Overall Rating Gold - expired
Overall Score 70.76
Liaison Richard Johnson
Submission Date Oct. 13, 2017
Executive Letter Download

STARS v2.1

Rice University
PA-5: Assessing Diversity and Equity

Status Score Responsible Party
Complete 1.00 / 1.00
"---" 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:

(1) The Survey of All Students (SAS) is an ongoing system of surveys for all undergraduate and graduate students to collect institutional relevant, Student Association, and Graduate Student Association related information. The SAS is administered during the 11th-13th weeks of each semester and averages 15 minutes or less for completion. The SAS includes questions targeted toward various student subpopulations (e.g., class-level, athletes, international, transfers, first generation, students enrolled in classes involving new pedagogies such as flipped classroom or online delivery, etc.) as well as a few questions asked of all students. It is expected that the SAS be the primary survey methodology to collect the information needed by many different constituencies on campus, both academic and nonacademic. The SAS includes questions that address diversity, equity and inclusion on campus. It tries to determine the atmosphere (or "climate") on campus.

(2) In 2008, 2009, and 2010 the Office of Diversity and Inclusion held focus groups with international students, LGBTQ+ students, and other ethnicities and asked them various questions to assess their satisfaction with their experiences at Rice (related to education, opportunities, the residential college system, etc). This led directly to the creation of a mentorship program described below.


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)?:
Yes

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

(1) Findings show that providing diversity training for faculty search committees results in a higher percentage of job offers to minority candidates.

(2) One finding of the meetings with the focus groups is that some minority groups have had trouble building a mentorship relationship (REPHRASE) with professors at Rice. To fix this, Rice began a peer mentor program. Staff and faculty volunteered their time to be with these small groups.


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:

(1) The results of the SAS are shared with those who request information from them. Additionally, the results are shared in a broad way in public forums led by Rice administrators (e.g. by the President, by the Dean of Undergraduates, etc.).

(2) Diversity was the primary theme for a university-wide town hall meeting, led by the Rice University President. Results of the "climate" survey on diversity were shared in that meeting as part of the broader discussion about diversity at Rice.


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