Diana Prieto, associate vice president of Human Capital for Colorado State University, will assume a new role as Vice President for Equity, Equal Opportunity, and Title IX as the university strengthens its commitment to equity for all students, faculty, and staff.
“Many people are most familiar with Title IX as the federal law that ensures equal opportunities for female college athletes, but its scope is actually much broader,” CSU President Joyce McConnell said in announcing the change. “Title IX gives institutions like ours the framework and the authority to protect all of our students from sexual discrimination, ranging from unwanted advances to rape and assault. I believe that expanding this office and situating it alongside Title VII, which similarly protects our employees from discrimination, is an important step forward, and I am grateful to have Diana Prieto’s leadership over both offices.”
In her new role, Prieto will continue to lead the Office of Equal Opportunity at CSU, overseeing compliance with laws and policies that prohibit discrimination and harassment, including Title VII and the Americans with Disabilities Act, as well as investigating and resolving complaints in these areas; overseeing search processes for faculty and administrative professional staff and advising on searches for state classified staff; and training faculty and staff on matters related to equal opportunity, discrimination and harassment. She will also supervise the Ombuds for faculty and staff and lead the expanded Title IX office that will include a coordinator, a deputy coordinator, several full-time investigators, trainers, and support staff.
“We are absolutely focused on ethical management of Title IX and Title VII cases for our students, faculty and staff,” McConnell said. “This new structure will position us to ensure compliance with federal and state requirements in these areas and to model best practices in handling issues of sexual violence, harassment, assault, and discrimination on our campus.”
Prieto, who assumes her new position on March 1, has been with Colorado State for 10 years and played a lead role in the university’s efforts to address salary inequities for tenure-track faculty through the implementation of a comprehensive annual survey. Prior to coming to CSU, Prieto served as the director of the Office of Institutional Equity at Purdue University. She obtained her law degree from the Tulane University School of Law and her undergraduate degree in economics and Spanish literature from Smith College.
“I am excited to work with very dedicated and passionate colleagues across the university furthering our efforts to ensure that equal opportunity and equity are experienced by all students and employees at Colorado State. I look forward to implementing President McConnell’s vision for this new division,” Prieto said.
The priority of the new office will be to hire a permanent Title IX coordinator, a federally mandated role that will report directly to Prieto. McConnell and Prieto anticipate launching a national search for this position within the next few weeks.
