| Overall Rating | Gold |
|---|---|
| Overall Score | 76.41 |
| Liaison | Krista Bailey |
| Submission Date | Dec. 12, 2023 |
Pennsylvania State University
PA-6: Assessing Diversity and Equity
| Status | Score | Responsible Party |
|---|---|---|
|
1.00 / 1.00 |
Krista
Bailey Sustainable Campus Strategist Sustainability Institute |
Has the institution engaged in a structured assessment process during the previous three years to improve diversity, equity and inclusion on campus?:
A brief description of the assessment process and the framework, scorecard(s) and/or tool(s) used:
The Special Adviser for Institutional Equity was charged to identify DEIB (Diversity Equity Inclusion and Belonging) actions to align with the university President's goals to:
*Inventory DEIB activities across the campuses, academic and administrative units, and colleges.
*Establish baseline metrics and goals for campuses and units to close DEIB gaps.
*Increase recruitment of underrepresented students, faculty, and staff.
*Close gaps in graduation rates across backgrounds and identities.
*Diversify Penn State’s faculty across all ranks and tracks.
*Create robust communities of support for faculty, staff, and students of all backgrounds.
*Create equitable professional development and advancement opportunities for staff at all levels.
The adviser's role is to:
*Distill key DEIB data and report recommendations into a series of actionable measures.
*Identify successful DEIB activity throughout Penn State, focusing on initiatives that can be enhanced or further supported to increase DEIB outcomes.
*Formulate an initial plan, in alignment with the President's key diversity goals, indicating key investments and areas of focus to drive progress toward successful completion of these goals.
*Define executive leadership accountability.
In February 2020, Penn State University launched a Community Survey. This University-wide survey was implemented as part of ongoing efforts to promote community, inclusion and diversity on campus, and to support strategic priorities in these areas.
There were six priority topic areas in the survey:
- Belonging and inclusion;
- Institutional commitment to diversity, equity, and inclusion;
- Engaging across difference;
- Cultural competence and knowledge;
- Experiences with stereotyping, microaggressions, and harassment; and
- Off-campus contexts.
In 2018, Executive Vice President and Provost, Nicholas P. Jones, charged a working group to implement a University-wide “community survey” for students and employees. The working group gathered input from stakeholders to identify six priority topic areas for the survey:
- Belonging and inclusion;
- Institutional commitment to diversity, equity, and inclusion;
- Engaging across difference;
- Cultural competence and knowledge;
- Experiences with stereotyping, microaggressions, and harassment; and
- Off-campus contexts.
Based on these priority areas, the working group chose the Higher Education Data Sharing Consortium’s (HEDS) Diversity and Equity Campus Climate Survey. This survey was further adapted and customized to better address the specific context and needs of Penn State. The online survey was administered independently by HEDS and sent to all Penn State students and employees in Spring 2020. Over 20,000 responses were collected. The overall University response rate was 17%; it ranged from a high of 70% for administrators to a low of 13-14% for students and technical staff. https://opair.psu.edu/community-survey/
In addition, in June 2020, the president of Penn State set forth a series of initiatives aimed at addressing bias on campus. Among these were:
- Partner through shared governance with the University Faculty Senate to continue to develop improved policies, procedures and expectations that will increase the hiring and retention of faculty who are members of underrepresented groups at the University. Hiring and retention continues to be a major challenge for Penn State that must be addressed.
- Work with the Board of Trustees to help ensure that educational and employment equity has the full attention of the trustees. The board has expressed considerable interest in continuing to elevate this topic in its deliberations.
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?:
Does the assessment process address student outcomes related to diversity, equity and success?:
Does the assessment process address employee outcomes related to diversity and equity?:
A brief description of the most recent assessment findings and how the results are used in shaping policy, programs, and initiatives:
The new DEIB (Diversity Equity Inclusion and Belonging) Dashboard provides public facing data about university efforts to recruit and retain students, faculty, and staff. It can be seen at https://opair.psu.edu/deib-dashboard/
From the 2020 Community Survey a summary of findings, detailed report, and data dashboards for the Penn State Community Survey - which addresses attitudes, perceptions, and behaviors - is available on the following website: https://opair.psu.edu/community-survey/
As part of ongoing efforts to build inclusive, diverse and equitable campus communities, unit leaders and budget executives across Penn State’s units, colleges and campuses review the survey report and unit-level dashboards and create action plans for their areas that address gap areas and build on existing strengths. Action plans should be developed by the end of February 2021. Representatives from the Office of Educational Equity advise, coach, and help units draw connections between their Community Survey results and their unit’s strategic objectives.
Individual students and employees are also encouraged to review the report and dashboards. Individuals are encouraged to be creative and to incorporate their learnings and takeaways into their own daily interactions and activities on campus, as well as to get involved in their unit, college, or campus’ follow-up survey activities as they are developed. Students and employees can make suggestions using an on-line form.
Since 2016, DEI planning has been mainstreamed into the overall strategic planning process; one of six Foundations in the University's strategic plan is Advancing Inclusion, Equity, and Diversity. Each college, campus, and support unit is expected to establish and make progress toward its own diversity-related goals, which provides flexibility and a distributed network. For example, the College of Agricultural Sciences' DEI plan and goals, which include student and employee outcomes, can be seen here: https://agsci.psu.edu/diversity/framework/college-diversity-strategic-plan-2015-2019
Student outcomes - including enrollment, retention, and graduation rates - are tracked by gender and race/ ethnicity. This information is available publicly. Faculty and staff employment is tracked by gender and race/ethnicity, but salary information in these categories is not available publicly at the university level. https://datadigest.psu.edu/
The Equity Pedagogy Network addresses University challenges to achieving inclusive student outputs. This Network supports and enhances the racial equity work of faculty, staff, and administrators across Penn State by sharing resources, collaborative inquiry, and reflective practice. https://sites.psu.edu/epnnews/
Are the results of the most recent structured diversity and equity assessment shared with the campus community?:
A brief description of how the assessment results are shared with the campus community:
The DEIB Dashboard is publicly available on the university website. A conversation between the Special Adviser for Institutional Equity and the University President was promoted and live streamed, and a recording of that conversation is available at https://liveevents.psu.edu/ and on the Penn State YouTube channel at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SIzqWHkOub8&embeds_referring_euri=https%3A%2F%2Fliveevents.psu.edu%2F&feature=emb_imp_woyt
The four initial actions were outlined in this conversation and are published at https://www.psu.edu/news/administration/story/bendapudi-hamer-discuss-deib-inventory-recommendations-and-next-steps/
The four actions are:
Action 1 — Establish a multi-tiered, equity-centered “one-stop” resource hub for students that will drive undergraduate and graduate students across the commonwealth to one place for answers and connections to multiple units and support resources that contribute to the student experience.
Action 2 — Develop a faculty hiring program to help diversify Penn State’s faculty. The comprehensive program focused on hiring and retention will include establishing a clear spousal hiring policy; enhancing equity-centered search committee training, including addressing implicit bias in the search and hire process; and setting up accountability procedures at the unit and campus level to drive progress.
Action 3 — Develop a staff hiring program to address diversity among staff and to support staff members in their career and professional development at Penn State.
Action 4 — Develop a new University-wide system for reporting wrongdoing, including bias reporting, to address the process and multiple mechanisms for reporting and following up on misconduct and bias for students, faculty and staff across 24 campuses.
From the Community Survey, a detailed report, summary of findings, and data dashboards are publicly available on the following website: https://opair.psu.edu/community-survey/
In addition, numerous articles about the survey have appeared in Penn State News, the University's daily e-newsletter - for example, https://news.psu.edu/story/631571/2020/09/13/administration/penn-state-community-survey-findings-dashboards-available
Are the results (or a summary of the results) of the most recent structured diversity and equity assessment publicly posted?:
The diversity and equity assessment report or summary (upload):
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:
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.