In response to better promote diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) practices, this two-person panel presentation will highlight strategies for implementing DEI initiatives in the workplace.
Andrea Jamison, Ph.D., will share "Creating Strategic and Embedded Diversity Practices." Her conversation will discuss re-conceptualizing diversity in order to move beyond ad hoc programs that are not intrinsically embedded as part of institutional core values and daily practices. The goal of the session will be to recognize the existence of diversity and reflect it in such a way that its presence is normalized in daily routines. The presenter will highlight ways to sustain inclusion efforts in the following critical areas: inclusive language, inclusive learning environments, and inclusive text selection.
Mark A. Puente will share his experiences in building and implementing DEI strategies at Purdue University. The Purdue University Libraries and School of Information Studies (PULSIS) has recently committed to building a strategy to address issues of equity, inclusion, belonging, and accessibility. This includes assessing the operational and developmental needs of the unit, as well as exploring ways to support broader campus programs and initiatives. Puente will discuss the steps PULSIS has initiated, including establishing its inaugural Council on Equity, Inclusion, and Belonging.
Bio: Andrea Jamison, Ph.D.
Andrea Jamison, Ph.D., is an assistant professor of teaching and learning at Illinois State University. Professor Jamison has more than 17 years of experience working in schools and libraries. She speaks internationally on issues related to creating inclusive learning spaces for youth and the interplay of race, power, and privilege in children's books. Her current research involves examining equity issues in library services and the role that libraries play in either perpetuating or mitigating systems of inequity. Professor Jamison received her Master of Teaching from Concordia University and her Master of Library Science and Ph.D. in Information Studies from Dominican University School of Library and Information Science in River Forest, Illinois. Currently, she serves as chair for ALA's Ethnic & Multicultural Information Exchange Roundtable, which promotes multiculturalism in library services.
Bio: Mark A. Puente
Mark A. Puente is Associate Professor and Associate Dean for Organizational Development, Diversity, and Inclusion at the Purdue University Libraries and School of Information Studies (LSIS). He began this role in August of 2020 after having served for over eleven years as the Director of Diversity and Leadership Programs at the Association of Research Libraries (ARL). At Purdue, Puente is leading the formation and implementation of an organization development strategy designed through an equity lens. He has a broad range and depth of experience designing and managing programs focused on diversity recruitment and retention within libraries and archives, assessing and improving organizational climate, leadership development, racial equity, and numerous other topics. He is on the faculty or serves on advisory groups to numerous leadership development programs such as the Association of Academic Health Sciences Libraries' Leadership Fellows Program, ARL's Leadership and Career Development Program (LCDP), and the ARL Leadership Fellows Program. A frequent clinician, speaker, facilitator, and writer, Puente also works with numerous organizations (i.e. library, archive, museum, K-12 education) on issues of racial equity, strategies for accelerating change in organizational culture, inclusion and belonging in the workplace, strategic planning, and numerous other topics. Puente has worked extensively with organizations and institutions across the United States and Canada and has presented internationally.
Puente is a graduate of the Knowledge River Program at the University of Arizona's iSchool and a former ALA Spectrum Scholar. He has worked at a number of ARL libraries including the University of Tennessee--Knoxville and the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.