Overall Rating Gold - expired
Overall Score 72.17
Liaison Kara Holmstrom
Submission Date March 1, 2019
Executive Letter Download

STARS v2.1

Luther College
PA-5: Assessing Diversity and Equity

Status Score Responsible Party
Complete 0.75 / 1.00 Toby Cain
Sustainability Coordinator
Center for Sustainable Communities
"---" 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:
A Campus Diversity Survey was conducted in the fall of 2018. The Office of Assessment and Institutional Research administered the Campus Diversity Survey for the second time in the Spring of 2018. The survey was composed, sent, and later analyzed using Qualtrics software. Many of the questions were taken from the Campus Diversity Survey developed by member institutions of the Association of Independent Colleges and Universities of Pennsylvania (AICUP) and used with their permission here at Luther in 2015. The survey language was modified on some questions and a few new questions were added for this administration, after discussion between Assessment and Institutional Research (AIR) and the Dean for Institutional Equity and Inclusion. A survey invitation and link were emailed in April of 2018 to the 1,790 Luther first years, sophomores, juniors, and seniors who were part of incoming cohorts (2014-2017). Two email reminders went out to the nonresponders; no incentive/thank you was utilized, marking a change from the 2015 administration. The Your First College Year (YFCY) survey is administered to first-year students (Spring 2019), the College Student Survey (CSS) to senior students (Spring 2019), and National Survey of Student Engagement (NSSE) to first-year and senior students (Spring 2020) every third year (with the most recent administration of each at Luther shown). The results of these surveys alone do not serve as the foundation of a structured assessment process to improve diversity, equity and inclusion on campus. However, student response to the few diversity-related questions on each do aid us in better understanding student perceptions of where we are in terms of diversity, equity and inclusion on campus. The Residence Life Survey which goes out to all students every year includes 5 questions about diversity and inclusion that were developed by the Center for Intercultural Engagement and Student Success.

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

Does the assessment process address student outcomes related to diversity, equity and success (e.g. graduation/success and retention rates for underrepresented groups)?:
Yes

Does the assessment process address employee outcomes related to diversity and equity (e.g. pay and retention rates for underrepresented groups)?:
No

A brief description of the most recent assessment findings and how the results are used in shaping policy, programs and initiatives:
The most recent findings are used by the Center for Intercultural Engagement & Student Success (CEIS) in shaping their programs and policies. The diversity students have helped provide the data to support implementing the Catalyze Program at Luther College. The Center for Intercultural Engagement & Student Success (CIES) is a student-centered office that focuses on student engagement and success, building intercultural relationships and guiding students towards self-agency for their futures. Through intentional, intercultural and intersectional expertise, the Center helps to inform the campus about pertinent issues and promotes skill acquisition around constructive dialogue and conflict resolution. The Diversity Assessment helps provide support for the CEIS office when working with different interest groups to promote inter and intra-group collaboration and understanding and strengthen leadership opportunities and intercultural competence skills.

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 Diversity Assessment results are distributed by the Office of Assessment and Institutional Research through a newsletter and the results are also publicly available for the campus community.

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:
---

The website URL where the report or summary is publicly posted:

Optional Fields 

The website URL where information about the programs or initiatives is available:
---

Additional documentation to support the submission:
Data source(s) and notes about the submission:
Please see the attached PDF for a summary of the survey above. Thank you!

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.