Overall Rating Silver - expired
Overall Score 45.97
Liaison Tom Hartzell
Submission Date Feb. 28, 2019
Executive Letter Download

STARS v2.1

Calvin University
PA-6: Support for Underrepresented Groups

Status Score Responsible Party
Complete 1.92 / 3.00 Michelle Loyd-Paige
Exec. Associate to the President for Diversity and Inclusion
President's Office
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Does the institution have a publicly posted non-discrimination statement? :
Yes

The non-discrimination statement, including the website URL where the policy is publicly accessible:

Calvin College prohibits unlawful discrimination on the basis of race, color, national origin, age, religion, disability, gender, marital status, sexual orientation or other characteristics protected by federal, state or local statute or ordinance. http://www.calvin.edu/admin/hr/

Calvin College does not discriminate with regard to age, race, color, national origin, gender or disability in any of its educational programs or activities. http://calvin.edu/admissions/facts-standards/


Does the institution have a discrimination response protocol or committee (sometimes called a bias response team) to respond to and support those who have experienced or witnessed a bias incident, act of discrimination or hate crime?:
Yes

A brief description of the institution’s discrimination response protocol or team (including examples of actions taken during the previous three years):

Calvin College is committed to performing all of our tasks as a caring and diverse community. Each person – faculty, staff, student, trustee, volunteer, visitor, contractor, and vendor – who has chosen to engage with the Calvin community thereby affirms he or she is willing to uphold the community's stated standards of conduct and ensure that Calvin College provides a safe environment for students, staff, faculty, and guests of the college.
The college addresses all complaints of discrimination, harassment, and retaliation through its Safer Spaces policy and team of investigations.
Harassment, discrimination and retaliation of any form are a violation of a person’s rights, dignity, and integrity. Such acts debase the integrity of the educational process and are contrary to the mission and values of Calvin College. In response to any reported misconduct, the college will take appropriate steps to eliminate the misconduct, prevent its recurrence, and remedy its effects. The college will review and investigate all reports, and provide for fair and impartial evaluation and resolution. Retaliation against a person who makes a good faith report of harassment or discrimination or anyone participating as a witness in an investigation or hearing is prohibited. for flow chart of how we respond to a complaint see https://calvin.edu/offices-services/safer-spaces/policy-and-process/safer-spaces-process-workflow.pdf
For the ploicy and list of investigators see https://calvin.edu/offices-services/safer-spaces/policy-and-process/

- example of a response: During 17 -18 year a complaint of racial harassment was filled against a staff member by another staff member. Through the information gathering stage we discovered a pattern that included 5 additional people willing to make the same complaint againt the same staff member. Testimony was taken from witnesses, a discussion with held with the person the complaint was brought against. The person accused of racial discrimination was found to more likely than not to have exhibited discriminatory behavoir and was terminated form the institution. Measures were taken to ensure that that those who brought the complaint felt safe and the college offered counseling services to those who thought it would be helpful.


Does the institution have programs specifically designed to recruit students from underrepresented groups?:
Yes

Does the institution have programs specifically designed to recruit staff from underrepresented groups?:
No

Does the institution have programs specifically designed to recruit faculty from underrepresented groups?:
Yes

A brief description of the institution’s programs to recruit students, staff and/or faculty from underrepresented groups:

Of our eight pre-college programs, five are directed towards under-represented students: Entrada, S.T.E.P., Aspirando Alto, MLK Young Leaders program, and Hop on the Bus.
https://calvin.edu/offices-services/pre-college-programs/programs/

Additionally, the college offers scholarships (MOASIC, First Generation, Entrada) which attract under-represented students.
https://calvin.edu/offices-services/financial-aid/types/scholarships/additional-awards/

While we have no formal program to recruit under-represented employees, all search committees and hiring officers must complete an unconscious bias workshop to increase awareness of potential bias in the hiring process. Additionally, HR reviews all employee recruitment plans and requires that ads are placed in venues that have diverse audiences (additional funding for ads is available); ... these efforts yielded an increase in the number of people of color in our application pool and 28 % of new staff hires for fall 2017 were people of color.

Our Faculty Handbook (Article 3.4.2) articulates the colleg's policy for the recruitment of faculty candidates who would enhance the cultural, ethnic, and racial diversity of the campus.(copied below)
3.4.2 / Recruitment of Faculty Candidates Who Would Enhance Cultural, Ethnic, or Racial Diversity 3.4.2.1 / Recruiting Responsibilities of Departments Each department must document its efforts to recruit a culturally, ethnically, and racially diverse faculty at the occasion of each search and also annually in the state of the department report of the chair. If the Professional Status Committee judges that a department has not made sufficient progress in searching for and/or hiring persons who would enhance cultural, ethnic, or racial diversity, the committee may advise the president not to approve the opening or to offer a term position when a tenure-track position has been requested, in order to allow more time for a department to cultivate candidates and conduct a search for the tenure-track position in a subsequent year. 3.4.2.2 / Additional Positions for Candidates Who Would Enhance Cultural, Ethnic, or Racial Diversity If faculty candidates who would enhance cultural, ethnic, or racial diversity are presented to the Professional Status Committee, they will be given full
III. Faculty Personnel Policies 73 consideration for regular faculty appointments irrespective of the existence of an open tenure-track position in the department. Any person appointed under this policy should be able to satisfy a departmental need, even if no declared need relative to the department exists. Moreover, the person should be considered to satisfy a declared departmental need as soon as possible. (Thus, for example, when a departmental position is vacated because of retirement, resignation, etc., the position vacated will be eliminated. Also, no replacement will normally be sought for a person on leave of absence in that department.) The position of a person holding regular appointment in a given department will not be jeopardized


Does the institution have mentoring, counseling, peer support, academic support, or other programs to support students from underrepresented groups on campus?:
Yes

Does the institution have mentoring, counseling, peer support or other programs to support staff from underrepresented groups on campus?:
Yes

Does the institution have mentoring, counseling, peer support or other programs to support faculty from underrepresented groups on campus?:
Yes

A brief description of the institution’s programs to support students, staff and/or faculty from underrepresented groups:

The college offers: mentoring, peer support groups, academic support groups, and leadership development opportunities for underrepresented students.

Affinity group gatherings for employees of color are offered twice every semester.
One-on-one get-to-know you meetings between the lead diversity officer and all new faculty and staff of color are held each fall. Mentoring relationships develop out of these meetings.
The provost office offers scholarship development sessions for under-represented faculty (females and people of color)
Additionally, the college has an intention living-learning community called "Grassroots" where a self-selected set of 20 - 30 diverse students live on the same dorm floor and commit to exploring issues of race and racism together.


Does the institution have training and development programs, teaching fellowships and/or other programs that specifically aim to support and prepare students from underrepresented groups for careers as faculty members?:
No

A brief description of the institution’s programs to support and prepare students from underrepresented groups for careers as faculty members:
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Does the institution produce a publicly accessible inventory of gender-neutral bathrooms on campus?:
Yes

Does the institution offer housing options to accommodate the special needs of transgender and transitioning students?:
Yes

The website URL where information about the programs or initiatives is available:
https://calvin.edu/offices-services/student-organizations/sexuality-and-gender-awareness

Additional documentation to support the submission:
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Data source(s) and notes about the submission:

The information presented here is self-reported. While AASHE staff review portions of all STARS reports and institutions are welcome to seek additional forms of review, the data in STARS reports are not verified by AASHE. If you believe any of this information is erroneous or inconsistent with credit criteria, please review the process for inquiring about the information reported by an institution or simply email your inquiry to stars@aashe.org.