Western Kentucky University
PA-6: Assessing Diversity and Equity

WKU is required by the Kentucky Council on Post-secondary Education to assess diversity, equity and inclusion efforts every year. Each Kentucky schools must achieve at least a 24 (our of 36) composite score - A total of 18 points for quantitative achieved targets in term of enrollment, retention, and degrees conferred and 18 points for narrative responses. The following are the strategies we measured:

Opportunity: Identification of specific strategies for recruitment and enrollment of underrepresented minoritized students along with the responsible partners and specific strategies are charted below as well as action that will be taken, and those responsible. The four (4) strategies to enhance opportunity are:
• Strategy 1: Actively pursue underrepresented minoritized (URM) high school juniors and seniors by cultivating relationships with families, target high schools, churches, and community agencies
• Strategy 2: Implement a web of recruiting through Affinity Groups

Success: To support and achieve student success, the following strategies are proposed:
• Strategy 1: Implement a pre-enrollment orientation program
• Strategy 2: Create targeted Living-Learning Communities and Special Living Options


Impact: Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion, are designed to influence organizational change. These strategies are:
• Strategy 1: Formalize mechanisms to infuse cultural competency within all aspects of the institution

In addition to the State requirements, we conduct an in-house Campus Climate Survey for faculty, staff, and students in alternating years. In the "off years," we include additional climate scales on the National Survey for Student Engagement, the Faculty Survey for Student Engagement, and the Beginning College Survey of Student Engagement. These are all used to compare progress from previous years.

The following are results of the five strategic units of measure for 2022-23 (2023-24 in in progress).

CPE Report 2022-2023: Western Kentucky University

Enrollment Narrative:

In addition to target enrollments of URM/low-income students (defined by CPE), one of WKU’s strategic plan metrics is to raise the Campus Pride Index from the current 3-star rating to 5-stars by 2027-2028. Through collaborative efforts, WKU worked diligently during 2020-21 to increase that rating, creating a more welcoming environment for all LGBTQ+ members of our campus community. The revised report was submitted in 2021-22 and we are proud to report that our score went from a 3-star to a 4.5-star rating. Upon contacting Campus Pride, we discovered we need 2 percentage point to qualify for 5-stars. In 2022-23, the Pride Index was updated to include a diversity brochure for both undergraduate and graduate programs, an updated admissions application that includes gender identity and pronoun information, and several minor adjustments. These updates have been submitted and should give us the boost we need for the 5-star rating.

Another successful program is WKU’s Kelly Autism Program that offers educational support to students on the Autism spectrum through Individual Education Plan assistance, classroom adaptations and tutoring, community involvement through active participation in community activities, social and leisure activities, job coaching, and parental support. In 2021-2022, WKU interviewed 30 prospective WKU students for the incoming class cohort for fall 2022 - a record number to apply. The retention rate for 2021-2022 was 89% and their current graduation rate is 85%. Emailed Hendrix 1/25…he forwarded to two others

New this past year, and unique to WKU is the Beacon Project. The Beacon Project employs a holistic approach to student development and support of foster youths entering or returning to WKU. Partnering with DCBS, this program aims to be a seamless transition in support from foster care to finding a home at WKU. Starting in high school, this program will afford opportunities for prospective foster youth to get familiar with campus life and academic expectations through work experiences and campus visits. Once enrolled as a student, these Hilltoppers engage in collaboratively chosen activities such as individualized programming, peer mentoring, assistance in financial matters, food security, child-care, academic support, career coaching, and generally anything that assists these young adults as they navigate college life. WKU serves as a catalyst for student success by supporting foster care alumni throughout their college journey from before admission to after graduation.

Students served and one semester retention:
Fall 2021 = 77
Returned from spring semester = 55 (71.4%)

Fall 2022 = 98
Returned for spring semester = 84 (85.7%)

Academic standing:
Fall 2021: Good standing = 48.7%
Warning/Probation/Dismissal = 50.0%
Dismissed = 1.3%

Fall 2022: Good standing = 60.2%
Warning/Probation/Dismissal = 37.7%
Dismissed = 2.1%

Again, this is a new program still somewhat in its formative stages. However, we are confident that the support we’re providing this very at-risk population is helpful and necessary. We will have higher quality data at the end of this academic year.
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Opportunity: Identification of specific strategies for recruitment and enrollment of underrepresented minoritized students along with the responsible partners and specific strategies are charted below as well as action that will be taken, and those responsible. The four (4) strategies to enhance opportunity are:

Strategy 1: Actively pursue underrepresented minoritized (URM) high school juniors and seniors by cultivating relationships with families, target high schools, churches, and community agencies.


Many of the efforts related to recruitment were in the “building back” phase during the 2020-21 academic year. Since URM recruitment is a top priority for WKU, a great deal of effort went into insuring we were properly staff and funded. WKU hired an Assistant Vice President for Enrollment Management (AVP), a newly created position, to assist in the cultivation and development of new enrolling students and continuing students at WKU. The AVP is responsible for the coordination, supervision, and leadership of the admission and financial aid departments within the Division of Enrollment & Student Experience (ESE). As a member of the ESE team, the AVP collaborates with the other senior staff of the division, and the Deans of each respective college, to provide for the overall cultivation of new student enrollment and engagement of WKU students. The team leadership model provides cross-collaboration opportunities and professional development across the traditional roles of enrollment management and student affairs professional responsibilities. The AVP will provide the leadership and coordination of the marketing, recruitment, cultivation, and matriculation of new WKU undergraduate students annually, particularly URM and low-income students.

One of the main challenges with the July 21-July 22 time-period is that WKU did not have a Diversity Recruitment Officer for the majority of that time (September 21-July 22), coupled with a significant short in additional staffing as well (50% staffed in Admissions). Positions were on “rehire hold” due to budget and salary compression challenges. In addition, the majority of the specific outreach efforts were paused until someone could be hired and resume that work. Those issues have been remedied and a new person (hired in July 2022) will begin work in August 2022.

Despite some of those setbacks, WKU did a remarkable job with recruitment, including the following:
• Held the LatinX Leadership & College Experience Camp, July 2021
• Sent an ISEC Welcome to URM students registered and parents with contact information for a campus tour, Began in August 2021; Delivered to 131 students during 21-22 time period; Delivered to 60 parents during 21-22 time period
• Sent an introduction to ISEC email to URM students, May 2022; Delivered to 1574 students
• “Apply Early” Email communication to URM students from the Diversity Recruitment Officer, September 2021; 6,340 recipients
• Scholarship Opportunities for URM student email, December 202; 21,478 recipients
• Three Head for the Hill campus visit days highlighting admission, financial aid, housing, academics and student life for a total of 1,220 students
• Five academic, on-campus college preview days for admitted students for a total of 338 students
• Notecards from alumni to legacy matches regarding WKU Family Scholarship, November 2021; 75 notes completed
• Notecards from alumni regarding Border State scholarship, February 2022; 500 notes completed
• Alumni ambassadors assisted with WKU Bound yard sign delivery, May 2022; Over 1,000 yards signs delivered in total
• Admissions partnered with Topper Pride alumni chapter at Kentuckiana Pride festival, June 2022


One of the biggest issues in recruiting URM and low-income students is the perceived unaffordability of college and the fear of graduating with insurmountable debt. In addition to providing basic University information at recruiting events, WKU has included some bold efforts in increasing FAFSA completion rates and the addition of scholarship money for URM/Low-income students. It is imperative to explain financial assistance to parent/guardians and underrepresented minoritized (URM) high school juniors to remove cost as a barrier to attending WKU.

In 2021-2022, 4,767 WKU Students received Pell Grants. The average amount of Pell money granted to students for the academic year during 21/22 was $4,336, this is comparable to $4,192 for 2019-2020. The average “need based and/or gift aid” per student (non-loan related funds) in 2020-2021 was $15,500 is compared to $16,370 in 2021-2022. The maximum Pell award for the 19/20 year was $6,195 and, if attending summer school, a total of $9,292. Of Pell recipients, 1096 identified as African American/Black, 477 as Hispanic, and 429 as two or more races.

Underrepresented minority students with a minimum 2.5 unweighted GPA qualify for a Targeted Award. Students who have a 2.5 up to 2.9 unweighted GPA qualify for $2,000 per academic year. Students who have a 3.0 or greater unweighted GPA qualify for $3,000 per academic year. The value of this Targeted Award is $2,000 per academic year ($8,000 over a four-year period) or $3,000 per academic year ($12,000 over a four-year period). In 2021-2022, 1,465 received the Cornelius Martin URM Scholarships.
In addition to needs-based assistance, 561 URM students were awarded an Academic Merit Award and 232 URM students were offered either Boarder State, Tuition Incentive Program, or non-resident waiver in 2021-2022.

The following is an overview of the financial aid recruiting outreach done in 2021-2022:
• Hosted 22 FAFSA completion events in partnership with KHEAA to our service region in KY.
• Participated in 18 Admissions/Recruiting Events.
• Offered virtual meetings on 5 different Saturdays to incoming students to review their aid offers.
• Participated in 4 parent panel sessions with many ESE partners; two for prospective students and two for admitted students.
• Hosted a remote office in ISEC one day to meet with student and assist them with financial aid questions.

Because of the combined effort of recruiting/admissions and financial aid, the FTFY FAFSA completion rate was at 94.6% for 2021-2022, which is up 12% overall compared to 2020-2021.

WKU also increase aid through the WKU Opportunity Funds. The Opportunity Fund is a donor-driven fundraising effort to benefit students at WKU through endowed support. It is designed to bridge shortfall left after Pell Grants money is applied, ranging from $2,000-$6,000 per semester. All Opportunity Funds distribution (combined) are as follows:

Ethnicity # of Students Awarded Amount
American Indian/Alaskan Native 23 124,076.00
Black or African American 890 4,777,399.97
White, Non-Hispanic 7844 41,763,693.67
Two or more Races 393 2,681,564.76
Non-Reported 73 378,995.73
Asian/Pacific Islander 341 3,093,255.99
Hispanic 562 3,592,333.85
Hawaiian/Pacific Islander 10 74,415.38


Our data show that combining financial aid information and assistance with admission and recruiting makes a difference and efforts to increase these events should ramp up. In fall 2022, WKU has planned 24 FAFSA Completion events with KHEAA/EOC, including one virtual FAFSA completion event and one on campus event for current students. Partnering with the Student Success Center, Center for Innovative Teaching and Learning, Admissions, and the Intercultural Engagement Center, Financial Aid in planning to host a series of webinars for First Generation students and families to get ready to arrive on the Hill in March 2023 for information on financial aid, housing, admissions, opportunities for 1st Gen students. In addition to these events, there are 29 scheduled Admissions/Recruitment events. Since WKU has hired a Diversity Recruitment Officer for 2022-2023, the ChooseWKU Days and Multicultural Preview Day.

One of the most important developments in WKU’s recruitment efforts is our programs targeting students of color, particular boys and young men, in the middle and high schools in Bowling Green, KY. First, the Black Male Scholars (BMS) program is an opportunity for young men grade 6th and 7th to achieve success in a supportive setting. This program also enforces the importance of community, collaboration, and fellowship among the Scholars, their teachers, and their mentors. The curriculum and content of the program are taught through the lens of African American history and culture. Program mentorship is led by members of WKU’s Why Knot Us. Second, The Jonesville Academy founded in 2021, is a program designed for Black/African-American, Hispanic/Latino, and multi-racial young men in grades 3-8 in Bowling Green and Warren County. Jonesville Academy Scholars are “young men who themselves would like to accept the opportunity to extend their learning beyond their elementary, middle school, or junior high school to work toward a pathway to success that includes interactive learning from teachers of color, mentorship, networking, and community engagement with peers.” The mission of the Jonesville Academy is to equip underrepresented minority males with the tools necessary to succeed. Program partners includes WKU’s College of Education, Ogden College of Science and Engineering, and WKU faculty, staff, and Alumni. Third, the WKU Young Male Leadership Academy (YMLA) for young men of color in the Bowling Green/Warren County high schools is a college preparation and recruitment initiative developing leadership skills in young males of diverse backgrounds by exploring the teaching profession. Finally, the My Sister is Succeeding (MySIS) is an academically-engaging mentoring program designed for Black teen girls in grades 6-8 to “script” their path to success. MySIS focuses on advancing the writing and reading skills of Black/African American female teens in the Bowling Green/Warren County area, challenging those who excel in this area, and building the confidence in those that desire to grow. The program is managed by six influential WKU/WKU affiliated women of color; Aurelia Spaulding, Tanja Bibbs, Julia Rivas, Joda Johnson, and Destiny O’Rourke. This program is a part of Real Change, Inc., incorporated June 12, 2020, by founder/board chair, Aurelia Spaulding.
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Strategy 2: Demonstrate to students, parents, guardians, or other support individuals the relationship between degree attainment and a career pathway.


In past CPE DEI reports, we have not reported on any implemented initiatives to address this strategy, but we remained diligent about creating measurable ways to achieve this goal. In May 2022, WKU was invited to join the second cohort of the American Association of State Colleges & Universities (AASCU) sponsored, Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation grant project called the Student Success Equity Intensive (SSEI) (see ITA_Acceptance.pdf). Although we just started the program, WKU wanted to report the initial work we have done, our plans going forward, and how we plan to embed clearer career pathways into the process.

AASCU is among six national and regional organizations selected by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation to execute a comprehensive multiyear initiative designed to help institutions close equity gaps for Black, Latinx, Indigenous, and low-income students; WKU will be a part of the team 2022-2025. The national selection is a highly competitive application process – WKU joins 18 comprehensive institutions across the country to work on this national equity imperative. The cohort the represents rural, urban, and suburban areas across the country, including Hispanic-serving institutions (HSIs), Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs), and Asian American and Native American Pacific Islander-serving institutions (AANAPISIs) with the intent of learning across purposes.?

The comprehensive, team-based learning journey accelerates institutional roadmaps to degree attainment and a career pathway transformation by providing customized support for making data-informed decisions grounded in students’ contemporary realities. Campus teams, including WKU, will work ensure that race and income are no longer predictors of success.? The SSEI cohort approach involves peer-to-peer learning across institutions via in-person and virtual Student Success Academies. In 2022, WKU created an internal team structure for the project that mobilizes key campus leaders including the President, Provost, Assistant Provost for Institutional Effective, Institutional Research, Dean of Students, financial aid, and a diverse group of faculty and staff. Our goal for 2022-2023 is to add a representative student cohort, career services, and our new QEP collaboration to the team. As an institution, we will work with SSEI subject matter experts in data analytics, equity, student success, advising, institutional transformation, and strategic and systems planning to: a) collaborate across institutions to uncover shared challenges and solutions to achieving equitable student outcomes; b) collaborate with cross-campus teams to develop, articulate, and act on a shared vision for student success and prioritized career-path action plan; and c) recognize individual strengths and growth opportunities to build the long-term ability to contribute to transformation. We will also take an integrated, student-centered, comprehensive approach to transformation to: a) leverage a continuous improvement process to make informed, data-driven decisions grounded in the reality of students in relation to career paths; b) articulate an equity imperative to help everyone see their role in ensuring the institution is student-ready/students-drives; and c) hear success stories from other campuses and experts in the field and understand how to apply learning to their own context and how they impact career pathways.
How would you describe the effectiveness of this strategy? The institution shall provide an analysis of the effectiveness of each strategy with a sufficient level of detail. If a strategy was not fully implemented or implemented at all, a thorough analysis and justifiable explanation of why this did not occur should be provided.

Again, we have not fully implemented this strategy because it was brand new at the end of the reporting period (2021-2022). One of our first major milestones, however, is to complete a web-based survey, the Institutional Transformation Assessment (or ITA), in fall 2022. The ITA is a process designed to help postsecondary institutions reflect on existing student success efforts and the organizational structures that support them. The goal is to facilitate self-reflection and perception of progress toward creating equitable pathways among university staff, faculty, and administrators and provide a useful starting point for reflection through an equity lens on our current student success efforts by identifying root challenges and prioritizing activities to addresses those challenges. The ITA is supported by normed rubrics created by leading experts in each subject area and will drive broad reflection across 11 unique but integrated topic areas central to institutional transformation for equitable student success, career pathways, and graduation.

The full ITA is approximately a 130-question survey and will be completed by all members of our internal SSEI team in September 2022. In addition, we will solicit survey responses in October 2022 from all faculty and staff directly involved in student success and career pathways via a shorter 30-question ITA assessment to provide a cross-campus perspective to help inform reflection on some of the main elements of student success. The process will help our institution learn more about our areas of strength as well as where we need improvement, which is critical input to prioritizing and planning further action to enhance equitable pathways from degree attainment to career. In spring 2023, when the ITA is completed, we will engage in facilitated two, three-hour “sensemaking conversation” meetings that will encourage deep reflection with a diverse, cross-functional group of institutional leaders, faculty, and staff.

The SSEI will be used in conjunction with the Council on Post-secondary Education’s (CPE) Kentucky Graduate Profile Academy (GPA). WKU joined the GPA in 2021-2022 and was one of the first 12 institution to onboard.

As previously stated, WKU’s plan is to use the SSEI in conjunction with the CPE’s Kentucky Graduate Profile Academy (GPA). The GPA is Kentucky’s statewide goal for
“embedding the 21st -Century essential skills into all academic postsecondary programs for all Kentucky graduates.” The GPA campus-to-campus collaborative learning environment was developed to create equitable student-success outcomes, achieved through relevant curriculum-based, work-based, and experiential-academic requirements. The Academy strives to develop an innovative, practical approach to improve student learning outcomes, ensure our graduates attract employers, and prepare students to adapt and grow in their professions by embedding 10 essential skills for employment, as defined by the CPE/NACA/AAC&U, into the curriculum. These post-graduation skills include students’ ability to:
• Communicate effectively
• Think critically
• Apply quantitative reasoning skills to analyze and solve numerical problems.
• Interact effectively with people from diverse backgrounds.
• Adapt to changing circumstances while leading and supporting others.
• Perform professionally within their chosen field of study or occupation.
• Engage in civic life to improve society.
• Collaborate and work in teams.
• Apply academic knowledge, skills, and abilities to their chosen career.
• Use information for decision making.

The purpose of these combined initiative is to create a clear path forward for all students, parents, guardians, or other support individuals that deceases time to graduation and ensures all student have the skills necessary to be successful in the competitive workforce market. Data collected from the SSEI ITA will be used to map outcomes relevant to the Kentucky GPA, then to WKU’s Colonnade General Curriculum, and finally to academic programs. Another important aspect to our planned data collection and analysis will be disaggregation by all races, ethnicities, and income levels to ensure that our efforts target all students in an equitable and inclusive manner.

When we have successfully and fully developed and executed this plan, the information can be shared with all potential students as well as parent, guardians, and other support individuals to demonstrate WKU has intentionally developed a clear relationship between degree attainment and career pathways.

Success:
Strategy 2: Create targeted Living-Learning Communities and Special Living Options

Over the last two years, WKU has invested a great deal of time and money to our new First-year Village. Construction of two new residence halls began in 2019 in the lower hub of the campus, but they didn’t open for residents until fall 2021. The two residence halls will house up to 635 first-year, full-time students engaged in faculty mentorship and peer interaction around important ideas connected directly to student success and learning. The First Year Village now serves as the home for many of our Living Learning Communities (LLCs). While LLCs not new to WKU, we have expanded the number offered, with all five academic colleges represented.

Two LLCs within the Intercultural Student Engagement Center (ISEC), The ISEC Academy and the Pride Center’s LGBTQ+ Stonewall Suites, are offered to first- and second-year students. The ISEC Academy LLP is for any student who identifies as a student of color (Black, Hispanic/Latino, Asian, Native American, and Multiracial), is a first-generation college student, Pell eligible, and/or has some need with their transition, persistence, and graduation from WKU. Stonewall Suites LLC is for students who strive to promote social integration and change for all gender identities, gender expressions, and sexual orientations. In Stonewall Suites, Transgender individuals are given the opportunity to pick the gender of their roommate, which helps alleviate a host of safety concerns and stressors for these students. Students interested in this LLC must go through an application and interview process before being admitted.

WKU now offers a new residential Summer Scholars program for high school graduates with below-threshold GPAs (2.00-2.49). The program provides a unique, five-week opportunity for students to experience a trial-run at college level classes and WKU campus life. The 2021-22 Summer Scholars cohort had 123 students enroll in the program. Due to the additional funding from the CPE, we were able to offer this program to 42 more students than initially planned. Of the students signed up for the program, 91% of students (112 total) enrolled for the Fall 2022 semester. This represents a 13% increase in persistence from the previous cohort. Of the students who enrolled for the Fall 2022 semester, 81% (91 total) stayed at WKU and enrolled for the Spring 2023 semester. These persistence numbers represent a significant increase, especially when compared to groups that did not have the opportunity to complete the Summer Scholars Program. Students were offered the opportunity to participate in an IRB-approved end-of-program survey, which included a 24-item University Belonging Questionnaire (UBQ), a valid and reliable instrument measuring students’ sense of belonging to the university. The UBQ yields three factors, each with scores above 0.85. These factors are University Affiliation, University Support and Acceptance, and Faculty and Staff Relations. Preliminary results from 92 student responses indicate high levels of perceived belonging in each of the three factors. In addition to the quantitative data, students reported feeling connected to WKU, fellow students, faculty, and staff members as a result of a face-to-face.

How would you describe the effectiveness of this strategy? The institution shall provide an analysis of the effectiveness of each strategy with a sufficient level of detail. If a strategy was not fully implemented or implemented at all, a thorough analysis and justifiable explanation of why this did not occur should be provided.

The planning phase consisted of a sub-committee created from the Strategic Enrollment Planning committee (August 2020-August 2021) to develop goals and objectives for the overall LLC program outcomes on student success – academic transition, social transition, and sense of belonging. This phase involved several academic units in onboarding new communities, developing a structure to compensate faculty and staff for their participation, and creating a team for implementation and evaluation. The implementation phase began in August 2021 with the opening of the First Year Village and the re-launch of WKU LLCs in which 650 first-year freshmen were selected to participate in either one of the 14 Academic or 6 Interest-based LLCs led by 23 faculty and staff fellows.

At the conclusion of the first year (2021-2022) of the revamped model for our new LLCs, the initial impact was assessed in the WKU Living Learning Communities Year One Evaluation Report (June 2022) conducted by Dr. Daniel Super and the Barbara & Kelly Burch Institute for Transformative Practices in Higher Education. A comparison group was created of students living on campus and not participating in LLCs using Propensity Score Matching (PSM) to determine the effectiveness of the LLC experience in students. The report pointed to initial success in our Academic and Interested-based LLCs for underrepresented students in the overarching program goals.

The ISEC Academy LLC and Stonewall Suites LLC were both assessed in our Year One LLC Evaluation Report (2021-2022), comprising the majority of participants categorized in the Interest-Based LLCs assessment portion. The report defines the comparison group for evaluation as “first-time freshmen living in residence halls and not participating in an LLC” who were “matched to students participating in Interest-Based LLCs using propensity score matching techniques” (June 2022). Year One findings pointed to retention increases of first-generation, URM, and low-income students participating in LLCs in comparison to their peers in one semester retention rates for Fall 2021 (6% increase), registration status of Fall 2022 enrollment rates (8.7% increase), and higher cumulative GPA averages in comparison with non-LLC comparison peers (ISECLLC_Matched_Comparisons.pdf and StonewallLLC_Matched_Comparisons.pdf). The Year One data also pointed to a significant increase in retention and academic success of first-generation college students, underrepresented minority, and low-income students overall participating in LLCs when compared to their peers).

To increase support as indicated in WKU’s 2020-2021 CPE DEI Report, LLC staff worked with the faculty fellows to make many of the infrastructure changes mid-implementation in 2021-2022 to provide clarity in expectations. The re-articulation of LLC Goals with the programmatic structure and the relaxing of the many paperwork expectations helped to better balance the load of the LLC supervision with faculty responsibilities. We've continued to improve on this model by involving the faculty in the planning phases, structure, and delivery of programmatic requirements for students, which can be correlated to the increase is efficacy of the LLC programs.


For the 2022-2023, the plan is to replace trainings with monthly LLC Fellow Coffee & Chats to create a professional learning community of faculty and staff to learn practices from other units on campus and each other to enhance the student experience. Other forms of exploring support for faculty has led to academic affairs increasing the stipend model based on the number of students in the LLC, revisiting course buyout options for the upcoming cycle, purchasing software subscriptions (like Calendly) to assist with programmatic needs, and exploring ways to leverage graduate assistants and other faculty volunteers as LLC affiliates. Some of our academic colleges have provided support in the form of grants and funds to assist with funding needs.

Another area for growth came from the evaluation data in the first year showing the retention impact for first-generation college students participating in an LLC. The initial data proved promising for students participating in our Academic and Interest-based LLCs, but we saw a need to develop a community specifically for first-generation college students to best address their needs and intentionally provide support in the first year. The challenge was to create a specific LLC without pulling first generation students from the current academic and interested based communities that we saw beginning success. Our LLC Team engaged in planning discussions with two faculty LLC fellows looking to rebrand their current LLC, Leadership and Communication, due to mixed success of the interdisciplinary nature of eligibility requirements. The LLC Fellows shared that the content of the Leadership and Communication LLC was more aligned with the needs of exploratory first-generation college students; from there, we developed the F1RST Gen LLC to be launched 2023-2024. The linked courses will target the needs of first-generation students in COMM 145 and a University Learning course designed specifically for first generation students. Spring courses in the LLC offer students the ability to build leadership skills in Leadership Studies and an optional Personal Finance course partnered with financial literacy coaching with our Center for Financial Success. Other aspects of the LLC will involve mentorship and coaching from current first-generation students and faculty linked to our university First Gen Initiatives; experiential learning, success strategies programming, career coaching and exploratory advisement in partnership with the Advising & Career Development Center.

The last area of growth after seeing the impact for underrepresented, first-generation, and low-income students was to explore ways to make the LLC experience more accessible for all. Our LLC team worked diligently in the 2022 and upcoming 2023 recruitment cycle to extend the timeframe for students to apply to the programs and develop a tiered selection process with our LLC Fellows to ensure spaces for students throughout, because admissions data shows us that students in those populations tend to apply to college and housing later in the spring. We’ve also worked with Admissions to offer application fee waivers on National First Gen Day to encourage students to apply to the university earlier and therefore have a better selection of LLCs spots.
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Impact:

Strategy 1: Increase representation of faculty and staff of color through formalized, mandatory “best practices in hiring practices training sessions” for search committees.


This strategy is on-going and builds on the priorities and successes of the year before. In 2020-2021 and 2021-2022, WKU began to back-fill an extraordinary amount of open faculty and staff position left vacant due to state budget cuts, drops in enrollment, Covid (2019-2022), and the Voluntary Separation Incentive Program (VSIP) (spring 2021). In order to accommodate the surge of hires approved, the Co-chief Diversity Officers, Associate Provost for Faculty & Academic Excellence, Manager of Organizational Development (HR), and Director of Equal Employment Opportunity/Affirmative Action (EEO) joined forces to restructure the hiring process at WKU, with an emphasis on decreasing biases in hiring and recruiting candidates of color. The initial step was to renew WKU’s membership with HERC (Higher Education Recruitment Consortium) and to move forward with diversity training for faculty and staff search/hiring committees. In fall 2022, WKU also entered full implementation of our new RCM (Responsibility Center Management) Budget Model, giving us the opportunity to create a permanent shared and reoccurring responsibility chain for paying the annual fees for membership and the building of internal search committee trainings.

To recap, in fall 2020, we revamped the recruitment and application processes through HR and EEO. During the open call for applications period in 2020-2021, search committees were given the opportunity to request a preview of applicant demographics at any point of the process. In the past, this was not possible until after the top three or four candidates had been selected for on-campus interviews. The new requested report gives the committee aggregate demographic information and provides a “snap-shot” of applicants at any point in the search process, so the committee can make informed decisions about the pool in terms of diversity. This allows search committees to determine if applicant pools have adequate representation of URMs for the position and provides committees an opportunity to cast a wider net, if needed, in order to reach a more diverse audience. Again, in early summer 2021, WKU began using the new recruitment process resulting in the following 2020-21 hire: WKU hired 46 faculty: 5 Asian/Pacific Islander; 4 African America; 1 Hispanic (Faculty_Hires_2020_21.xlsx). There were also numerous staff and faculty (including part-time) hires and reclassifications that included 31 employees who were American or Alaskan Native, Asian/Pacific Islander, Black/African American, Hispanic, and/or two or more races.

Lastly, our team designed and presented three “best hiring practices” trainings workshops/Zoom webinars, integrating HERC resources and information about decreases bias in the hiring process for faculty. In addition to the live sessions, the team built two, one and half hour training modules – one for faculty – from the materials and uploaded the to the HR Hiring Tool Kit (Hiring Process | Western Kentucky University.pdf). The videos were separated into three segments: 1) Before the search; 2) During the search; and 3) After the search (Faculty Search Workshop Videos | Western Kentucky University.pdf). The recorded webinars are available on the WKU HR website if the option of doing the workshops virtually is needed.

To recap, due to state budget short-falls, WKU was forced to eliminate approximately 140 faculty and staff positions, cut over 100+ programs, and dismantle a multidisciplinary college and its departments in 2018-19. In 2019-20, WKU lost an additional 27 full-time faculty, 42 part-time faculty, and 49 full-time staff due to attrition and retirement. The University also implemented a hiring “pause/frost,” meaning that only positions deemed essential were filled between 2018-20; many were hired in temporary or short-term positions. In 2020, WKU announced a one-time, Voluntary Separation Incentive Program (VSIP) providing eligible employees the opportunity to retire with a full year’s pay as an incentive for leaving the university at the end of June 2021. A total of 125 employees applied and were approved for the program, including 73 staff members and 52 faculty members. Of the 73 staff, 4 were Black/African American, Hispanic, or two or more races, and of the 52 faculty, 1 was African American. In short, WKU lost 383 faculty and staff over the course of three academic years, and, in many cases, those positions were not filled. Despite these overall losses, the percentage of URM in tenure-track faculty positions increased slightly from 9.2% in 2019-2020 to 9.7% (2020-2021). On the staff side (URM management occupation), there was also an increase from 12% (2019-2020) to 13.3% (2020-2021). In 2020-2021, over 60 searches for new permanent faculty and staff positions approved, which are reflected in the 2021-22 data.

WKU, unfortunately did not hit the project 2021-2022 targets. URM in tenure-track faculty positions decreased slightly from 9.7% in 2020-2021 to 9.6% (2021-2022). On the staff side (URM management occupation), there was a sharper decrease from 13.3% (2020-2021) to 9% (2021-2022). This, quite possibly, could be due to the high number of hires for 2021-2022. The greater the pool, the greater the divide. There are also fewer faculty and staff of color in the talent pool, so there is recruiting competition across the globe. With salaries lower at regional comprehensives in this country, it is hard to attract these faculty and staff. Fortunately, budget concerns have diminished to some extent, and there is work in progress for raising salaries and reviving the merit raise systems, which will make us more competitive in the market, especially among faculty.

The most recent data on hiring for 2021-22 does not show the same amount of increase. This years pool resulted in the following full-time URM employees being added in 2021-2022: 1 American or Alaskan Native; 17 Black/African American; 4 Hispanic; 4 Two or more races. In 2021-2022, WKU hired a total of 5 URM faculty and 21 staff. This does not include those who were already employed but reclassified or part-time employees (adjuncts, contract workers, etc.) (URM_Hires_2021_22.pdf).

While the search committee trainings did not lend themselves to dramatically increasing the representation of faculty and staff of color, it did give us a framework for the recruitment and retention of new faculty. Since there were no “best practices” training for search committees, what we have now is a marked improvement. In terms of next steps, our team intends to push for these trainings to be required as we originally planned. Our plans for 2022-2023 include 1) workshops for determining target percentages for search pools in specific disciplines, 2) implementing on-boarding programs for new URM faculty and staff, 3) creating mentoring programs for tenure-track faculty of color, and 4) creating similar trainings for staff hiring processes.

Though 2021-2022 proved, once again, to be a challenging year for recruiting and retaining URM faculty and staff, WKU has made plans to create news ways to attract URM talent. In addition to creating new hiring processes and bias trainings, the Provost has designed a plan for recruiting and retaining ABD faculty using funds set aside by the President for a Targeted Opportunity Program designed to enhance our recruiting of faculty from underrepresented groups. The program will provide funding to support a dissertation diversity fellowship program targeting doctoral students who are in the dissertation stage with funding split between academic affairs and the hiring college. The program is designed to bring ABD doctoral students to campus, give them the resources they need to complete dissertations, provide them with mentors, and give them experience teaching a course in their field. Other proposed ideas for this program include a diversity postdoctoral fellowship and a university-wide cluster hiring program designed to transform WKU’s expertise in, and research on health, education, and well-being in communities of color, while also creating a more inclusive and welcoming environment for diverse faculty.

WKU is also planning to rejoin the Southern Regional Education Board as a recruiter and send a group of faculty to the 2022 Institute on Teaching and Mentoring. WKU recognizes it is not enough to simply recruit URM employees and have reinvigorated several URM faculty & staff mentoring programs/organizations including Brother to Brother (for faculty & staff men of color), the Black Faculty Association, and The Hilltopper Pride Network (for LGBTQIA+ faculty, staff, and allies). In spring 2022, we created a new, intersectional organization for faculty called Women in the Academy. Their first larger gathering is planned for fall 2022. This organization was spurred by reports of discrimination, harassment, micro-aggressions/micro-invalidation/gaslighting on the 2021-2021 faculty and staff Campus Climate Survey.


Strategy 2: Conduct a faculty/staff and student Campus Climate Survey in alternating years in order to create data-driven initiatives aimed at creative a position campus climate that embraces diversity.

One important step in creating a truly diverse, equitable, and inclusive community is to understand faculty, staff, and student perspectives related to their experiences at WKU. Developing data-informed initiatives is the core of good Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion efforts. Above all, the perceptions of leadership, faculty, staff, and students about policies, practices, and actions of the institution should be assess frequently and consistently. In 2020, WKU began the process of constructing a new Cultural Climate survey to collect data from faculty and staff (Campus Climate Survey_Text.pdf). Since we had begun our renewed efforts in 2019, it was important to measure and assess the strengths and weaknesses of our work as we continue to plan for the next few years. It is imperative we also understand the experiences and perceptions of diverse individuals on campus in order to create an environment where everyone feels safe, welcome, valued, and respected. We had developed some innovative initiatives aimed creating a cultural shift on campus but, at this point we had no baseline data about the overall climate on campus. In 2019-20, the CDOs a) created the “ONE WKU” Campaign, b) piloted the ONE WKU Academy, c) established the Center for Innovative Teaching & Learning (CITL) DEI Faculty Fellows, d) formed a campus-wide collaborative DEI workgroup, and e) hosted Deliberative Dialogues, Book & Media Groups, and CITL Inclusivity Workshops. It was imperative we solicit feedback and assess the general perceptions and experience of the campus faculty and staff. The faculty-staff survey was conducted in spring 2021 and reported in the 2020-2021 DEI report.

In 2021-2022, we repeated the survey for students. The goal was to get the survey as close as possible to the context of the faculty & staff survey, so comparison of experiences could be made (Student_Campus_Climate_Survey_Text.pdf). The scales embedded in the survey were designed to measure aspects of the campus climate in relation to diversity equity, and inclusion (DEI). For example, the survey asked students about their perceptions of WKU’s climate in general, their personal experiences with discrimination and harassment in the last 12 months, and perceptions of how WKU supports campus DEI efforts. The questions, developed from several validated scales, some nationally normed, were constructed to gain a better understanding of the extent to which WKU supports DEI, and to inform/improve support, policies, programs/trainings, and practices including those to prevent or respond to discrimination and harassment and the recruitment and retention of underrepresented minority (URM) students. The survey was administered through Qualtrics, WKU’s electronic, online survey platform, to all students including full-time, part-time, undergraduate, graduate, and distance learners. in the campus community and took an estimated 15 minutes to complete. Participants’ responses were anonymous.

The survey was sent, first, on March 25, 2022, with follow-up reminders on April 7, 2022, and April 26, 2022, then closed on May 2, 2022, at 4pm; data analysis began May 15, 2022 (see Student_Survey_Emails.pdf).

The purpose of the survey was to develop a better understanding of the extent to which WKU supports DEI, to assess student perceptions of our current environment and how we are performing as a university, as well as where we should focus our efforts to build upon our strengths and make improvements. The data will serve as a baseline for measuring the cultural climate at WKU over the next several years. It will be distributed to students in odd numbered years (faculty/staff will be surveyed in even number years).

Participants were informed, prior to agreeing to take the survey, that the survey was designed to help us gain an understanding of issues related to diversity, equity, and inclusion by learning about our community’s perspectives and experiences. Participates were also informed their responses will remain anonymous and will not be part of any academic, medical, employment, or any other university record. Participation was completely voluntary.

Usable quantitative data were collected from 714 students. On a scale of 1 – 5, respondents rated the over-all satisfaction of the Campus Climate 3.8; with group affiliations like fraternities/sororities 3.6; with their major/program 4.0; satisfaction regarding diversity, equity, and inclusion at WKU 3.7; sense of belong 3.4; sense of community 3.6; and recognition of diversity issues by campus leadership 3.6. In addition, respondents rated level of agreement of the following statements on a scale of 1 -5:
• The campus community is free from tensions related to individual or group differences (3.2).
• Recruitment of historically marginalized students, faculty, and staff is an institutional priority (3.4).
• Retention of historically marginalized students, faculty, and staff is an institutional priority (3.4).
• Senior leadership demonstrates a commitment to diversity and equity on this campus (3.6).
• Of the respondents, 30.3% report being excluded, intimidated, discriminated against, or harassed by members of the WKU community. Of the 30.3% percent, the majority identified sex and race as the attribute of treatment (n = 91 and n = 5, respectively) (for all data see Student_Campus_Climate_Report.pdf).

From the qualitative, open-ended data analyses, the following primary themes were identified:
• Issues with lack of trust in reporting discrimination and/or harassment to faculty and staff);
• A lack of acceptance, support, and empowerment from those who feel they are victims of “reverse” discrimination in terms of race, religion, and sexual orientation;
• Fear of revealing gender identity to faculty and staff; fear of asking faculty and staff to use correct pronouns and asking for “deadnames” to not be used when addressing them;
• The need to create/implement safe spaces for people to express their viewpoints without being chastise or “canceled” due to the voicing of their points of view;
• Report of rape and assault against women not taken seriously;
• Lack of motivation for Jonesville (a Black community erased by WKU through eminent domain) reparations.


In general, the response to the Campus Climate Survey was positive. Many qualitative responses indicated respondents were appreciative of the ONE WKU Campaign and the efforts toward marked action rather than rhetoric with no action. The DEI workgroup has assigned a subgroup the task of further analyzing the survey data. It is important that we break down the data in terms of gender, race/ethnicity, and department/college/unit, so we know where to target our efforts and what topics to cover in future trainings. Since WKU has worked with the company, Catharsis, for Title IX training, we contracted with them to bring us eight in-person programs for leaderships and faculty and staff and monthly webinars and white papers for discussion that will be organized as group discussion for faculty, staff, and students.

Plans are well underway for creating initiatives for students, faculty, and staff based on results of both the Student Campus Climate Survey conducted in spring 2022 and the Faculty Campus Climate Survey administered in fall 2020. The survey results on the qualitative portion and opened-ended questions indicated that the faculty, staff, and student experiences were significantly similar. For example, both surveys noted the lack of response over the years to buildings named after slaveowners and the white-washing of the Jonesville community. In the fall of 2020, WKU’s President, Timothy C. Caboni, established the Naming and Symbols Task Force to conduct a thorough examination of the history of WKU’s “naming protocols,” explore options for how WKU might address those that might be problematic, and make recommendations for university DEI leadership to consider. In 2021, the Task Force report included recommendations pertaining to Jonesville (Naming_and_Symbols_Taskforce.pdf). In Fall 2022, WKU will host a Jonesville Reconciliation reception and invite those still living as well as decedents of Jonesville to campus to share stories and discuss plans for a commemorative art installation and academic symposium. Other tasks to address concerns include an updated reporting systems for harassment and assault, hiring an Executive Director and Title IX coordinator for the new Office of Institutional Equity, ramping up inclusivity training for faculty and staff from an outside vendor (Catharsis).

WKU has also decided to begin conducting the National Survey for Student Engagement (NSSE) and the Faculty Survey of Student Engagement (FSSE). Both surveys now include the option to add addition modules, one of which is diversity, equity, and inclusion. The survey is much like the one WKU designed in-house, but the NSSE and FSSE surveys are nationally-normed. Beginning in spring 2022, we will use those modules instead of our own. Data collected thus far will be used as baseline markers. The survey modules will still be added on a rotating basis, faculty and staff in even numbered years and students in odd numbered years, becoming a permanent part of our yearly DEI assessment plan.

Strategy 3: Establish an Institute for Inclusive Teaching (for faculty)/Academy for Workplace Inclusiveness (for staff)

In collaboration with the Center for Innovative Teaching and Learning (CITL) and the Provost’s Office, WKU created the DEI Community of Practice in the fall of 2020. Six Faculty Fellows were choses through an application process based on their proven commitment to teaching and learning innovation and relentless pursuit of addressing DEI at WKU and beyond. The Faculty Fellows were charged with designing modules for what would be called the ONE WKU Inclusive Teaching Academy (ITA). The launched its first call for participants in late Fall 2021 and the first academy began in spring 2022.

The ITA was designed to become a part of the CPE’s Cultural Competence Certificate Program (approved bit the CPE in Fall 2021) and follows the A4 model:

Module 1: Integrating Inclusivity into Course Set-Up (Competencies addressed: Awareness (A1); Acknowledgment (A2))
Two of the goals for this module will include:
• Articulating the impact of the assumptions that underlie the faculty’s teaching, classroom, and curricular goals.
• Recognizing how the instructor’s culture shapes expectations of student behavior, learning, and performance in the classroom.

Module 2: Course and Classroom Climate (Competencies addressed: Acknowledgment (A2); Acceptance (A3)). This module’s focuses on facilitating and participating in courageous conversations with students inside and outside the classroom allows for a deeper dive into the concept of intersectionality. The very act of conducting intentionally courageous conversations leads to reflection on how our identities impact those with whom we interact and explore how
identities are influenced by several cultural categories. Furthermore, because the faculty
will engage in simulated scenarios of courageous and tough conversations, faculty will be able to identify their own personal biases and how they shape their worldview while determining how to facilitate conversations that allow for opposing views that challenge one’s assumptions and beliefs.

Module 3: Teaching with Transparency (Competencies addressed: Acknowledgment (A2); Acceptance (A3)). Given that this module focuses specifically on designing assignments with transparency, it directly acknowledges the idea of a hidden curriculum. By making expectations and standards visible and legible, this module asks faculty to examine and explore their own
privilege. To discuss how our identities impact those with whom we interact
acknowledges faculty privilege as members of a PWI of higher education.

Module 4: Grading for Equity (Competencies addressed: Awareness (A1); Acknowledgment (A2); Acceptance (A3); Action (A4)) By the end of the final module, the academy participants will have examined various approaches to grading, evaluated and corrected their own impact of implicit biases on grading, and designed more equitable classroom grading strategies. Given that grading is very much conditioned by implicit bias and can, therefore, be a form of manifesting a
micro-aggression that can have a long-lasting and deleterious impact on a student’s academic performance, this is a module essential for the academic success of our students.

Since this initiative was new in 2021-2022, we just have one year of data. The collection process and assessment needs some fine-tuning, but we are off to a really good start.

The WKU Inclusive Teaching Academy (ITA), an initiative of the “One WKU” campaign, is four-month professional development opportunity for all faculty ranks. Faculty from each of the five WKU colleges will be selected through a competitive application process each semester.
The ITA will launch its inaugural cohort in January 2022. The ITA was created with the following outcomes in mind:
• To introduce and/or deepen participants' knowledge of inclusive and culturally responsive teaching.
• To create opportunities for participants to apply evidence-based DEI principles to course
• design and pedagogy.
• To offer a collegial space for participants to reflect on their current and proposed teaching
• practices.
• To grow the community of practitioners focused on inclusivity.
• In order to assess the ITA outcomes, faculty were asked to bring a syllabus to the academy’s first meeting. As the program progressed, faculty were asked to incorporate what they had learned from each module into their syllabus. At the end of the academy, faculty submitted a completed revised syllabus. A team of assessors from CITL evaluated the syllabi using a rubric as follows (see examples attached starting with “ITA”):
• The syllabus feedback received from Module 1 is incorporated and rationale is provided for the inclusive changes that were made to curriculum design and content (met/not met)
• A diversity statement is present with rationale explaining how the statement represents the instructor’s commitment to upholding standards that support diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) (met/not met)
• The outlined assessment strategy reflects grading practices that are equitable for all students, prioritizing the achievement of learning outcomes over subjectively interpreted behaviors (e.g., participation) (met/not met)
• Rationale is provided to explain how changes made to at least three of the following course components represent diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) (met/not met):
o instructional materials
o classroom activities
o assignments
o grading
o other course content and/or policies

Faculty who received “not met” for one or more outcomes were contacted and offered assistance in making these changes. In addition to this assessment, faculty will be surveyed about the efficacy of their changes at the end of fall 2022. They will also be asked to reflect on changes in areas like classroom culture, grading awareness, belonging and inclusion, etc. If they do not teach the course that semester, they will receive a survey after they teach the course the next time.

The next step is to launch a similar program for staff. The WKU Staff Cultural Competence Certificate (WC3), an initiative of the “ONE WKU” campaign, will be a four-month professional development opportunity for all staff. A maximum of 20 staff will be selected for each cohort via an application process each semester. The certificate course will launch its inaugural cohort in May 2023.

The certificate course for staff was created to fulfill four interrelated functions:
• To introduce and/or deepen participants' knowledge of diversity, equity, and inclusion in higher education.
• To offer a collegial space for participants to reflect on their current thoughts and practices.
• To grow the community of practitioners focused on inclusivity.

The course is designed to develop advocates rather than experts. The course’s facilitator(s) and its architect will not assume the role of authority on DEI issues and will not seek to train participants to become experts. Rather, the goal is to cultivate a mindset of continuous growth through praxis and reflection as a way to foster DEI advocacy at WKU.

The course is a four-month program in which staff will complete a study online content, complete assignments, and meet once a month to reflect, and discuss concepts as well as how to implement key principles of cultural competence and diversity management to work effectively with students and colleagues. In general, the purpose of these modules is to provide a framework of understanding so that participants can continue learning and growing beyond the module and eventually, develop greater understanding and effectiveness to recognize, listen, educate yourself, adapt where needed, and act. On average, staff will spend approximately two to three (2-3) hours reviewing and completing activities in each module and approximately two (2) hours in each face-to-face meeting each month. It is anticipated that staff will spend approximately 36 hours completing the course.

The course’s curriculum is composed of one foundational module and four key content modules:
• Module 1: Foundational Concepts
• Module 2: Knowing Yourself
• Module 3: Working with Students
• Module 4: Working with Colleagues/Peers
• Module 5: Building Cultural Competence and Basic Helping Skills

Each module will continue for a month and will be broken up into three weekly sessions that will allow for an overview, discussion, and reflection of each topic. Sessions will be conducted
asynchronously and face-to-face. All resources will be provided to the participants in an online format.

In addition to the faculty and staff academies, our WKU Provost’s DEI Fellows are working on yet another state-approved program for students. The student version of the Cultural Competence Certificate will feature an app-based DEI tutorial, outside cultural enhancement events, and a stackable course micro-credentialing process. We are expected to have that ready for proposal in fall 2022 with an expected start date of spring/summer 2023.


Strategy 4: Conduct diversity workshops/trainings for all new WKU hires as part of the on-boarding process.

This strategy has been revised since 2019-2020 and is new this year, so most of the data is from a pilot study/initiative. For this new strategy, we combined the notions “Promote equity and inclusion on campus in order to create a positive campus climate that embraces diversity” and “Formalize mechanisms to infuse cultural competency within all aspects of the institution” to create a measurable strategy. This is an additional strategy making the wording more indicative of a strategy rather than broad goals.

In 2020, WKU appointed a new Associate Provost of Faculty & Academic Excellence. Part of the responsibility included in this position is the on-boarding process of new faculty. Past methods for new faculty orientation included a week-long process of touring campus, getting an ID, creating email accounts, introductions, and all the “nut and bolts” of the campus. After that week, not much was done to further conversations and explore the values and mission of the institution. In response to the national climate and anti-racist efforts on our campus, it was important for us to include some sort mandatory DEI training for new faculty and staff hired at WKU. Initially we piloted the project with faculty since they are essentially hired and begin employment at the same time. The shared start date made the group large enough to assess.

All new hires in fall 2020 were required to attend and participate in the ONE WKU Academy Pilot. Participants in the pilot Academy included all new employees (n = 11), all CITL DEI Faculty Fellows (n = 6), and members of the DEI workgroup (n = 14). The sessions include three, two-hour sessions: a) Microaggressions/biases, b) Intercultural/Interracial Communication, and c) Allyship. These cultural competence workshops will use the book, “What it I say Something Wrong? 25 Habits of Culturally Effective People” as a text. In addition, new hires were required to attend three other events offer by the ONE WKU Campaign (Deliberative Dialogues, Book & Media Groups, CITL Inclusivity Workshops, etc.), two Deliberative Dialogues in Spring 2021, and complete a survey designed to measure their experience in the Academy.


According to the Theory of Planned Behavior (TPB) (or Theory of Reasoned Action) interventions, or initiatives, can be assessed by measuring participants behavioral intentions. In order to assess the efficacy of the ONE WKU Academy’s impact on new faculty hires, the participants were asked to rank their intentions to engage in certain behaviors based on a scale from strongly agree to strongly disagree. The survey was used to measure all participants, so identifiers were used to pull new hires only. The questionnaire was designed to measure the following: 1) Attitudes, 2) Behavioral Intention, 3) Subjective norms, and 4) Social norms. In order to gather this information, the following scale was used:
• I would like to join an organization that emphasizes getting to know people from different countries.
• Persons with disabilities can teach me things I could not learn elsewhere.
• Getting to know someone of another race is generally an uncomfortable experience for me.
• I would like to go to dances that feature music from other countries.
• I can best understand someone after I get to know how he/she/they is both similar to and different from me.
• I am only at ease with people of my race.
• I often listen to music of other cultures.
• Knowing how a person differs from me greatly enhances our friendship.
• It’s really hard for me to feel close to a person from another race (reverse coded).
• I am interested in learning about the many cultures that have existed in this world.
• In getting to know someone, I like knowing both how he/she differs from me and is similar to me.
• It is very important that a friend agrees with me on most issues (reverse coded).
• I attend events where I might get to know people from different racial backgrounds.
• Knowing about the different experiences of other people helps me understand my own problems better.
• I often feel irritated by persons of a different race (reversed coded).
Crosstabulations by “new hire” and scaled items indicated that 71.38% of the new hire either agreed or strongly agreed on items related to positive intent and 75.5% disagreed or strongly disagreed on reverse coded items (negative intent) (see ONE WKU Assessment Data.csv).


This strategy could be considered “partially implemented,” because it was considered a pilot with faculty only. There were several issues that occurred with the roll-out of this initiative as well that will be corrected in Fall 2021.

First, the “new hire” project began in conjunction with the ONE WKU Academy Pilot, which meant that new faculty were grouped with participants who were testing the methodology of the project (the CITL DEI Fellows and the DEI Workgroup). While this approach seemed like a good idea at the time, the goals of the participants were vastly different, so Zoom discussion rooms were not balanced well. While the comments were positive about the experience, the new hires really did not know why they were involved in the project. Going forward, only new faculty will be included in the workshops. We also plan to use the Catharsis Not Suitable for Work microaggression training as an introduction, with the DEI on-boarding sessions only occurring in the fall. The hope is the Inclusive Teaching Academy will be available for all interested parties every spring; new hires can be included.

Second, the intention was to do a pre-test/post-test so we could get an idea of participant attitudes and behavioral intentions before and after the two-semester program. In the process of planning the sessions, coordinating the book & media groups, and writing deliberative dialogue materials, the design of the survey got lost in the shuffle. It is imperative that assessment include the pre-test/post-test or some form of valid assessment next year.

Third, the faculty cohort (n = 11) was rather small, so validity is difficult. We wanted to test the pilot project before the 60+ approved positions were filled. We now have a better idea of what the training workshops should look like and we can incorporate “lessons learned” from the pilot for this much larger group. We have also implemented some of these strategies for the on-boarding of new, internal-hire departments heads. Those efforts include dealing with DEI issues in relation to faculty and students.

Finally, we are working on a similar program for staff in conjunction with an Academy for Workplace Inclusiveness (staff only). Since staff start employment as varied times, it is a little more difficult to create a timeline and must be driven by when staff are hired and how many are hired at one time. We plan to start our first staff diversity trainings/workshops in Fall 2022.

The results of the assessment are shared with the Engagement & Opportunity Workgroup for them to disseminate as well as all of the unit committees. It is also emailed to campus and posted on the workgroup website.