| Overall Rating | Silver |
|---|---|
| Overall Score | 58.21 |
| Liaison | Julie Hopper |
| Submission Date | July 29, 2021 |
University of Southern California
PA-6: Assessing Diversity and Equity
| Status | Score | Responsible Party |
|---|---|---|
|
1.00 / 1.00 |
Elias
Platte-Bermeo Sustainability Program Assistant Office of Sustainability |
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:
In October 2019, over 20,000 Trojans participated in the USC Culture Values Poll — part of the USC Culture Journey — on current values and desired values, so USC could start the journey to understand what values the community wanted to shape the university's future. USC’s six unifying values, high-level behaviors, and improvements to enhance systems and processes across the university include Integrity, Excellence, Diversity + Equity + Inclusion, Well-being, Open Communications, and Accountability.
Beyond the Culture Values Poll, many other activities took place from January to April 2020 as part of USC's Culture Journey.
OTHER CULTURE JOURNEY INITIATIVES:
• More than 4,400 USC staff, faculty, and students participated in 175+ culture sessions (Town Halls and Discussion Sessions) to share their input on values, behaviors, and the systems and processes needed to support and improve USC moving forward. Approximately 120 culture facilitators and culture advocates trained in the Barrett Values model facilitated these sessions.
• Eight USC-wide Town Halls at UPC and HSC to share high-level poll results.
• 38 school and unit Town Halls that shared school/unit-specific poll results.
• 44 USC-wide in-person and virtual Discussion Sessions to gather staff, faculty, and student feedback on specific values, behaviors, systems, and processes.
• 79 school and unit Discussion Sessions focused on feedback related to their schools’ and units’ poll results.
• In April and May 2020, the Culture Journey team met with the university's governance bodies — Working Group on Culture, Academic Senate, Staff Assembly, Undergraduate Student Government, and Graduate Student Government — to share USC-wide community feedback from the culture sessions.
• the Culture Journey team shared the initial values, behaviors, systems, and processes identified in those sessions as “most critical” to university culture change and asked for their input to continue refining these into recommended values and actions.
• From June to August 2020, the Culture Journey team held 33 Leader Debriefs with all deans and unit leaders and their leadership teams in 22 schools and 13 administrative units to share their specific school’s or unit’s community feedback from the Culture Sessions. The Culture Journey team asked for their perspectives on USC-wide values, behaviors, and recommended actions (systems and processes). The team has shared a variety of options on cultural activities and initiatives on which we can partner with schools and units to involve their communities in the cultural transformation.
CULTURE POLL NEXT STEPS:
• USC-wide culture activities on values, and partnering with schools and units to offer cultural activities and support
• A reimagined Code of Ethics and Compliance with guidelines that support the university's values, actions, decisions, and policies
• Focus on unifying values and behaviors to support the planning, development, and improvement of HR processes, systems, and enhanced skills
• Efforts are already in progress across people development, well-being, Diversity + Equity + Inclusion and addressing concerns, and other areas of cultural focus.
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:
Values identified include:
- Integrity
- Excellence
- Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion
- Open Communication
- Well-being
- Accountability
These values guide USC’s thinking and give a clear direction and guidepost about future actions. They help the university prioritize those systems and process areas that need enhancement.
Most importantly, they are at the core of USC's Mission:
- Serve our students, patients, and communities.
- Development of students and society through enrichment of the human mind and spirit.
- Excellence in academics, teaching, research, artistic creation, athletics, professional practice, outstanding medical care, and public service.
Improving USC's systems and processes:
- Culture change cannot happen by only announcing USC's unifying values. During the university's 175+ culture sessions, valuable feedback was collected on recommended actions to improve our systems and processes.
- Invest in developing the professional skillset of leaders, faculty, staff, and students tied to ethical and values-based behaviors, mentorship, and feedback.
- Reflect USC values in the way the university assesses performance and in systems governing recognition, rewards, and incentives.
- Provide clear pathways for raising and addressing concerns without fear of retaliation.
Next steps:
- Value workshops and seminars
- Culture activities and speaker series
- Culture network forums and webinars
- School and unit culture activities
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:
Results of the assessment were shared via system emails from administration. Information is also available on USC's Culture Journey website:
- https://culturejourney.usc.edu/explore/the-culture-journey/
- https://green.usc.edu/files/2021/08/Cultural-Values-Poll-Findings-December-2019.pdf
- https://green.usc.edu/files/2021/08/Culture-Journey-Summary-Report-FY-21-1.pdf
- https://green.usc.edu/files/2021/08/Key-Findings-Report-for-July-2020.pdf
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:
Other initiatives:
- USC Race & Equity Center
- NACCC enrollment
- Annual Office of Institutional Research statistics on diversity
USC library has created a library guide that contains links to data and statistics on diversity, equity, and inclusion at USC, California, and nationwide.
https://libguides.usc.edu/diversityandinclusion/data
Other initiatives:
- USC Race & Equity Center
- NACCC enrollment
- Annual Office of Institutional Research statistics on diversity
USC library has created a library guide that contains links to data and statistics on diversity, equity, and inclusion at USC, California, and nationwide.
https://libguides.usc.edu/diversityandinclusion/data
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.