As a recently selected member of the Illinois Board of Higher Education (IBHE) Diversifying Higher Education Faculty in Illinois (DFI) board, Venessa A. Brown, PhD, associate chancellor for the Office of Institutional Diversity and Inclusion, and chief diversity officer at Southern Illinois University Edwardsville, will work to improve minority representation at colleges and universities in the state.
Specifically, the mission of the DFI board is to “increase the number of minority full-time tenure track faculty and staff at Illinois’ two- and four-year, public and private colleges and universities,” according to Brown.
“I take my appointment seriously and am glad to be able to help bring about more diversity in higher education in Illinois,” said Brown, whose term on the DFI board will run through February 2020.
In addition to helping raise the number of minority faculty in the state of Illinois, the 11-member board also works to help minority students’ access and participate in the DFI grant program.
“The DFI has grants available for deserving, qualified minority students,” added Brown, “and many students and colleges and universities are unaware of it.”
Prior to being named as a DFI board member, Brown served as an IBHE DFI institutional representative for 10 years.
Photo: Venessa A. Brown, PhD, associate chancellor for the Office of Institutional Diversity and Inclusion, and chief diversity officer.