The search for the chief diversity officer has been deferred to the fall semester, when Shirley Collado assumes her role as president of Ithaca College.

The chief inclusion and diversity officer position was announced Nov. 10, 2015, in an effort to improve racial climate at the college. At that time, Roger Richardson, associate provost for diversity, inclusion and engagement, was appointed to be an interim for the position while still fulfilling his associate provost duties. The college had posted the position online for the first time on Jan. 12 — over a year after the position was created — but has since taken it down.

President Tom Rochon made the announcement through Intercom on March 21. According to the post, the search will relaunch early in the next academic year with a new timeline for the hire.

Rochon also said in the post that Collado has indicated she plans on assisting with the search for the chief diversity officer through consulting with the search committee and the campus community. The search committee expects the current candidate pool will stay mostly intact when the new search begins.

Tom Swensen, professor and chair of the Department of Exercise and Sport Sciences and chair of the Faculty Council, said via email he thinks it is a good idea to delay the search until Collado’s arrival, especially considering her experience with diversity initiatives.

“It is her team her team to build, not the current administration’s,” he said.

Richardson, the current interim chief diversity officer, said via email that the decision to delay the search is reasonable.

“I support the decision 100 percent,” he said.

Contributing Writer Bianca Mestiza contributed reporting to this article.