Seattle Central College
PA-6: Assessing Diversity and Equity

We assess diversity, equity, and inclusion through various structured processes, including employee surveys, employee forums, and Guided Pathways.

In spring 2020, Seattle Colleges conducted its inaugural district-wide employee satisfaction survey. All faculty and staff were sent an online survey (anonymous) in May 2020. 320 Central employees answered the employee survey. The questions were developed by a team of IR and HR representatives from across the district. The survey covered satisfaction, professional development, EDI, safety, instruction.

This survey is one of Seattle Colleges ongoing coordination efforts across the colleges and the district office. Select questions are part of the Seattle Colleges Strategic Plan 2017-23, while other questions address specific items for employees of North Seattle, Seattle Central College, and South Seattle College. A total of 813 employees responded to the survey across all primary work locations. Responses will assist Seattle Colleges leadership in decision-making and planning.

Seattle Central College is guided by two closely aligned plans—the Seattle Colleges Strategic Plan and the Seattle Central College Operational Plan. The district’s Strategic Plan lays out goals, strategies for achieving the goals, and the metrics that are used to evaluate progress. Seattle Central’s Operational Plan provides the college’s detailed plans for achieving the goals established in the Strategic Plan. In our last accreditation cycle, Seattle Central was working with four Core Themes in addition to the Strategic and Operational plans. While these Core Themes and indicators were worthwhile, we believe that we can make more meaningful changes by replacing the previous Core Themes with the four goals in our Strategic Plan (Appendix A). In doing so, we will reduce the number of indicators from 68 to 16, allowing us to look more closely at disaggregated data to identify and respond to equity concerns as we track our progress towards these goals and make meaningful decisions to improve student learning based on student learning outcomes.

Two goals in the strategic plan--Student Success and Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion--relate to the assessment of student learning outcomes. The Strategic Plan Scorecard provides evidence of student learning outcomes through retention, completion, and math progression rates. Improvements of student retention and completion rates are the end-goal of assessment work. The metrics of student retention and completion provide valuable insight into how the college is serving students well and how we might improve.

Guided Pathways is a comprehensive approach to achieving two goals in our strategic plan: Student Success and Diversity, Equity, Inclusion & Community. Racial equity is at the heart of Guided Pathways; the Guided Pathways mission statement states that, “the ultimate goal of this effort is to dismantle systems that perpetuate racial and social inequity, using inclusive evidence-based practices that promote equity and institutional transformation.” Guided Pathways is a framework that guides changes for every part of the student experience at Seattle Central College, from onboarding to advising and beyond.
Guided Pathways work at Seattle Central College is overseen by the Pathways Lead Team, made up of Executive Leadership and Pathways Leads, in conjunction with the Steering Team, a larger group of faculty and staff. These groups regularly examine data on student learning to inform decisions. Pathways work is informed by data on student retention, completion, momentum, and progression in math reported in the First Time Entering Student Outcomes Dashboard from the Washington State Board of Community and Technical Colleges. These data points will be annually examined by the Pathways Guiding team each year. Pathways work is further supported by Seattle Central College’s Course Success Dashboard, which provides data on enrollment and student grades in courses. When disaggregated by race, ethnicity and gender, these data reveal that the college does not serve all students equally well. In particular, the data reveal that Black and African American males are not well-served by the institution, as reflected in lower retention and completion rates. Guided Pathways work at Seattle Central is focused on closing the equity gaps revealed in student outcomes data. Our efforts center on improving outcomes for Black and African American males, with the understanding that policies and practices that work well for these students will benefit all students.

Employee Survey-A survey summary report was presented to the Central President's Cabinet. Safety remains a concern of employees Future decisions take the survey results into consideration when making policy, investments, etc.

The Seattle Colleges and its constituent institutions should conduct additional research to operationalize the variables that have been identified as key predictors of engagement items. Once these predictors are operationalized, interventions should be implemented to increase satisfaction with these variables.

Missing Data – Large percentages of missing data on demographic variables makes it difficult to conduct meaningful analyses to identify differences by subgroup. Efforts should be made to increase the percentage of employee respondents who respond meaningfully to demographic variables.

Power of Predictive Models – The R2 (r – square) is a statistic that indicates the predictive power of a given linear model. The values of R2 range from 0 (zero) to 1 (one). The closer an R2 is to 1.0, the greater the percentage of variance in an outcome it predicts. Additional research should be conducted to determine what other factors are predictive of the engagement variables measured in this survey.

Frequency of Administration of this Survey – This survey should be administered again in Spring 2021 to measure any changes that have occurred in the variables measured in this survey.

The following Seattle Pathways projects demonstrate how Seattle Central is using disaggregated data about student success in conjunction with student learning outcomes assessments to inform decisions.

The Black Solidarity Think Tank is a Pathways work group dedicated to helping Black and African American men succeed at Seattle Central College. This small group of faculty and administrators are creating a framework that is informed by Critical Race Theory and Institutional Care theories. This equity-minded framework will be used to approach all decisions, projects and policy-making efforts at the college.

Directed Self-Placement (DSP) is a tool that guides students to select their first college English courses. Prior to DSP’s implementation in April 2020, new students were placed in English courses according to grades on high school transcripts or by placement assessments. These placement exams produced racial inequity in placements. DSP was created to provide an equitable alternative to placement testing. The tool asks students a series of questions about their goals and experiences with reading and writing, both inside and outside of classroom environments. Upon completion of DSP, students receive a course recommendation but remain free to choose the course that they feel is best for them.

Course success data revealed a racial equity gap across many courses in the Associate of Business curriculum. In the example below, data show that only 50% of Black/African American students passed ACCT 201, compared with 76% of Asian students and 67% of White students. Further disaggregation by gender revealed that only 48% of Black students who identify as male were successful in the course. Faculty reflected on these data and committed to finding ways to better serve all students. Faculty are currently working with the Associate Vice President of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion to create learning outcomes statements that are rooted in racial equity. They are also involved in campus-wide discussions about building community for BIPOC students, bringing social justice into their curriculum, and practicing equitable assessment and grading practices.

Critical courses for success are courses that are required for a degree in which less than 85% of all students or less than 85% of Black males earn 2.0 or higher over a period of 3 years. The Office of Institutional Research will generate a list of critical courses for success every year. Faculty who teach these courses will be invited to participate in a focused assessment project with the Assessment and Accreditation Specialist and other faculty trained in assessment to improve student success.

A survey summary report was presented to the Central President's Cabinet and it was also discussed at a Seattle Colleges' district-wide zoom meeting. Safety remains a concern of employees. Future decisions take the survey results into consideration when making policy, investments, etc.

The Seattle Colleges and its constituent institutions should conduct additional research to operationalize the variables that have been identified as key predictors of engagement items. Once these predictors are operationalized, interventions should be implemented to increase satisfaction with these variables.

Missing Data – Large percentages of missing data on demographic variables makes it difficult to conduct meaningful analyses to identify differences by subgroup. Efforts should be made to increase the percentage of employee respondents who respond meaningfully to demographic variables.

Power of Predictive Models – The R2 (r – square) is a statistic that indicates the predictive power of a given linear model. The values of R2 range from 0 (zero) to 1 (one). The closer an R2 is to 1.0, the greater the percentage of variance in an outcome it predicts. Additional research should be conducted to determine what other factors are predictive of the engagement variables measured in this survey.

Frequency of Administration of this Survey – This survey should be administered again in Spring 2021 to measure any changes that have occurred in the variables measured in this survey.