Overall Rating Gold - expired
Overall Score 66.33
Liaison Brad Spanbauer
Submission Date Jan. 29, 2018
Executive Letter Download

STARS v2.1

University of Wisconsin-Oshkosh
PA-5: Assessing Diversity and Equity

Status Score Responsible Party
Complete 1.00 / 1.00 Brian Kermath
Sustainability Director
Sustainability Office
"---" indicates that no data was submitted for this field

Has the institution engaged in a structured assessment process during the previous three years to improve diversity, equity and inclusion on campus?:
Yes

A brief description of the assessment process and the framework, scorecard(s) and/or tool(s) used:

UW Oshkosh conducted a comprehensive campus climate survey in 2016.


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?:
Yes

Does the assessment process address student outcomes related to diversity, equity and success (e.g. graduation/success and retention rates for underrepresented groups)?:
Yes

Does the assessment process address employee outcomes related to diversity and equity (e.g. pay and retention rates for underrepresented groups)?:
Yes

A brief description of the most recent assessment findings and how the results are used in shaping policy, programs and initiatives:

Findings informed the Campus Strategic Planning process.
Major Findings
These are major themes that stood out during the analysis of the survey results. Campus
community members are invited to read the entire report and share their own interpretation with
University administration.
Demographics
 Student and employee demographics differed most in terms of ethnic minority and gender minority
composition. Sixteen percent of student respondents and ten percent of employees reported
belonging to an ethnic minority. Three percent of students and one percent of employees reported
belonging to a gender minority.
Experiences of Exclusionary, Harassing, Intimidating, Offensive, or Hostile Conduct
 More than half of the student respondents and a third of employee respondents indicated having
experienced some type of exclusionary, harassing, intimidating, offensive, or hostile conduct such
as being stared at, ignored or excluded, fearing for one’s safety, feeling intimidated or bullied,
being the target of derogatory remarks, or getting a poor evaluation due to a hostile classroom or
work environment.
 Experiences of such behavior increased for members of gender, sexual and ethnic minorities,
individuals with physical or psychological disabilities, and individuals with lower income.
 Negative experiences increased further for individuals who identified in more than one minority
groups.
 Gender minority participants reported the most experiences with exclusionary, harassing,
intimidating, offensive, or hostile conduct.
 Few students or employees reported experiences or observations of exclusionary, harassing,
intimidating, offensive, or hostile conduct to University officials.
 Of those who did report the behavior, substantial portions felt that the reports had not been
handled appropriately.
Sexual Harassment and Assault
 Substantial portions of student and employee respondents noted fearing sexual harassment. Among
both employees and students, the most commonly reported sources of such fears were other
students.
 Small percentages of students and employees had experienced sexual assault.
 Few of those employees and students who had experienced sexual assault reported the incident
through University channels.
6 Campus Climate Study
Employment Practices and Job Satisfaction
 Twenty-six percent of employee respondents reported that they had observed unfair hiring
practices, and 19% had observed unfair promotional practices. These represented an increase from
those reported in the 2008 survey.
 Areas of most dissatisfaction for employees included the existence of unwritten rules and
insufficient transparency, resources, availability of family leave, equitable compensation and
workload.
Perceptions of Campus Climate
 The ways students and employees assessed the 21 items related to campus climate (including
adjustment to life at UW Oshkosh, representation, support and community, understanding
between diverse people and groups, efforts on the part of the University to build connections and
foster understanding, and so on), varied depending on ethnicity, gender identity, sexual
orientation, religion, home environment, student status (non-traditional, in particular), disability,
and income.
 In relation to such criteria and to satisfaction with UW Oshkosh, gender, sexual, and ethnic
minority students and employees often reported experiencing the climate more negatively.
 Employees viewed campus climate criteria more negatively than did students. Employees
identifying as University staff reported the most dissatisfaction on campus.
 Students reported greater comfort with their departments and classes than they did with their
residence halls.
 Student employees reported high levels of satisfaction with their on campus jobs, but some still felt
singled out, isolated, or marginalized.
 While many students reported feeling comfortable with others in the classroom, some wanted
more training for instructors in treating diverse people respectfully and discussing sensitive and
controversial subjects.
 In terms of resources and opportunities available, a substantial portion of students were dissatisfied
with housing in terms of meeting the needs of diverse people, weekend activities, food options, and
the availability of personal care facilities.
 Students who saw themselves least represented in campus events and leadership included gender,
sexual, and ethnic minorities, non-traditional students, students from urban areas, disabled
students, and students whose incomes were less than $30,000.
 When asked about factors that affected their attendance at University events, approximately 25% of
student respondents and 10% of employee respondents did not see diversity initiatives as relevant
to their study or work.


Are the results of the most recent structured diversity and equity assessment shared with the campus community?:
Yes

A brief description of how the assessment results are shared with the campus community:
Are the results (or a summary of the results) of the most recent structured diversity and equity assessment publicly posted?:
Yes

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:
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Data source(s) and notes about the submission:
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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.