Sherard Robbins

Sherard Robbins is assistant dean of Inclusion and Multicultural Engagement at the University of Arizona, and has shared the “Diversifying Your Hiring” presentation with many departmental committees at the university as a strategic intervention to address implicit bias and to ethically update practices that lack attention to diversity and inclusion.

In the area of Housing and Residential Education, the department has witnessed a major shift in racially diverse hiring for multiple positions since attending this presentation. (All three of the most recent employment vacancies were filled by people of color.) The foundations of this presentation’s success align with the NASPA/ACPA Social Justice and Inclusion competency area, particularly highlighting the advanced outcomes to “ensure institutional practices…respect and represent the needs of all people.” Holding hiring committees accountable for their practices and procedures at all stages of the hiring process allows departments to understand that their leadership operates best when its composition represents the majority of its body.