affairs,” at 11 a.m. in the Kansas Room of the Kansas Union.

Brown, who has been at ASU since December 2014, is responsible for leadership and oversight of the federally funded TRiO program for low-income and first-generation students as well as students with disabilities. In the role, Brown monitors participants’ use of tutoring services and works with campus partners including student affairs and academic affairs. Before joining ASU, he was coordinator of the Academic Excellence Program in the College of Engineering at Auburn University. In addition to student recruitment activities at Auburn, Brown worked on retention programs and a learning community for minority students. He also developed and implemented a three-week residential precollege enrichment program for first-generation minority students.

From 2009 to 2012, Brown was academic coordinator for the Gaines/Oldham Black Culture Center at the University of Missouri, where he promoted campuswide and community diversity initiatives, outreach and collaboration with public schools. He also implemented programmatic aspects of the Mizzou Black Male Initiative and provided advisory and administrative services to undergraduate students.  He has taught a number of course topics during his career, including diversity of higher education, learning strategies and valuing differences.

Brown has written a number of papers and presented research related to various aspects of race and higher education.  He has a bachelor’s degree in finance and a master’s degree in college student personnel administration, both from the University of Central Missouri. He has a doctorate in educational leadership and policy from the University of Missouri.

Jerry Crawford, associate professor of journalism & mass communications and chair of the OMA search committee, invites students, faculty and staff to attend all candidate presentations and provide feedback. The university will release information about candidates at least 24 hours before their presentation:

  • The final candidate is scheduled to appear at 11 a.m. Friday, Dec. 4, in the Kansas Room of the Kansas Union.
  • The first candidate, Festus Addo-Yobo, director of Black Programs in the division of Student Affairs and Enrollment Management at New Mexico State University, will make a presentation at 11 a.m. today, Nov. 30.

Presentations of all candidates will be recorded and posted online after the final candidate has appeared on campus. Feedback about candidates can be submitted online and is due at 8 a.m. Monday, Dec. 7.

The director of the Office of Multicultural Affairs provides leadership that cultivates an inclusive campus community, empowers underrepresented students and enhances the cultural competency of all students, faculty and staff. The director manages a wide range of multicultural and academic programs that advance KU's mission in:

  • Academic enrichment and programs to increase graduation rates
  • Diversity education and social justice, and
  • Outreach and collaborative partnerships (students, faculty, staff, alumni and administrators) to promote the mission of the office.

The director works with the vice provost for diversity & equity to integrate diversity and inclusion strategies, services and resources into KU’s academic and nonacademic units by collaborating with campus administrators, faculty and student groups.  The director works with the Office of Diversity & Equity, the Office of Institutional Opportunity & Access (IOA), the Emily Taylor Center for Women & Gender Equity and Human Resource Management to provide leadership on cross-cultural programs that reduce and eliminate all forms of discrimination among KU community members and promote a healthy KU culture for student success. The center director also works with several offices on campus to assess and address the barriers existing on campus that hinder the academic, psychosocial, career development and ultimately the success of underrepresented students.

Mon, 11/30/2015

author

Jill Hummels

Media Contacts

Jill Hummels

Office of the Provost

785-864-6577