Charlene Alexander

Charlene Alexander

Vice President and Chief Diversity Officer

Kerr Administration Building 510
1500 SW Jefferson Avenue
Corvallis, OR 97331
United States

Dr. Charlene Alexander is the Vice President and Chief Diversity Officer at Oregon State University. Dr. Alexander comes to OSU from Ball State University where she served as the Associate Provost for Diversity and Interim Associate Vice President for Community Engagement since 2013. Prior to becoming the Associate Provost for Diversity in 2013, Dr. Alexander directed the School Counseling program in the Department of Counseling Psychology. Under her leadership, Ball State University constructed the first Diversity Advisory Committee, which developed BSU’s first Diversity Strategic Plan that affirms the University’s dedication to diversity and inclusion and to ensure that diversity is an integral part of the Ball State University identity. This committee also developed the university’s first statement on the Importance of Diversity and Inclusion and led the effort in BSU receiving the Higher Education Excellence in Diversity (HEED) Award in 2016. Dr. Alexander has been leading diversity and inclusion initiatives since 1990 while a doctoral student at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. Dr. Alexander has completed comprehensive diversity climate assessments of the athletic department at Ball State University, chaired the NCAA Gender and Diversity self-study for the athletics Department, and established diversity and gender goals for the athletic department. 

Her scholarship in the area of diversity includes, among others, The Handbook of Multicultural Counseling, currently in the fourth edition and is considered one of the leading textbooks in the area of multicultural counseling both nationally and internationally. Additionally, Dr. Alexander has served on many state and national boards including chair of the Indiana Professional Standards Board External Committee for School Counseling, and on the school counseling advisory boards for the College Board and The Education Trust. Dr. Alexander has also testified before the state’s Education Committee and helped craft legislation to support the work of school counselors throughout the state. She has internationalized the school counseling curriculum, taking students abroad to Trinidad, St. Lucia and England. Dr. Alexander has received several awards for her leadership and diversity work including the Visionary Leadership Award presented by the National Multicultural Conference, Ball State University’s Outstanding Diversity Award and Diverse Issues in Higher Education recognized her as one of the Top 30 Women in Higher Education in 2014. In 2015 Dr. Alexander received the Outstanding Administrator Award from Alpha Kappa Alpha sorority at Ball State University.

Dr. Alexander received her undergraduate degree in Psychology from Creighton University, earned her Master’s in counseling and guidance from Creighton University, and completed her Doctorate in counseling psychology from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. Her research interests are in the areas of multicultural counseling, school counseling and international psychology.