Christine Stanley, Texas A&M University

Mathew Ouellett, University of Massachusetts

Successfully leading change is a key determinant of effective strategic management.  As such, leading change for diversity and inclusion is one of the most important, albeit challenging, competencies required of today’s academic leaders.  Multicultural organizational development (MCOD) leads to the conditions necessary to become a truly inclusive, diverse organization that recognizes, understands, and appreciates individual differences and contributions. Issues that surround dimensions of identities can be emotionally charged. Therefore, fully achieving the requisite cultural change and competencies, where individual differences are understood, appreciated, and truly valued, can seem elusive.  This session will use small group discussion, brief writing exercises and active peer engagement to provide participants opportunities to apply the MCOD model in the context of colleges/schools of veterinary medicine. We will use selected outcomes from national and institutional data sets to develop evidenced-based action plans that respond to participants’ institutional priorities for faculty, staff, and students.