Amber S. Harrison, an academic services officer for Wayne State University’s School of Information Sciences (SIS) and the school’s first Diversity, Equity, Inclusion and Accessibility (DEIA) Coordinator, was a featured speaker for the Diversity Forum at the Joint Annual Meeting of the Council of State Archivists and the Society of American Archivists (Archives ’23 Records, CoSA/SAA) in July.  

Harrison, a graduate of Wayne State’s dual master of library and information science and master of arts in public history (MLIS/MAPH) program, is head of the DEI Program Planning Committee and oversees the work of the school’s DEI programming and outreach graduate student assistant (DEI GSA). In addition to their work with SIS DEIA initiatives, Harrison also supports the greater university’s DEIA work as a representative on the Wayne State University DEI Council, as an AAUP-AFT Local 6075 union representative and as a member the Rainbow Graduation Planning Committee. Harrison also works with Wayne State’s Black Faculty and Staff Association and the Queer Faculty and Staff Organization (QWSU) and was recently elected to Wayne State’s Academic Staff Steering Committee.     

The CoSA/SAA conference’s Diversity Forum topic was eliminating biases in education and experience requirements in order to create equitable employment opportunities that reflect a changing workforce.

Harrison, along with fellow presenters, shared their experiences and information about identifying clearer pathways to employment and navigating the mismatch between theory and practice once in the field. The panel also addressed how to break bad habits in hiring to improve diversity, equity and inclusion within the profession.