Diversity lecture focuses on the workplace

An expert on maintaining productive relationships in the workplace will deliver the next Pittsburg State University Tilford Lecture Series on the issue of diversity.

Dr. Joni Barnard, a professor in Human Resource Development in the Department of Technology Management at PSU, will present “Diversity in the Workplace” at 7 p.m. on Tuesday, Nov. 6, in room S111 of the Kansas Technology Center. The lecture is designed for both students who will soon be in the professional workplace as well as current managers and employees. The PSU Tilford Group, named after former Wichita State University graduate Dan Michael Tilford, was established in May to help foster an understanding of diversity and multicultural issues across the campus community.

Barnard, who has redesigned the department’s course on workplace diversity, spent 18 years in corporate management before beginning her teaching career at PSU. Her lecture will focus on what workplace leaders can do to effectively manage diversity and what is included in the broad scope of diversity when it comes to the workplace. The lecture coincides with late October/early November’s Celebrate Diversity Month.

“Dealing with diverse people in the workplace requires very articulate interpersonal skills,” Barnard said. “Employers are continuing to demand more and more of these skills from their employees.”

For more information on the lecture, contact Mark Johnson, vice chair of the PSU Tilford Group, at 620-235-4628.

---Pitt State---