CIO Christopher Ament signs national commitment to promote diversity, equity and inclusion

Ohio University interim Chief Information Officer Christopher Ament recently joined more than 500 university and college CIOs who have signed the Educause "CIO Commitment" to diversity, equity and inclusion.

Educause, which is one of the leading IT leadership organizations for higher education, is sponsoring the national campaign that asks senior higher education IT leaders to “jointly endorse a common set of actions that promote diversity, equity and inclusion locally and in the field.”

By signing the document, the CIOs are committing to:

• Believe strongly in the values of diversity, equity, and inclusion and the benefits derived from working in diverse and inclusive environments.
• Recognize the low participation in technology professions of underrepresented groups (people of color, women, LGBTQ, people with disabilities) as well as the slow progress that has been made in improving their participation.
• Enhance opportunities for these groups to eliminate barriers to full participation in technology professions.
• Believe that diverse and inclusive workplace environments will foster more effective and creative teams of IT professionals.
• Raise their personal awareness about challenges and opportunities related to diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) in the technology field, and work to raise awareness departmentally and institutionally.
• Work to increase opportunities for women, people of color, members of the LGBTQ community, and individuals with disabilities to be information technology professionals and leaders.
• Work with Educause and other professional organizations to encourage efforts to make transparent and publish technology workforce demographic data.
• Become aware of institutional and/or regional demographic trends and work toward creating an institutional and/or regional technology workforce that keeps up with demographic trends.
• Partner with institutional colleagues to create/advance programs that aim to expand opportunities and eliminate the barriers for students from underrepresented populations interested in computer science, data sciences, other technology-related fields, both in undergraduate education and post-graduation programs.
• Advocate for DEI practices, help develop appropriate DEI practices, resources, and tools, and mentor colleagues seeking to contribute to DEI efforts.

Ament explained why he felt it was important for him to sign Educause’s “CIO Commitment.”

"Building a team with diverse backgrounds, thoughts, and beliefs is key to OITs ability to effectively serve the needs of the University community," he said. "These differences make us stronger, more agile, and more resilient, and given our ongoing commitment to fostering a diverse, inclusive, and collaborative work environment, it made perfect sense to take a public stand in support of these goals."

Vice President Dr. Gigi Secuban said she appreciates Ament’s leadership decision to make diversity, equity and inclusion a priority in OIT.

“In support of our collective vision to be a national leader in diversity, equity and inclusion, Ohio University’s OIT leadership has demonstrated its commitment by partnering with Educause in this national movement,” Dr. Secuban said.