Overall Rating Silver
Overall Score 58.21
Liaison Darcy Coughlan
Submission Date Dec. 20, 2021

STARS v2.2

Coastal Carolina University
PA-6: Assessing Diversity and Equity

Status Score Responsible Party
Complete 1.00 / 1.00 Darcy Coughlan
Associate Director
Sustain Coastal
"---" indicates that no data was submitted for this field

Has the institution engaged in a structured assessment process during the previous three years to improve diversity, equity and inclusion on campus?:
Yes

A brief description of the assessment process and the framework, scorecard(s) and/or tool(s) used:

The Campus Climate Survey was first developed in Fall 2018 by the Office of Diversity and Inclusion in consultation with faculty, staff and students. Subject matter experts from campus community, survey research experts from external consulting firms and the university’s Office of Institutional Research, Assessment and Analysis (IRAA) collaborated on the development of the survey. The Campus Climate Survey was officially launched on January 22nd-31st of 2019. Coastal Carolina University faculty, staff and students were invited to participate. The goal of the survey was to help the university better understand student, staff and faculty perspectives and experiences related to their work and study at CCU.


Does the assessment process address campus climate by engaging stakeholders to assess the attitudes, perceptions and behaviors of employees and students, including the experiences of underrepresented groups?:
Yes

Does the assessment process address student outcomes related to diversity, equity and success?:
Yes

Does the assessment process address employee outcomes related to diversity and equity?:
Yes

A brief description of the most recent assessment findings and how the results are used in shaping policy, programs, and initiatives:

For the Campus Climate Survey, a total of 1,606 people participated in the survey. That consisted of 828 students, 489 staff members, and 292 faculty members. 22% of the university responded. 81% percent of students, 71% of staff member and 68% of faculty members were satisfied or very satisfied with the overall campus climate.

Overall Feedback
-16% students, 15% of staff and 23% of faculty reported they considered “sometimes, “often” or “very often” transferring to another school or applying for position at another university, because of their experiences of discrimination / harassment.
- 8% of students, 15% of staff and 16% of faculty reported they considered “sometimes, “often” or “very often” dropping out of college or quitting their position.
- 13% of students, 12% of staff and 16% of faculty reported they considered not recommending
Coastal Carolina University to a prospective student, staff member or faculty member.
- “I feel like I don’t matter in my department”

Religion
- Atheists (10%) and Baptists (6%) were less likely than respondents with other religious identities to “strongly agree” or “agree” that they feel they belong at CCU. Respondents who identify as agnostic and respondents with a different religious identity were more likely to “strongly agree” or “agree” that they have considered leaving CCU because they felt isolated or unwelcomed. Atheists and other respondents with a different religious identity were less likely to report that their experiences at Coastal Carolina University have had a positive influence on their academic/ professional growth. Atheists were also less likely to say that CCU is a place where they are able to perform to their full potential.
- Respondents aged 61 and older were less likely to report that they feel they belong at Coastal Carolina University. Respondents ages 40 and older were more likely that respondents ages 18-40 to “strongly disagree” or “disagree” that they are treated with respect.
- “At least one student has confided in me that they dropped a class because the professor made a number of disparaging remarks about their religious affiliation.”

Miliatry Experience
- Respondents with military experience were also less likely to feel they belong at CCU and that CCU is a place where they are able to perform to their full potential. Respondents with military experience were less likely that respondents with no military experience to believe they have opportunities for academic / professional success that are similar to those of other students or colleagues.
- 13% of military respondents rated the campus as disrespectful, compared to 7 percent of respondents with no military experiences.

Race / Ethnicity
- Respondents who identified as Asian/ Asian American, Hispanic/ Latinx, Middle Eastern/ Middle Eastern American, Native Hawaiian, Pacific Islander or another race/ ethnicity were more likely than white respondents and African American/ Black respondents to “disagree” or “strongly disagree” that others value their opinion.
- African American / Black respondents were more likely than respondents of other racial/ ethnic identities to express lower satisfaction with campus diversity, rating the overall campus climate as less diversity.

Gender / Disabilities
- Respondents who identified as Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Pansexual, Queer, Asexual, questioning and other sexual orientations were also more likely to rate the overall campus climate as less diverse (26%) compared to heterosexual respondents (14%). Respondents who identify as transgender, non-binary or other gender identities were more likely to rate the climate in specific venues as less inclusive (29%), men (15%) and women (12%).
- Majority of respondents express not personally experiencing discrimination events at CCU because of some aspect of social identity. Students who reported discriminatory treatments “sometimes”, “often” or “very often”, most attributed this to their political orientation (14%), racial / ethnic identity (13%) and gender identity (9%).
- Staff who experienced the same level of treatment attributed this to gender identity (11%), political orientation (10%) and age (8%).
- Faculty attributed this treatment to gender identity (13%), political orientation (12%) race/ ethnicity (10%) or religion / spiritual beliefs (9%).
- International respondents and disabled respondents were more likely to report being embarrassed or humiliated (sometimes, often or very often) for online harassment
- - Respondents with emotional or psychological disabilities (27%) and respondents with other disabilities (30%) were more likely to have considered leaving Coastal Carolina University because they felt isolated or unwelcomed compared to other respondents (21%)
- Men expressed lower satisfaction with campus climate, rating the climate as less friendly, supportive or collaborative.
- -Respondents who identified as transgender, non-binary or other gender identity were more likely to rate the campus as hostile and unsafe. They also reported a weak sense of community in specific venues (classes, work units, departments or college) which was 35%.
- “Women are interrupted and talked over at meetings and ‘mansplained’ to in meeting and informal context”.

Key takeaways are that these results show that CCU faces several challenges related to diversity, equity and inclusion as well as campus climate. Campus community members with systematically marginalized social identities reported greater concerns and different experiences than community members with systemically centered social identities. The report provides foundational information for the campus community. CCU has a cleaner picture of the campus identity and climate based on direct input form its students, staff, and faculty. This serves as a baseline for the campus well in identifying immediate next steps, along with comparative data for future climate survey and reports.

https://www.coastal.edu/media/2015ccuwebsite/contentassets/documents/diversityequityinclusion/Campus_Climate_Report_2020.pdf


Are the results of the most recent structured diversity and equity assessment shared with the campus community?:
Yes

A brief description of how the assessment results are shared with the campus community:

The assessment results are shared publicly through CCU’s website as a “Coastal Carolina University’s All-Campus Climate Survey, 2019 Report”. They became available in Spring 2020 and will be used to develop the University’s Access Inclusion and Diversity Strategic Plan.


Are the results (or a summary of the results) of the most recent structured diversity and equity assessment publicly posted?:
Yes

The diversity and equity assessment report or summary (upload):
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Website URL where the diversity and equity assessment report or summary is publicly posted:
Website URL where information about the institution’s diversity and equity assessment efforts is available:
Additional documentation to support the submission:
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Data source(s) and notes about the submission:
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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.