As part of a new program, teachers are guiding preschoolers at the Cornell Child Care Center to make masks, mandalas and murals, not just to help the children express themselves and learn to collaborate but also to advance the university's strategic initiative to promote diversity.

What does Cornell's Inclusive Early Childhood Community Art Program, launched Feb. 14 in a newly designed art room, have to do with the university's strategic initiative to "make significant progress toward a more diverse faculty, student body and staff in terms of gender and race and ethnicity"?

"Everything," said Lynette Chappell-Williams, associate vice president for workforce diversity and inclusion. The art program, directed by Terry Plater, teaches concepts of inclusion and diversity to preschool children through art and will be expanded within the local community, as well. And that could benefit faculty recruitment, Chappell-Williams said.

"Through upcoming retirements and faculty renewal, Cornell will be able to increase the racial/ethnic diversity of its faculty body," Chappell-Williams explained. "Similarly, as current staff members retire, opportunities for recruiting diverse staff members will emerge."

But to attract people from diverse backgrounds and ethnicities, potential newcomers must find Cornell to be a place where their children would thrive and where they and their partners could find meaningful connections, she said. "The inclusive art program is just one more way of providing that sense of belonging."

This semester, the Office of Workforce Diversity and Inclusion has also revived four Cornell Colleague Network Groups, known as affinity or employee resource groups at other organizations. They are for: women faculty/staff of color, men faculty/staff of color, military veterans and LGBT faculty/staff. The groups provide an opportunity for the targeted groups to network, share ideas with the university about ways to increase retention of the relevant population, learn more about Cornell as an employer and assist in faculty/staff recruiting efforts, Chappell-Williams said.

In addition, President David Skorton is establishing an advisory council to share best practices related to diversity in dependent care, she said.

Creating an environment that welcomes differences is not just about race and ethnicity, Chappell-Williams said, but also involves age differences, veteran or disability status, sexual orientation, gender identity/expression and religion.

For information, see http://hr.cornell.edu/diversity/fostering/.