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Dear All Thanks Berry, for making such a clear case. I agree wholeheartedly with all that you say. In particular the ready access to the HEI's senior management team (and ideally Pro VC/VC) is vital. Whatever the perception of HR (and sadly it *can* be negative) it is vital to get away from the idea that equality is about employment. That's only one facet; student affairs are important, as Berry says, and so is the massive challenge of institutional culture change. Regards Felicity Dr Felicity Cooke Head of Diversity and Equal Opportunities University Offices Wellington Square Oxford OX1 2JD Tel: +44 (0)1865 289821 Email: [log in to unmask] Please note that at present all messages are either typed one-handed or using speech recognition software. Both methods have their limitations so please excuse brevity and/or typos. "Dicker, Berry J" <[log in to unmask]> Sent by: HE Administrators equal opportunities list <[log in to unmask]> 18/09/07 11:04 Please respond to HE Administrators equal opportunities list <[log in to unmask]> To [log in to unmask] cc Subject Re: interesting articles - Personnel Today Dear All, Some quick thoughts on the location of the E&D specialist. I am sure you are all like me very busy at the beginning of the academic year. First thanks Naseem for circulating these. It is very good to see that a debate has started on the location of E&D because hopefully some of the issues can be aired. As I understand it for Local Authorities there is an Audit Commission structure of 3 levels of E&D implementation from basic to mainstreamed. They are required to show where they are on this as part of their best value performance assessment. This has lead to an improvement in terms of equality delivering structures being built into their functions (also, in my view sadly, an increase in bureaucracy). In my local authority this has led to Councillors taking an interest and leading some of the work. The reason I mention this is that for the 'how' of equality to work, the 'who' and 'where' are crucial for the effectiveness of the work including the percieved status of the work, the attention it is given and the reponse to action required. If an E&D specialist is fairly low down in a department they can spend alot of time responding to departmental requirements not closely related to their work. Their ability to influence organisational culture is negligible. Whatever skills a specialist has, if they are weakly positioned in an institution and given a task that generally falls to the bottom of people's lists, they are unlikely to move the issue forward with any great momentum. More effort has to be put into small gains. A person in this position is often there for largely cosmetic purposes For my money, E&D is a central function and is ideally centrally and independently located.....well, in a few rare examples this is the case. ( yes, I knew you were thinking 'pigs might fly'). Recent E&D appts in HEIs have required Personnel/HR experience and/or Personnel/HR qualifications so there is likely to be a preponderance of staff who feel very comfortable there but this has drawbacks as the student side may be given less attention and Personnel/ HR is not always viewed as independent, among other drawbacks. Of course in HE we have many models but for E&D to be effective it needs to have a high status position , easy access to a champion in Executive/ VC's office, and the resources and access to colleagues to build E&D delivering structures and monitoring (pigs are perhaps unlikely to achieve lift-off for some time). Regards, Berry From: HE Administrators equal opportunities list [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of Naseem Anwar Sent: 18 September 2007 10:09 To: [log in to unmask] Subject: interesting articles - Personnel Today Diversity function role debate 03 September 2007 12:46 This article first appeared in Personnel Today magazine. I've been amazed by how impassioned the response has been to our news story on the proposed new diversity association, and the suggestion that diversity should be taken away from HR (Personnel Today, 21 August). The barometer poll on Personneltoday.com reveals that 59% of people who voted want diversity to stay within HR. Diversity practitioners say skills are more important than location, and believe that spreading the word and ingraining new attitudes is more important than which department they belong to. The Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (CIPD), as you might expect, is opposed to the launch of a new diversity association, and argues its case in our head-to-head debate. The CIPD's point that any new association needs substantial resources to do its job is borne out by our front-page story, which highlights concerns about the new Commission for Equality and Human Rights having sufficient funds to achieve its aims. But not all agree with the CIPD view that HR professionals are the ones best placed to drive the diversity agenda, and that it would be pointless segregating diversity as a function. Roffey Park's James Traeger argues that keeping diversity within HR is the equivalent of 'boxing it in' as an issue, and diversity instead should be built into organisational development and strategy rather than being 'ghettoised'. Whichever side of the debate you're on (see letters), for diversity to become mainstream in an organisation, there will have to be less focus on the 'who' or the 'where' and more on the 'how'. Karen Dempsey ------------------ Diversity tsar Trevor Phillips welcomes proposed creation of diversity association 16 August 2007 08:00 Diversity tsar Trevor Phillips has backed proposals to create a new diversity association for practitioners in the field, following research from the Learning and Skills Council (LSC). The chairman of the forthcoming Commission for Equality and Human Rights (CEHR) told diversity gurus at the launch of the LSC report into equality and diversity practitioners that a new body would help raise diversity standards among professionals, save businesses money, and prevent ?rogue? advisers and consultants from damaging the credibility of the profession. The LSC study found that 80% of 1,500 diversity practitioners want to see a new professional association to establish common standards and agree proper career paths. Speaking at the event, Phillips applauded the ?specificity? of the topic, outlining why diversity was important, and why it deserves its own association. ?Labour globalisation is growing at an exponential rate,? he said. ?As the population becomes more diverse, they will be showing up more in the workplace. To meet these changes, we need to be more radical in our approach to recruitment and retention,? he said. He added that embracing diversity is ?not complicated?, and urged firms to realise the financial gains of raising standards, stating ?rogues must be kept out of the business?. ?There needs to be an architecture set up where those who give advice do it honestly without making money,? Phillips said. Equality and diversity practitioners are essentially white, British, female and aged between 35 and 54, according to the LSC report. Whether the new association will come into being, how it will be managed, who will sponsor it, and whether it will have a regulatory function or be regulated, are all issues still to be decided. Professor Chris Mullard, research director of the project, will put the report?s findings to policy makers and legislators later this year. Louisa Peacock