University of Utah
PA-5: Assessing Diversity and Equity

The University of Utah held a student-initiated campus town-meeting on November 20, 2015 in which over 700 students came to the University of Utah student union to meet with the senior level campus leaders and actively voiced their concerns about the lack of campus diversity in general, and then specific concerns around racism, gender/sexuality and other problems that they felt were not being adequately addressed on campus. After this meeting, students wrote document, "University of Utah Diversity Action Plan Proposal," Submitted by the Students of ELP 7480:Social Justice Leadership. Dec. 18, 2015. University administration responded on December 10, 2015, three weeks after the town hall meeting, with a list of, "Thirteen Immediate Responses to the Open Dialogue on Racial Climate," pledging to foster swift and meaningful change with immediate actions.

Stockton has completed this process, and she and Senior Vice President Watkins reported back to interested students in a town hall sponsored by ASUU on Tuesday, March 29, 2016, as part of the Conference on Diverse Excellence. In addition, the list of initiatives has been discussed with many other campus groups, including but not limited to the Council of Academic Deans, the Academic Senate, and the President's Cabinet.

The "Thirteen Immediate Responses" document calls for a tool to track campus diversity on an ongoing basis: "Diversity in Progress," a new communication tool, will be created: All diversity entities will contribute to one website to track University efforts and campus initiatives concerning diversity. the goal is to achieve maximum transparency and clear communication of diversity aims across many offices."

The student-led town hall meeting of November, 2015 led to a number of policy and program initiatives, outlined in a document, "Thirteen Immediate Responses to the Open Dialogue on Racial Climate (attached). A follow up letter of Nov, 2016 reports on progress one year later (attached).

This process has also led to the formation of a new academic unit:

School for Social and Cultural Transformation
In Fall 2016, the University of Utah launched a new college home for the Divisions of Gender Studies and Ethnic Studies to focus on the intersection of race, gender and social justice issues. , poised to grow together as academic unit able to hire faculty and grant tenure.
URL: https://transform.utah.edu/

"Thirteen Immediate Responses" was shared at a town hall sponsored by the ASUU student government on March 29, 2016 as part of the Conference on Diverse Excellence organized by ASUU student leaders. The document was also discussed with many other campus groups including but not limited to the Council of Academic Deans, the Academic Senate and the President's Cabinet. As a follow-up to the "Thirteen Immediate Responses" letter, Kathryn Stockton, Associate Vice President for Equity and Diversity, met with the University's many student groups who work on issues of social justice in order to gather their responses to these strategies for change. A one-year progress report (attached below) was issued in November, 2016.

NOTE
The University of Utah currently lacks a structured assessment process to evaluate diversity and equity. However, as a response to a student-initiated town-hall meeting, University administration has released a plan to make meaningful changes including implementation of an assessment process.

RESOURCES

Thirteen Immediate Responses-- Update Nov. 14, 2016. Office of the President.
(Attached)

Thirteen Immediate Responses to the Open Dialogue on Racial Climate. Kathryn Stockton (with Pres. Pershing, Sr VP Watkins, Sr VP Lee), 12/10/2105.
(Attached)

University of Utah Diversity Action Plan Proposal. Submitted by the Students of
ELP 7480: Social Justice Leadership (2015)
The University of Utah had a campus town-meeting on November 20, 2015 in which over 700 students came to the University of Utah student union to meet with the senior level campus leaders and actively voiced their concerns about the lack of campus diversity in general, and then specific concerns around racism, gender/sexuality and other problems that they felt were not being adequately addressed on campus. This meeting resulted in a number of calls for changes led by a group of Black students who have been pressing for change through a list of demands presented to central administration.
URL: http://elp.utah.edu/socialjustice.php

Office for Inclusive Excellence 2015-16 Annual Report
Describes efforts to develop a campus climate survey: Our climate assessment was piloted in a college. We gathered data from a variety of sources including students (in focus groups); existing quantitative data (based on our inclusion scorecard); curriculum mapping; and GIS maps. We also engaged in multiple tasks to analyze the data
Developing an instrument to measure campus climate will require a lot of time and labor. It will consist of researching questions, consultation with campus partners and experts, thinking through sampling & distribution, and a process that is grounded in (and supported by) proven research.

Student Affairs Diversity Council, Assessment
--SADC Staff Perceptions Survey: 2011 Report (2011)
--Retaining and Recruiting a Diverse Staff in Student Affairs (2010)
--University Diversity Committee Annual Report, 2008-2009 (2009)
URL: http://sadc.utah.edu/resources/assessment.php

Academic Senate Annual Reports, University Diversity Committee
URL: http://academic-senate.utah.edu/annual-reports/

Office of Institutional Analysis
Tracks students and faculty data by gender and ethnicity.
URL: http://www.obia.utah.edu