DDI Good News | January 2019
The New York State Arthur O. Eve Higher Education Opportunity Program (HEOP) is pleased to announce that Alisha Balkum will be joining the Division of Diversity & Inclusion as the new HEOP Assistant Director on January 28th. Alisha brings four and half years of experience working in Higher Education. Most recently, Alisha has been an academic advisor for Environmental Science, Chemistry and Biochemistry in RIT’s College of Science. Prior to that, Alisha was an academic advisor in Computer Science and Engineering at Binghamton University. Alisha earned a Master’s of Science in higher education and Student Affairs Administration with a Counseling Concentration from Buffalo State College. She earned a Bachelor’s Arts degree in psychology from the University of Buffalo.
Pamela M. Christopher has been appointed as Interim Director of NTID Diversity and Inclusion. Pamela’s appointment will begin on February 1st and continue through July 31st or until the permanent position is filled. Her office will be in the NTID Diversity Suite on the third floor of LBJ.
Pamela is a proud RIT/NTID alumna, having received her A.A.S. from NTID in 1990 and her bachelor’s and master’s degrees from the College of Liberal Arts in 1993 and 2001, respectively. She began her career as an admissions counselor and recruiter for NTID in the mid-1990s, and after raising a family returned to RIT/NTID in 2011, where she currently works as an Employment Advisor with NTID’s Center on Employment. Pamela has chaired the NTID Diversity Group since 2014 and has also served as an advisor to the Ebony Club.
Pamela’s primary task will be to continue the excellent work of Stephanie Smith Albert, NTID’s first Director of Diversity and Inclusion, who passed away last October. While no one can truly replace Stephanie, we are confident that Pamela’s rapport with staff, students and faculty, as well as her long-demonstrated commitment to inclusive ideals, make her an ideal interim choice.
As noted last fall, a national search will be conducted for the next permanent Director of NTID Diversity and Inclusion, with the goal of having this individual in place by Fall semester 2019. Faculty and staff who are interested in serving on the search committee for this critical post should contact Bernie Hurwitz, Associate Vice President for NTID Administration.
Dr. Taj Smith will be joining the Division of Diversity & Inclusion as the Director of Diversity Education on February 1st. Dr. Smith is an educator, consultant, curriculum developer and facilitator specializing in diversity and inclusion, social justice education, intergroup dialogue, curriculum design, and program assessment.
He comes to us from Cincinnati, Ohio, where he was Xavier University's director of the Center for Diversity and Inclusion, as well as an Adjunct Professor, teaching Introduction to Gender & Diversity Studies. At Xavier, Dr. Smith served on numerous committees including the President's Diversity & Inclusion Advisory Council. He also led the university's campus climate study and was responsible for 12+ objectives in the diversity strategic plan.
Outside of Xavier, he served as a Southeastern Regional Representative and Vice Chair for the Association of Jesuit Colleges and Universities Diversity and Equity Executive Board. Dr. Smith is also a member of the Board of Directors for a Cincinnati-based organization, Design Impact that uses design thinking to address social issues.
Dr. Smith earned his doctorate in Social Justice Education from the University of Massachusetts-Amherst, an M.A. in Africana Studies from Cornell University, and a B.A. in Journalism within Mass Media Studies from Rutgers University.