Terri N. Watson is appointed Provost Fellow and Director of the Center for Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion

Published in ConnectED Newsletter - Volume 6 - Issue 1 - August 2022

Associate Professor of Educational Leadership Terri N. Watson was appointed Provost Fellow, the first appointment of its kind in The City College of New York. Professor Watson will lead the new Center for Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion. The Center will lead both intra and extramural research and evaluation; offer training and support to faculty, students, and staff on issues related to equity and inclusion; and develop and integrate diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) as part of the curriculum. In addition, the Center will support the work of related programs on campus, such as the GAP Alliance and the Faculty Senate Committee on DEI by working through the Provost’s Office to implement the recommendations of those committees and partnering with them on programming of campus-wide and community-facing activities. 

In addition to her role as Associate Professor in the Educational Leadership program, Professor Watson works closely with K-12 schools and districts to help transform educational spaces into “beloved communities." Specifically, she conducts workshops and encourages conversations centered on the need for Care, Courage, Commitment, Critical Reflection, and Community in the schoolhouse. These “5Cs” are aligned with DEI strategies and are intended to encourage equitable and racially just policies and practices. She expanded on this work during her 2020-2021 appointment as a Distinguished Visiting Scholar at The University at Buffalo. When the opportunity to engage with faculty, staff, students and the greater CCNY community in meaningful and transformative ways as Provost Fellow became available, she knew that it was the position for her.

Professor Watson began her career as a middle school teacher in East Harlem in 1994 and joined CCNY in 2012. In between, she became a school administrator and helped establish FAU High School, which is currently ranked second for Best Public High Schools in Florida. As a professor, she helps teachers and school leaders improve their practice, and as a scholar, she researches effective school leadership and community engagement. Hence, the opportunity to serve as the inaugural Director for the Center for Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion at CCNY brings her teaching, research, and scholarship full circle. She says, “I am fortunate in that I have the beautiful opportunity to apply what I have learned as a student, a teacher, an administrator, and a professor into practice on a broader scale. This, indeed, is a personal and professional highlight for me. My aim is to be effective as well as affective as I intend to ensure that everyone at CCNY has a seat at the table.”