IU Chemistry Staff Participate in 2023 College Staff DEI Retreat

The College of Arts and Sciences hosted the second annual Diversity Equity and Inclusion Staff Retreat on Friday, October 13, 2023. Several members of the IU Chemistry team were involved in the planning and execution of the retreat, which was attended by hundreds of staff from across the College. Lisa Burchenson, Business Operations Manager in the Department of Chemistry, served on the organizing committee for the retreat. Nicole Johnson, Travel and Seminar Coordinator in the Department of Chemistry, helped with logistics throughout the full-day meeting.

The retreat included several workshops and panel discussions throughout the day. One of these was a panel about faculty-staff interactions, which included three members of the Department of Chemistry: Ashley Mills, Director of Finance and Administration; Mayghan Rider, Human Resources Business Partner; and Steve Tait, Department Chair. Also on the panel were Vy Muñoz from the Department of Physics and Prof. Caty Pilachowski of the Department of Astronomy. The panel discussed the importance of communication between faculty and staff in order to better understand each others’ roles and contributions to the research and education missions of the University.