Diana Prieto, who created the Division of Equity, Equal Opportunity and Title IX in 2020, will be leaving Colorado State University in June to pursue other opportunities. Prieto, who has been with CSU for 12 years, said the most treasured aspect of her role has been the personal connections she has made over the years.
“It has been a tremendous pleasure to work in the collaborative environment I have at CSU, with amazing colleagues who are passionate and who care about achieving wonderful outcomes for the University,” Prieto said.
Prieto initially joined CSU as the director of the Office of Equal Opportunity and over time assumed the position of associate vice president of Human Capital, a role in University Operations that included oversight over the Office of Equal Opportunity, Human Resources, Talent Development, the Employee Assistance Program and the University Ombuds. The new expanded unit that President Joyce McConnell asked Prieto to lead in 2020 brought Title IX into her portfolio as well.
Since March of 2020, Prieto has focused on building and establishing the various teams that comprise Equity, Equal Opportunity and Title IX and on reframing those offices’ compliance missions to encompass and prioritize resources and support.
In the Office of Equal Opportunity, she doubled the staff; charged them with sharing search process resources for faculty and administrative professional hires; created a search manual for faculty and administrative professional searches; and provided regular search process trainings for search chairs, search committee members, search support staff, diversity in the search process and equal opportunity coordinators.
Prieto also established a salary equity study for administrative professionals, state classified employees and faculty not on the tenure track through the Office of Equal Opportunity. Additionally, she served as chair of the Salary Equity Committee and contributed to policy development and revisions in the areas of equal opportunity and access.
The University’s Title IX office had previously been housed in the Division of Student Affairs and was under interim leadership when Prieto brought it into her unit. The new independent Office of Title IX Programs and Gender Equity is currently led by Araiña Muñiz, who was hired via a national search in 2021.
“Diana has brought deep wisdom and a thoughtful approach to every aspect of her leadership and work at CSU,” McConnell said. “She has been a valuable partner to many people across the University, especially during the past few years when COVID made OEO concerns even more urgent for many of our employees. We are grateful to Diana for all that she has done for CSU in her time here.”
McConnell said that she is working closely with the university leadership team to identify best practices going forward for the critical work done by the Division of Equity, Equal Opportunity and Title IX. She is also consulting with national leaders in the fields and anticipates announcing next steps for the office in advance of Prieto’s departure.
