| Overall Rating | Gold - expired |
|---|---|
| Overall Score | 69.47 |
| Liaison | Sally DeLeon |
| Submission Date | Feb. 28, 2019 |
| Executive Letter | Download |
University of Maryland, College Park
PA-5: Assessing Diversity and Equity
| Status | Score | Responsible Party |
|---|---|---|
|
1.00 / 1.00 |
Luke
Jensen Special Assistant to the Chief Diversity Officer Office of Diversity & Inclusion |
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:
Since 2017 the University of Maryland (UMD) has been conducting an assessment of campus equity, diversity and inclusion (EDI) towards the goal of revising the university's 2010 Strategic Plan for Diversity and transitioning the current Office of Diversity and Inclusion to a Division of Equity, Diversity and Inclusion. Primary pieces of this assessment have included a Campus Climate Survey and Report on Diversity Assets. All pieces of the assessment will go through independent, external review and analysis that will lead to recommendations for the university relating to EDI.
2018 CAMPUS CLIMATE SURVEY
In January and February of 2018, all of the University of Maryland at College Park students, faculty, and staff were given the opportunity to participate in a campus climate survey. This was the first campus climate survey to be offered to all members of the UMD community. The effort to hear and understand the experiences and perspectives of all campus community members was an initiative from the Office of the Diversity and Inclusion (ODI) at UMD and the leadership of Chief Diversity Officer Roger L. Worthington in partnership with an external consultant. There were a core set of common items to be completed by all survey participants as well as items specific to the experiences of students, staff, and faculty. The majority of common items were analyzed using factor analysis (a data reduction technique) to produce composite variables. The university has committed to continuing to administer climate surveys to the campus community every two years.
2017 REPORT ON DIVERSITY ASSETS
The self study of diversity and inclusion programs is the most comprehensive attempt to map the University of Maryland's diversity assets in the history of the institution. Prior to this study, few, if anyone, on campus had a full understanding of what various departments and offices were doing to further EDI at the university. Units across campus were asked to self report information relating to their missions and major EDI programs/initiatives. Those assets were then mapped according to the university's organizational structure.
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?:
Does the assessment process address student outcomes related to diversity, equity and success (e.g. graduation/success and retention rates for underrepresented groups)?:
Does the assessment process address employee outcomes related to diversity and equity (e.g. pay and retention rates for underrepresented groups)?:
A brief description of the most recent assessment findings and how the results are used in shaping policy, programs and initiatives:
2018 CAMPUS CLIMATE SURVEY
Some key findings from the climate survey include: A) The university needs to continue building community through civil discourse, concrete actions and an investment of resources in a structured, systematic approach to equity, diversity and inclusion. B) All students, faculty and staff can benefit from an increase in inclusive language and behaviors and a decrease in divisive language and behaviors. C) People of color, women and gender non-binary individuals express greater concerns about personal safety. D) Of survey respondents, about 33% of students and 30% of administrators believe it is important to improve responses to hate-bias incidents, including how incidents are communicated to campus. And E) Training and programming activities are essential to make progress on issues of equity, diversity and inclusion at UMD. The university has publicly shared how it is currently using and will use the findings of the survey in shaping policy, programs and initiatives. Many new developments are in progress as a direct result.
2017 REPORT ON DIVERSITY ASSETS
The campus-level review of EDI efforts at UMD revealed a wide variety of assets and their wide distribution within the institution. Primary conclusions from this effort were that A) Diversity programming is not comprehensive and does not have a broad overarching vision and B) There is a lack of coordination between campus units and no central source of information, making it difficult to find information on current diversity and inclusion programming and resources. The report submitted by the external review team will offer conclusions and recommendations on creating an overarching mission or vision on EDI for the university and creating coordinated EDI initiatives leading to meaningful outcomes for students, faculty and staff.
Results from both the external review of the university's diversity assets and the climate survey will inform a wide variety policy changes and initiatives to improve EDI at the University of Maryland, including revising the university's 2010 Strategic Plan for Diversity.
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 findings from the Campus Climate Survey are shared with the campus community through a preliminary report posted publicly on the Office of Diversity and Inclusion's website. A summary is posted directly on the website and the full preliminary report is available for download from the same location. Initial steps taken by the administration in response to the climate survey results are also shared. Once finalized in Summer 2018, the full report will also be available to the public. https://www.diversity.umd.edu/climate.html
Also, findings from the preliminary report were reported on by the university's independent student newspaper The Diamondback. Articles written in The Diamondback are freely accessible by anyone and is advertised to the UMD community. Find the article about the climate survey preliminary report here: http://www.dbknews.com/2018/05/03/umd-campus-climate-diversity-survey-preliminary-results/
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:
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:
Data source(s) and notes about the submission:
The university's reports on demographics and success/outcomes for students, faculty and staff are publicly available through the Office of Institutional Research, Planning, and Assessment: https://irpa.umd.edu/CampusCounts/index.html
The university's reports on demographics and success/outcomes for students, faculty and staff are publicly available through the Office of Institutional Research, Planning, and Assessment: https://irpa.umd.edu/CampusCounts/index.html
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.