HSC Team Members:
Hanover Research administered its Campus Cultural Assessment to HSC faculty, staff and students this past spring. The purpose of the assessment was to capture the perceptions of HSC community members in equity-related areas to help inform HSC’s next steps in strengthening a culture of diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI). The assessment received 894 respondents (25% of the total campus population: 62% of the respondents were employees, and 38% were students).
The assessment explored the four areas below. In each category, the overall feedback was generally positive.
Overall Perceptions and Priorities
- A slight majority of respondents positively affirm HSC’s commitment and support for a culture of DEI.
Personal Experiences
- Nearly all respondents feel safe, respected for their identity and sense of community at HSC.
Employee Perceptions
- While most employee respondents believe that their school/department provides equal access for staff members to quality professional development, many employee respondents do not believe HSC’s faculty members are racially or ethnically diverse or reflective of the diversity within the student population.
Student Resources and Instruction
- Student respondents, especially those from marginalized groups, report limited equity-focused discussions or encouragement to engage with equity-related issues in their coursework.
Recommendations
Based on these findings, Hanover recommended four opportunities for improvement; these findings align with the independent feedback and observations provided to the RISE Team by employees and students:
- Additional Training and Resources to mitigate bias.
- Review of policies and existing resources to increase awareness of discrimination and harassment.
- Increase integration of DEI into curricula.
- Increase support of marginalized groups through the formation of affinity groups.
Current Progress
- The HSC Strategic Roadmap prioritizes creating an inclusive and innovative work environment for the future, with a key result to Strengthen inclusivity on the HSC campus through our Values and Code of Culture.
- HSC is a designated National Coalition Building Institute Campus Affiliate. HSC has 15 trained staff with plans to add additional trainers in March 2022. These trainers will lead campus workshops and education about “Welcoming Diversity” and “Controversial Issues.” The workshops will begin by April 2022.
- HSC provides education on discrimination and harassment annually to employees and students. The HSC Title IX coordinator has developed additional education and information about complaints and hearings. There will be additional education provided about the resources available to assist with reporting, voicing concerns, grievances and investigations.
- The Department of Academic Innovation and the RISE Team sponsored a seminar about culturally responsive teaching. Plans for a spring and summer series of workshops and seminars are underway and will address areas such as: recognizing cultural characteristics and contributions; cultural diversity; culturally responsive curriculum designs and instructional strategies; implicit bias and macroaggressions in the learning environment; and practical tools and strategies for addressing bias and macroaggressions.
Please use this link to Campus Cultural Assessment Results where you will find a dashboard displaying aggregate results and responses by employee and student demographics. The dashboard displays results from assessment questions organized thematically on each tab. The accordion menu will provide you with additional details about the four areas of assessment. Please be mindful that the percentages are based on the responses of 894 total respondents (25% of the total campus population).
Instructions:
- Once logged into the site, please click the yellow Sign In tab (you will not need to add your credentials).
- You will first see the respondent demographic dashboard.
- Next you will see the graph/dashboard.
- At the top of the graph select one of the themes – you will be able to toggle between employees’ and students’ responses using the bottom tab.
- The corresponding tabs below that will give you additional insight and details on responses for each theme.
Thank you for your continued support,
HSC RISE Team
Redefining Inclusive Solutions for Equity