| Overall Rating | Gold |
|---|---|
| Overall Score | 72.67 |
| Liaison | Aurora Sharrard |
| Submission Date | Feb. 13, 2024 |
University of Pittsburgh
PA-6: Assessing Diversity and Equity
| Status | Score | Responsible Party |
|---|---|---|
|
1.00 / 1.00 |
Cheryl
Ruffin Institutional Equity Manager Diversity & Inclusion |
Has the institution engaged in a structured assessment process during the previous three years to improve diversity, equity and inclusion on campus?:
A brief description of the assessment process and the framework, scorecard(s) and/or tool(s) used:
The University of Pittsburgh has used various tools to assess equity and inclusion on campus as described below.
DIVERSITY AND EQUITY CAMPUS CLIMATE SURVEY
During the reporting period the Diversity and Equity Campus Climate Survey was administered by the Office of Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion (OEDI).
The University of Pittsburgh partnered with the Higher Education Data Sharing Consortium (HEDS) organization and administered its Diversity and Equity Campus Climate Survey in the spring of 2023. The survey was open for responses for three weeks. It was intended to gauge their perceptions of their University’s climate, perceptions of how Pitt supports diversity and equity, and their experiences with discrimination and harassment at Pitt. All employees were invited to participate in the survey and 26% responded.
The survey, took about 15 minutes to complete, questions asked included:
1. How often do you interact with and how comfortable are you with undocumented immigrants, people from other races/ethnicities, those with different political views or religions or sexual orientation, older or younger people, non-native English speakers, those from other countries or socioeconomic backgrounds, or people with disabilities?
2. Have you heard disparaging remarks about different groups and have those remarks come from faculty, staff, students or community members?
3. If you have seen or experienced discrimination or harassment, do you know how to report it and how the process works?
DIVERSITY DASHBOARDS
Since 2020, Pitt has maintained an annual assessment of current trends in student outcomes and employee recruitment and retention for under-represented groups. Pitt is dedicated to changing internal practices, structures, and attitudes in pursuit of a more equitable and just University. As a way to ensure transparency and accountability, the https://www.diversity.pitt.edu/social-justice website provides information about initiatives, tracks progress via the Diversity Dashboards, and serves as a resource hub for community members.
The University diversity dashboards include interactive staff and faculty diversity pages. Drop-down filters are available on each dashboard that allow users to view data for a specific subgroup of interest. In the interest of transparency and completeness, Pitt is posting race data in two ways: first, as required by the federal government (IPEDS), and second, to include all staff who identify with a particular race of interest, regardless of other race/ethnicity categories with which they identify.]
Pitt Staff Diversity Dashboard: https://www.diversity.pitt.edu/social-justice/staff-diversity-dashboard
Pitt Faculty Diversity Dashboard: https://www.diversity.pitt.edu/social-justice/faculty-dashboard
Specific to students, the University’s Diversity Dashboards provide student outcomes by race, including retention, 4-year graduation rate, and 6-year graduation rate: https://www.diversity.pitt.edu/social-justice/student-outcomes-diversity-dashboard . This dashboard is also filterable by School, Pell recipient status, gender, and international status.
Does the assessment process address campus climate by engaging stakeholders to assess the attitudes, perceptions and behaviors of employees and students, including the experiences of underrepresented groups?:
Does the assessment process address student outcomes related to diversity, equity and success?:
Does the assessment process address employee outcomes related to diversity and equity?:
A brief description of the most recent assessment findings and how the results are used in shaping policy, programs, and initiatives:
DIVERSITY AND EQUITY CAMPUS CLIMATE SURVEY
The survey results revealed distinctly different experiences for various constituents based on race, sexual orientation, and gender identity. Specifically, trans/non-binary, LGBQ, Black/African American, and Hispanic/Latino constituents had a worse sense of campus climate and experienced higher rates of discrimination and harassment.
The University will conduct focus groups on the results of the survey to better understand the experiences of those demographic groups with markedly different experiences on campus. Based on survey results and feedback from focus groups, an action plan will be developed to address areas of need specifically. Additionally, the University continues to employ initiatives and programming to further improve diversity, equity, and inclusion on campus.
DIVERSITY DASHBOARDS
The annual assessment of trends at Pitt for under-represented groups provides insight into what initiatives are successful and what programming changes are needed to alter internal practices, structures, and attitudes to create a more equitable and just Pitt.
The dashboards are used to monitor progress in key areas and to identify potential interventions. Some examples include, but are not limited to:
1. Inclusive hiring practices are being shaped and rolled out based on employee hiring and retention trends as seen in the diversity dashboards, as are the cluster hire initiatives for faculty positions.
2. The student success team monitors retention and graduation rates for students and then targets specific interventions towards certain student demographics to help ensure success.
Are the results of the most recent structured diversity and equity assessment shared with the campus community?:
A brief description of how the assessment results are shared with the campus community:
DIVERSITY AND EQUITY CAMPUS CLIMATE SURVEY
To date, presentations the Diversity and Equity Campus Climate Survey have been given to various audiences including members of the shared governance process. A public dashboard is in development and will be released approximately March 2024.
DIVERSITY DASHBOARDS
The Diversity Dashboards are publicly available online: https://www.diversity.pitt.edu/social-justice
Are the results (or a summary of the results) of the most recent structured diversity and equity assessment publicly posted?:
The diversity and equity assessment report or summary (upload):
Website URL where the diversity and equity assessment report or summary is publicly posted:
Website URL where information about the institution’s diversity and equity assessment efforts is available:
Additional documentation to support the submission:
Data source(s) and notes about the submission:
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.