Office of Diversity and Equal Opportunity

Staff

Debbie M. Seeberger

Debbie M. Seeberger is the Special Assistant to the President for Diversity and Equal Opportunity at Towson University.  She is responsible for the development andimplementation of ongoing institutional diversity initiatives. As a member of President’s Council, she works closely with the president and vice presidents to monitor progress toward diversity goals. She staffs Towson’s Diversity Coordinating Council and is chairperson of the Diversity Advancement Committee. She arrived at Towson in 1983 has also served as the Affirmative Action Officer, Assistant Affirmative Action Officer, and Affirmative Action Compliance and Reporting Specialist.

Debbie currently chairs the University System of Maryland Diversity Network and serves as Vice President of the Maryland Association of Affirmative Action Officers. She is a member of the Board of Directors of the National Association of Diversity Officers in Higher Education. She previously served on the Board of Directors of the American Association for Affirmative Action from 2000-2006.

Debbie earned a master's degree from Towson University and is currently conducting research on her dissertation in the Academic Organizational Leadership Ph.D. program at the University of Maryland Eastern Shore. Her research interests include the identification of models for academic success of African American students at predominately white institutions of higher education in the United States. She is a member of Phi Kappa Phi and Upsilon Pi Epsilon.

Since 2006, the Office of Diversity and Equal Opportunity has been leading Towson University’s implementation of our Reflective Process for Diversity.The process engages every level of employee in every division on campus, and student leadership groups, in self-reflection on diversity and participation in a facilitated session which leads to the development of departmental diversity goals. Through this initiative, Towson University is beginning to shift its culture by increasing awareness and commitment to diversity campus-wide. Departments and divisions are identifying key goals and will develop steps to achieve those goals.  The overall objective of the reflective process is to institutionalize the role diversity plays in our organization at every level by ensuring that members of the faculty and staff understand that they have a role to play in support of Towson University’s mission as it relates to diversity and inclusive excellence. In November 2006, the self-reflections and facilitated departmental sessions began. Our Reflective Process had reached 596 (or approximately 600) employees by the spring of 2008. It is anticipated that the process will have reached all members of our staff and faculty by the spring of 2010.