UNDERGRADUATE STUDENTS
GOAL 2: Provide an equitable and inclusive environment for students. STRATEGY A: CONDUCT A DIETRICH COLLEGE CULTURAL CLIMATE SURVEY FOR STUDENTS Barriers to access and a lack of equitable and inclusive policies and pedagogical practices have undermined retention, academic and professional success and sense of belonging for people from historically underrepresented groups in higher education. Nationally, college-bound high school students are becoming increasingly diverse on multiple demographic dimensions (e.g., racially underrepresented groups, women, LGBTQIA+, low socioeconomic status and first-generation students). In the last 5 years, as Dietrich has grown from roughly 1,100 to 1,300 undergraduates, the student body has become increasingly diverse; there has been a 40% increase in both Asian American and Hispanic students and a 14% increase in international students. During this period, the number of Black students has not increased (from CMU Institutional Research & Analysis). An evolving student body will have changing needs that must be proactively tracked along with regular assessments of the efficacy of resources, programming, curriculum and opportunities for professional development and advancement. Students’ identities are strongly connected to demographics and often intersect (e.g., first-generation students may also be from low-income families or an underrepresented racial group), thus requiring universities to practice nuanced and culturally responsive forms of engagement that impact student sense of belonging and self-efficacy, as well as academic performance and success. Delivering a Dietrich College climate survey, similar to the VOICES survey administered university- wide to students last year, will allow for a deeper focus on Dietrich students and the unique diversity, inclusion, equity and access (DIEA) needs. It also offers an opportunity to prioritize goals based on student input to improve college climate. By administering the survey regularly, Dietrich can track progress made toward strategic DIEA goals over time, while obtaining a “climate pulse check” that can signal where to allocate DIEA resources in a responsive way. Additionally, the survey can give a college-wide perspective on DIEA issues and compare views and experiences between subgroups within Dietrich College. We propose to administer an established, widely-used climate survey to specifically assess DIEA issues that impact Dietrich undergraduate students The survey will provide insight to the undergraduate student experience within Dietrich as it pertains to issues of diversity, inclusion, equity and access. These measures can be used to benchmark progress and efficacy of DIEA initiatives against other colleges, CMU as a whole and peer institutions with published Culturally Engaging Campus Environments (CECE) Project survey data. CMU currently has access to the CECE survey materials developed by the National Institute for Transformation and Equity (NITE), led by Sam Museus at Indiana University Aside from already being used here at CMU, the CECE survey is annually administered at over 500 colleges and universities across the country Critically, the CECE survey was developed to assess specific challenges to an institutions DIEA initiatives. We aim to tailor this survey to gauge climate and identify issues unique to Dietrich College.
DIETRICH COLLEGE DIVERSITY, EQUITY AND INCLUSION PLAN
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