Lehigh University
PA-5: Assessing Diversity and Equity

Through analysis of institutional data on diversity, comparisons between graduation and retention rates for diverse groups, comparisons of student diversity to the diversity of national benchmarks. To foster an inclusive campus community, free from harassment and discrimination, it is essential to assess the state of the University’s climate. As part of our voluntary agreement with the Office for Civil Rights in the Department of Education, Lehigh launched its first climate survey in ten years in the fall of 2015. Going above and beyond the minimum requirements of the agreement, a group of faculty members created the survey instrument, which is specific to the University’s culture and circumstances. The result is a wealth of data that not only documents the rate of experiences of bias and exclusion but also provides pathways of understanding to help the University address the causes of harmful behaviors. For the launch of the three-year survey, more than 40 percent of Lehigh’s students, faculty, and staff completed the survey, which included multiple choice and open-ended questions. Quantitative and qualitative analysis of the data pointed to major themes that were unique to each constituent group. Below we share the common themes that emerged from the findings (as formulated by the Office of Institutional Research). In addition, each section includes recommendations for action based on the survey data developed by the Council for Equity and Community as well as the status of those recommendations as reported by the General Counsel’s Office. The recommendations listed below are not meant to reflect an order of priority. The survey was administered in 2015, 2016, and 2017. Student outcomes are tracked by our Office of Institutional Research and Analytics every year; the data is broken out by several factors, including diversity/underrepresented status. These results can be found here: https://oirsa.lehigh.edu/graduation-retention Human Resources tracks employee outcomes regularly as well. For Talent Acquisition we track Diversity applicants, hires, retention, promotions,demotions, and transfers. We track this based on race. Every other year we break salary data down in various ways including reviewing how diversity employees relate to market and other non diversity employees.

Lehigh University launched its first campus climate survey in in the fall of 2015, and has conducted a campus climate survey on an annual basis thereafter. The University’s Office of Institutional Research and the faculty research team that developed the survey continue to analyze the data gathered, identify trends and key topics based on the qualitative data, and present information on these trends and topics to various departments at the University. The Equal Opportunity Compliance Coordinator (EOCC) continues to explore methods to publicize options for reporting conduct that is inconsistent with the Principles of our Equitable Community (such as harassment and discrimination). Reporting magnets, posters, brochures, emails, in-person and online trainings, a video, and banner pens are all various methods used for publicizing this information. In addition, the EOCC publishes an annual report from that office, focusing on information and statistics relating to harassment, discrimination, retaliation, and gender violence. The EEOC’s website was revamped and shared with the University community in March 2017. This website more prominently features the reporting options available to the University community. On an annual basis, the University’s Policy on Harassment and Non-Discrimination and the Student Code of Conduct are reviewed and revised as needed to address matters relating to harassment and discrimination. Furthermore, the EOCC has conducted numerous in-person staff trainings to better highlight the reporting options for incidents of harassment and discrimination. The leadership of the Dean of Students Office also encourages their staff members to incorporate the reporting options into appropriate spaces and messaging. The Office of Fraternity and Sorority Affairs has also incorporated the reporting information into their bystander intervention training, called “Intervene.” The University continues to focus on developing a common language for the campus community utilizing the VISIONS framework, the “Guidelines for Effective Dialogue” (Guidelines). The University’s Council for Equity and Community (“CEC”) has developed the Tackling Tough Topics Together series, which focuses on implementing and practicing the Guidelines while discussing important topics relating to diversity and inclusion. Approximately four sessions are held each semester with a focus on a wide range of topics including privilege and hardship, identity issues, micro-aggressions in the classroom and workplace, and many others. The CEC also sponsors panel discussions on various topics, i.e., “Split Personalities: What is More Important . . . Someone’s Work, Character, or Values” discussion, which will utilize the Guidelines as a framework for the discussion. Other events, such as an interfaith discussion about the world’s major religions involved a dialogue that also makes use of the Guidelines framework. In addition, many departments across campus have embraced using the Guidelines within their units. Business card size printed Guidelines are distributed across campus so that the Guidelines are easily available for individuals to reference. The University continues to host and sponsor a vast number of programs, speakers, and open forums to discuss topics relating to diversity, inclusion, multiculturalism, and equity. These events provide opportunities for faculty, staff, and students to experience a variety of diverse ideas and topics and to challenge themselves to learn about issues, subjects, and fields in which they have limited knowledge. The Martin Luther King Celebration Committee hosted several speakers in 2018-2019 that were open to all faculty, staff and students including a discussion on the politics of race on college campuses with Lawrence Ross, a presentation on voter suppression with voting rights expert Ari Berman, and women's rights icon Anita Hill for a conversation on "From Social Movement to Social Change." The University’s Center for Community Engagement also presented a workshop centered on deconstructing white supremacy entitled “Concerned about Racial Inequality?” This workshop focused on bringing faculty and staff together to develop creative strategies to address systemic racial inequality in society and at Lehigh. The University also strives to promote and provide bystander intervention skills for faculty and staff. In 2018, the University of New Hampshire PowerPlay’s Bias Awareness and Intervention Training Lab provided University faculty and staff members with dynamic, hands-on professional development and facilitated an inclusive training lab for participants to experiment with intervention strategies. The sessions also created an opportunity for challenging and significant dialogues promoting awareness of bias incidents and bystander intervention. The University has also implemented the Mentor Collective(Shearwater), overseen by the Office for Student Access and Success in the University’s Office of Diversity, Inclusion, and Equity. Shearwater develops tech-enabled programs that help institutions close the opportunity gap, increase enrollment, and engage alumni. Shearwater handles the complicated parts of mentorship, including mentor recruitment, mentor training and matching, guides for each session, and insights and data. For more information, see: http://shearwaterintl.com. Various University offices, including the Office of International Affairs and Department of Athletics, actively recruited students from a variety of backgrounds and identities to participate in the program as peer mentors. Invitations were distributed to current students to request their participation as student mentors in the program. Efforts have continued to be made to encourage the understanding of diversity and inclusion work by faculty as proactive and the University standard for excellence. A four-day Diversity and Inclusive Excellence Workshop for faculty focused on strengthening and advancing the preparation of faculty to adopt strategies that promote and integrate diversity and inclusive excellence in their classes and in the curriculum across academic disciplines. The University’s Center for Innovation in Teaching & Learning has also implemented a series of conversations called “Student Voices: Conversations on Diversity of Student Experience in Lehigh’s Classrooms.” This series, comprised of four sessions, focused on international students’ experiences, LGBTQ+ students’ experiences, and women student’s experiences. The series is another opportunity to discuss inclusive classroom practices with the faculty. The Office of Human Resources purchased new software to document and evaluate staff performance. This new software contains a feature that allows for the assessment of a supervisor’s commitment to diversity and inclusion in the workplace by the supervisor’s direct report as part of the performance evaluation process. As such, once the program has been implemented, the Office of Human Resources will be reviewing the software and considering the implementation of this particular feature in the performance evaluation process. While the University strives to implement events and take formal action regarding campus diversity, conversations about diversity and inclusion continue to occur organically in various spaces across our campus community. From Board of Trustees meetings to a group of students chatting in a residence hall, the University continues to provide opportunities and to explore ways in which to nurture a diverse and inclusive community. Numerous departments organize diversity and inclusion working groups and make efforts to be more cognizant of opportunities and to practice behaviors to be more diverse and inclusive. The University’s Board of Trustees and specifically, the Board’s Committee on Diversity and Inclusion, continue to focus their efforts on establishing and growing programs that assist with the recruiting and retention of diverse faculty, staff, and students. The University’s Associate Vice Provost and Director of the Center for Innovation in Teaching and Learning continues to offer workshops to faculty that focus on inclusive teaching. Students organize rallies and opportunities for informal discussions about issues relating to diversity and inclusion. These ongoing conversations are a key component to making progress towards creating and maintaining a fully inclusive and welcoming environment at the University.

Via website and targeted messages https://www2.lehigh.edu/news/lehigh-climate-survey