The University of Akron has named a new chief diversity officer.
Jolene Lane will join UA on March 29 from Teachers College at Columbia University in New York, where she has spent the last nine years as senior director in the Vice President’s Office for Diversity and Community Affairs.
Her salary is listed at $140,000.
Lane earned a master of education degree from Harvard University in administration, planning and social policy with a concentration in higher education, and will receive a doctorate this year from Teachers College, Columbia, in adult learning and leadership.
She will report to UA President Matthew Wilson, who said Lane’s background, her professional achievements and passion for diversity and inclusion are a good fit for the university.
“We can and will further strengthen our commitment to diversity, cultural competency, and educational and employment opportunities,” Wilson said in a news release. “Jolene is ideally suited to assess where we are today and to work with others so that we serve better all members of the Zips family and the broader community.”
Lane, 55, who was one of three finalists for the position, said she’s looking forward to moving to Akron and joining the university family.
Her appointment is pending approval by the board of trustees, whose next meeting is Feb. 12.
In Tuesday’s announcement in the Digest, an online information source for UA news, Lane said she appreciates that the university holds inclusive excellence as a core value, and that it is dedicated, as she is, to improving equity and opportunity in educational spaces for new generations.
“I am very impressed with the strong legacies of the institution, grounded in its 147-year history, as well as its resilience and the potential for ‘making a difference moving forward’ as President Wilson has emphasized,” Lane said in a news release. “I am looking forward to developing relationships with the outstanding Akron faculty, and I cannot wait to leverage their research and expertise to help us advance inclusive excellence, learning, critical thinking and personal enrichment.”
Before her time at Teachers College, Lane was executive director of New York City-based Leadership Enterprise for a Diverse America. The group worked with academically talented students from socioeconomically disadvantaged backgrounds to help them gain admission to the nation’s elite colleges and to help them prepare to succeed there.
Lane, who grew up in the Colorado Springs, Colo. area, has also worked for public schools, private schools, charter schools and corporate America.
Lane will replace former chief diversity officer Lee Gill who left for the same position at Clemson University in April 2016. He was at UA for eight years.
Meanwhile, Lakeesha K. Ransom, UA vice provost and dean, is serving as the interim chief diversity officer.
Lane’s full title will be chief diversity officer/associate vice president for inclusion and equity. She will supervise the Office of Inclusion and Equity, Office of Multicultural Development, Multicultural Center and Women’s and Gender Resource Center. The Office of Accessibility has dual reporting lines to Student Affairs and the Office of Inclusion and Equity.
Marilyn Miller can be reached at 330-996-3098 or mmiller@thebeaconjournal.com or Follow her on Twitter@MarilynMillerBJ