New Standards of Professional Practice for Chief Diversity Officers in Higher Education

The National Association of Diversity Officers in Higher Education (NADOHE) released its Standards of Professional Practice for Chief Diversity Officers (CDO). It is hoped that the new standards will advance the professionalization of the chief diversity officer role across institutions of higher education. The standards are meant to clarify and specify the scope, scale, and flexibility of work CDOs perform.

“Given the growth of the CDO role across the nation, we thought it important to provide suggested guidelines, that we anticipate will be adjusted to individual institutional environments and the needs of each college or university,” said Benjamin Reese Jr., vice president and chief diversity officer at Duke University and President of NADOHE.

The authors of the standards state that “these standards are presented as a set of guidelines to inform and assist individual administrators and institutions in aligning the work of the CDO on their campuses with the evolving characteristics of the profession. These standards of professional practice are intended to advance a broader understanding of the complexities inherent to the work of diversity in higher education and the interplay between CDOs and other functional units throughout higher education institutions.”

To read or download the standards, click here.