Vice President for Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion/Chief Diversity Officer
The Office of Equity and Inclusion at SUNY Oneonta began in 2006, created as a recommendation to then-President Alan Donovan by the President’s Council on Diversity. Over the years it has adapted to the changing needs of the campus community and is now an umbrella unit for multiple institutional responsibilities that are dedicated to issues of diversity in their broadest sense.
The Office of Equity and Inclusion is led by the Vice President for Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion/Chief Diversity Officer, Dr. Bernadette Tiapo, a member of the President’s Cabinet, who is responsible for supervision of the Affirmative Action/Title IX office, the Center for Racial Justice and Inclusive Excellence (CRJIE), and Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Initiatives and Operations.
Our hope is to provide advisement, consistency and support for diverse constituents, the whole of the campus community and for our institutional aspirations. Our work supports institutional core values that provide the foundation for all that SUNY Oneonta does, with a particular focus on student engagement and building an inclusive and welcoming community. We accomplish our goals by focusing on the needs of individual diverse community members, on the success of students from diverse communities, and on educating and supporting programming to build an inclusive community.
Our Mission
The Office of Equity and Inclusion is dedicated to supporting the equity, diversity and inclusion endeavors of SUNY Oneonta's academic divisions, administrative departments, and all offices. Important to our mission is our work with both individuals and groups in their efforts to feel included and have voice in shaping our community. We further strive to acknowledge, embrace and affirm a broad vision of diversity that recognizes emergent communities and their needs in our effort to be truly inclusive. The Office accomplishes these ideals through engaging in cross divisional collaborations, participating in and providing professional development opportunities to build consensus and understanding, and working tirelessly to create an inclusive civil working and learning campus community.