Dear Colleagues,
I write with the bittersweet news you may already know: that Jeri Henry will be departing her role as Vice Provost for Equal Opportunity and Affirmative Action at the end of the year to take on a new position at Robert Half International, where she will serve as Legal Practice Director, overseeing legal talent acquisition and placement efforts in New York.
Since she joined Columbia 13 years ago, Jeri has been a leader in spearheading efforts to ensure an inclusive and respectful environment free from discrimination and harassment, one where students, staff, faculty, and visitors can thrive. Throughout, she has brought extraordinary thoughtfulness and care to her roles.
Jeri has led the Office of Equal Opportunity and Affirmative Action since 2019, managing the development and implementation of University employee policies and procedures on discrimination, harassment, and sexual assault, and serving as compliance officer for equal opportunity, non-discrimination, and affirmative action laws. In this role, Jeri has strengthened response systems, streamlined policies and processes, expanded educational efforts, and established a strong team committed to investigating complaints with fairness, confidentiality, and respect. Jeri also helped the University transition to a new academic faculty management software with improved systems to ensure fair and equitable searches, all while ably leading the office through many challenges, including rewriting of policies in the face of Title IX changes and unionization.
Jeri came to EOAA after an impactful career on the student side, joining the Student Conduct and Community Standards office in 2010, and developing a small operation with jurisdiction over two schools into a central incident reporting system with a staff of 14 and the capacity to investigate and adjudicate cases across all schools. As those who have worked with Jeri know, she is both a change-maker and a generous, kind, and conscientious colleague. While we are sad to see her go, we are equally excited on her behalf for the new chapter she is about to begin.
Please join me in thanking Jeri for her many years of remarkable service to Columbia, and wishing her well in her new position.
Sincerely,
Mary C. Boyce
Provost
Professor of Mechanical Engineering
