CSUN’s chief diversity officer has resigned from her position to work for the Los Angeles Community College District.

Natalie Mason-Kinsey was hired in May 2018 to head up the campus’ efforts to increase diversity within the CSUN community.

According to an email sent by CSUN President Erika Beck, Mason-Kinsey has achieved equitable hiring practices and has helped create a diversity and equity innovation grant during her four years at CSUN. For the grant, she has worked closely with associate professor of journalism Marcella De Veaux and the committee members of CSUN’s Commission on Diversity.

The initiative’s goal is to support projects that are aimed specifically toward underrepresented groups and to achieve a more inclusive and equitable environment for all students.

“This was a new initiative. It was from the ground up and it had not been done before here at CSUN … Sometimes you get applications all in one bucket all about teaching or all about student learning and this was across the board for staff, faculty and students, which was quite exciting,” De Veaux said.

Although the initiative was well funded, not all the projects received funding. Some projects couldn’t be funded for their whole budget and difficult decisions had to be made.

The former chief diversity officer has also designed a program that is related to equitable hiring practices which De Veaux is involved in.

“The program is to help create policies and procedures that will have a more equitable outcome meaning we’ll be able to recruit more diverse faculty which is incredibly important and needed here at CSUN,” De Veaux said.

Mason-Kinsey’s program is intended to help recruit and hire more diverse faculty members.

“The plan that she has laid out and has left us with, helps us recruit and create more diverse pools in which to choose to interview faculty members and to put structures in place to bring more faculty of color to our campus and retain them,” De Veaux said.

The plan that De Veaux was referring to was the campus action plan for improving diversity, equity and inclusion for Black students, faculty and staff.

The objectives for this plan are to make a diverse and welcoming environment for all students and faculty, create a community of shared values, and to recruit, retain and actively engage with students, faculty and staff to create an all-inclusive environment.

Mason-Kinsey would also spend time working with student affairs and making sure students were included in the conversation of diversity, equity and inclusion.

“What I appreciate about her is that she put many things in place for us to now move forward and make that happen,” De Veaux said.

Correction: The Sundial inaccurately reported that Marcella De Veaux is an associate professor in the CSUN Department of Journalism. She is actually a professor.