COLUMBIA, Mo. (AP) — The University of Missouri system has appointed an associate dean to lead its diversity task force.

The university said in a release Thursday that David Mitchell, associate dean for academic affairs, will chair the university system’s Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Task Force. Mitchell is also chair of the Missouri State Advisory Committee to the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights.

Mitchell’s appointment follows the November resignations of the university system’s president and the chancellor of its Columbia campus amid student protests over complaints about racial issues.

Michael Middleton, interim university system president, says Mitchell has a record of campus leadership and community involvement that will help the university system address “the difficult issues that have so challenged our university.”

The task force will recommend possible revisions in university rules and policies