University of Washington-Tacoma dean interviewing for vice provost role


LAWRENCE — Rachel Endo, the founding dean and a professor in the School of Education at the University of Washington-Tacoma, will take part in interviews as a candidate for vice provost for diversity & equity at the University of Kansas.

Endo, whose interview schedule with campus constituents takes place Wednesday, April 22, and Thursday, April 23, is one of three finalists for the position.

A recorded video presentation from the candidate’s interview process will be made available for campus community members to view shortly after all candidates have completed their interview presentations. Endo’s CV is available for review, and faculty, staff and students are encouraged to submit their impressions and feedback through the online evaluation form on the search webpage by May 15. Remaining candidate interviews will take place:

  • Candidate 2, Monday-Tuesday, April 27-28
  • Candidate 3, April 30-May 1

The vice provost for diversity & equity facilitates the coordination of campuswide diversity initiatives, strategic planning, training, education, research, community relations, policy development, compliance, campus climate issues and communications. Moreover, the vice provost works across all academic and operational units to strengthen a campuswide culture of inclusive excellence and to connect these units with the resources, training and strategies they need to achieve their specific diversity, equity and inclusion goals. Offices reporting to the vice provost include the Office of Multicultural Affairs, the Emily Taylor Center for Women & Gender Equity, the Center for Sexuality & Gender Diversity and the Multicultural Scholars Program.

Endo has been at the University of Washington-Tacoma since 2017. Her previous faculty leadership roles include serving as inaugural chair of the Teacher Education Department in the School of Education at Hamline University, St. Paul, Minnesota, and faculty coordinator of the master of arts in teaching program at the College of St. Mary, Omaha, Nebraska.

Endo – a nationally recognized scholar of Asian American education, bilingual education, critical decolonizing approaches to multicultural education, immigrant and refugee education, transnational studies and urban teacher education – is the author of multiple publications, including numerous articles, book chapters, and monographs. She is the author of three books including "The Incarceration of Japanese Americans in the 1940s: Literature for the High School Classroom," which is widely used among educators at various levels to address urgent issues with their students around the state of civil liberties, democracy, and race relations in the United States in challenging sociopolitical times.

Endo has been recognized internationally for her commitment to equity and excellence in education. Examples of recent international awards received include the American Educational Research Association’s 2019 Excellence in Mentorship Award in Division G Social Contexts of Education, the Pacific Consortium Circle’s 2018 Arthur R. King Jr. Award for Curriculum Innovation and Promoting Equity in Education, the National Association for Multicultural Education’s 2017 Carl A. Grant Excellence in Research Award and the 2017 Inaugural Don T. Nakanishi Excellence in Mentorship Award from the American Educational Research Association’s Research on the Education of Asian and Pacific Americans Special Interest Group.

A first-generation college student, Endo started her postsecondary pursuits at Metropolitan Community College. She then transferred to the University of Nebraska at Omaha, where she was a member of the Project Achieve TRIO program, then went on to obtain her MPA in public management and master's degree in education. She earned a doctorate in language and literacy education with a cognate in comparative ethnic studies from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, where she was also a University of Illinois pre-doctoral fellow.

The vice provost search committee – led by co-chairs Sarah Deer, professor of women, gender & sexuality studies, and D. A. Graham, university ombuds – will involve a wide variety of campus groups in the interview process to ensure broad campus input. For more information about the position, its responsibilities and the search committee, please visit the position overview page.

Tue, 04/21/2020

author

Jill Hummels

Media Contacts

Jill Hummels

Office of the Provost

785-864-6577