University of Houston
PA-5: Assessing Diversity and Equity

In 2013, The Multicultural Student Services Task Force was charged with identifying the feasibility of creating a new department/center that can focus on addressing the needs of the diverse University of Houston student population. The Task Force concluded that a multicultural center should be created at the University of Houston after benchmarking twenty-two institutions of higher education, reviewing existing multicultural programs and services, conducting a focus group with student leaders, and administering a campus-wide student survey in which 85% of the students expressed a desire for such a center. In 2014 the Center for Diversity and Inclusion (CDI) was established. Its mission is to foster an inclusive university community by supporting and developing programs that respond to the needs of our highly diverse student population. So diverse in fact, that UH is credited as one of "the most diverse universities in the nation"; scoring a 0.74 on the U.S. New's Best Colleges Campus Diversity Index (range being 0-1 with 1 being the most diverse possible). The name "Diversity and Inclusion" was chosen over multi-cultural so that all forms of diversity (including LGBT+) could feel represented by the center.

Every year Institutional Research audits the demographics of the university and reports these data in the Statistical Handbook. Data on residency, ethnicity, gender, immigration, and socioeconomic status are all recorded. This document can be viewed by college, department, university, or enrollment status. With the available data, IR is able to produce trends of equity and diversity over five-year periods. This information, together with the works of the department of Equal Opportunity Services and the Center for Diversity and Inclusion, provide an representative picture of diversity and equity on campus and powerful tools to shape policy through Student Government, Faculty Senate, and other governance bodies on campus.

Every year Institutional Research audits the demographics of the university and reports these data in the Statistical Handbook. Data on residency, ethnicity, gender, immigration, and socioeconomic status are all recorded. This document can be viewed by college, department, university, or employment status. With the available data, IR is able to produce trends of equity and diversity over 5 year periods. This information, together with the department of Equal Opportunity Services and Affirmative Action provides a representative picture of diversity and equity on campus and powerful tools to shape policy through the Faculty Senate/Staff Council.

As part of the Multicultural Student Task Force 2013 charge to determine "the feasibility of creating a new department/center that can focus on addressing the needs of the diverse University of Houston student population", the services and programs of twenty-two other institutions of higher education were weighed against the University of Houston in terms of diversity and equity. A charge of this Task Force was to "explore opportunities for multicultural-based collaborative programs with departments outside of the Division of Student Affairs and in partnership with agencies in the surrounding community." During this process, academic and administrative departments that were already serving diverse student needs were identified. Once identified, their various engagement initiatives were cataloged; e.g. volunteer programs, internships, scholarships, and cultural experience programs. These initiatives were then weighed against those of the twenty-two benchmark institutions to further support the need of the establishment of the Center for Diversity and Inclusion. Once the CDI was founded, the resulting catalog of engagement programs from diversity serving departments was listed on the CDI webpage.

Statistical Handbook (faculty and staff diversity assessments): http://www.uh.edu/ir/reports/statistical-handbook/index.php U.S. News Diversity Score: http://colleges.usnews.rankingsandreviews.com/best-colleges/rankings/national-universities/campus-ethnic-diversity