Thompson Rivers University
PA-5: Assessing Diversity and Equity

Several assessments have taken place at TRU in the last three years:

TRU Staff and Faculty Diversity and Inclusion Survey (2017/2018)
All TRU staff and faculty were asked to take the TRU Diversity and Inclusion Survey, which consisted of 5 short questions.. They were informed at the start of the survey that their responses would be confidential. Here is the introduction to the survey from the TRU Human Resources web page on Diversity:
Diversity and Inclusion Survey
At TRU we value the diversity and the unique cultural perspectives of all students and employees. As part of our priority to increase intercultural understanding and remove workplace barriers, TRU has created a Diversity and Inclusion Survey for all TRU Faculty and Staff. Please take 5 minutes to help us find out how diverse our campus is and make our work environment more open to everyone!

Student Retention: Indigenous Baccalaureate Students (Fall 2017).
Summary:
This report examines the pathways of Indigenous students after they begin one of the following Kamloops baccalaureate programs at TRU in a fall semester: Arts, Business Administration, Computing Science, Fine Arts, Natural Resource Science, Science, and Tourism Management. A group of new students who start in the same semester is called a “cohort.” Students in these cohorts may have started in a new credential type (for example, moved from a TRU diploma to a TRU baccalaureate program), or they may be new to TRU. TRU”s selected baccalaureate programs account for the largest intake of new students each year;11% of the students in the Fall 2016 cohort self-identified to TRU as Indigenous .
Findings:
The retention rate of Indigenous students in the Kamloops programs (Arts, Business Administration, Computing Science, Fine Arts, Natural Resource Science, Science, and Tourism) has fluctuated over the past nine years. Due to the smaller number of Indigenous students, the retention rates fluctuates more year to year than the overall new student cohort. Of the 141 new Indigenous baccalaureate students who began studies in these seven programs at Kamloops campus in Fall 2016, 51% (72 students) returned in Fall 2017 (in any program, on any campus). Half of the students who left before completing a credential left between the first and the second fall semester.
Retention Rates for Indigenous students (selected Baccalaureate Programs in Kamloops):
The smallest Indigenous cohort size in the last nine years was in fall 2010 (76 students), and the highest was in Fall 2016 with 141 students (Figure 2). The peak in cohort size and fall to fall retention for the cohort Fall 2016 resulted in 72 students continuing into the second fall semester, which is the largest number of the students retained over all the cohorts. Although the retention rate decreased for the cohort in fall 2016, there were still 12 more students retained in the second fall semester, compared to cohort fall 2015 due to the larger cohort size of cohort fall 2016.

National Survey of Student Engagement (NSSE) (2017):
Executive Summary:
The National Survey of Student Engagement (NSSE) is an internationally recognized instrument for measuring student engagement. Student engagement describes the time and effort students put into their studies, as well as how the institution supports student learning. NSSE includes over 100 questions related to student satisfaction, activities, and perceptions of the institution’s contributions to growth and development. TRU participated in NSSE for the sixth time in 2017. All Baccalaureate first year and fourth year students at TRU were invited to participate in winter 2017, and TRU received 361 responses from first year students (23% response rate) and 276 responses from fourth year students (31% response rate). This report focuses on the 76 TRU respondents (12%) who indicated they were Indigenous, and provides comparisons to TRU domestic, non-Indigenous students.
Overall Satisfaction
NSSE includes two overall satisfaction questions. 89% of first year Indigenous respondents and 88% of fourth year Indigenous respondents said their overall educational experience was ““good”“ or “”excellent”“. 84% of first year Indigenous respondents and 85% of fourth year respondents said they would ““probably yes”“ or ““definitely yes”“ come back to TRU if they were given a chance to start over. Overall, the satisfaction of first year TRU Indigenous respondents was similar to domestic, non-Indigenous TRU respondents with the only exception being higher percentages of first and fourth year Indigenous respondents said ““definitely yes”” compared to domestic, non-Indigenous respondents.
Development and Growth
Fourth year Indigenous TRU respondents said that TRU had made contributions to their growth and development in many areas, where the greatest contributions were reported for ““speaking clearly and effectively”“, “thinking critically and analytically”, and “writing clearly and effectively”. A higher number of Indigenous respondents indicated “quite a bit” or “very much” contribution on these three items compared to domestic, non-Indigenous respondents.
High Impact Practices
High Impact Practices (HIPS) are activities that are connected to student learning. HIPs include capstone projects, study abroad, internships, etc. 76%76% of fourth year Indigenous TRU respondents had participated in two or more HIPs, compared to 82% of domestic, non-Indigenous respondents. First year Indigenous students indicated similar participation in HIPs compared to domestic, non-Indigenous TRU respondents.
Engagement Indicators
NSSE groups related questions into 10 Engagement Indicators. Scores are calculated for each indicator, and can be compared across student year-of-study and within or between institutions. Similar to domestic, non-Indigenous respondents, the highest scores for first year Indigenous TRU students included Effective Teaching Practices, Quality of Interactions, and Learning Strategies. Fourth year Indigenous respondents scored significantly higher than domestic, non-Indigenous respondents in Discussions with Diverse Others.

How findings and results from the TRU Staff and Faculty Diversity and Inclusion Survey are used in shaping TRU policy, programs and initiatives:
The survey results from 2018 revealed how 627 staff and faculty respondents self-identified themselves as being Indigenous, Female, Minority Sexual Orientation, Person with Disability, or Visible Minority. The possible answers were “No”, “Prefer not to Disclose”, or “Yes”:

Indigenous Person: 567, 15, 45
Female: 199, 14, 414
Minority Sexual Orientation: 582, 23, 22
Person with Disability: 541, 31, 55
Visible Minority: 538, 20, 69

The results will be used to assess the increasing diversity at for 2018/19. There is currently a diversity committee that runs events and awareness activities, and the diversity database for all staff tracks the 5 distinct areas from above (Indigenous Person, Female, Minority Sexual Orientation, Person with Disability, and Visible Minority). All TRU hiring committees are trained on attracting diverse candidates.

The findings for the two Indigenous student assessments will be reviewed and acted upon by senior executives in order to improve the over-all experience of Indigenous students. This is in keeping with one of TRU”s strategic priorities (2014-2019), which is Increasing Intercultural Understanding:
TRU will prioritize programs and practices that support diversity, inclusion and
intercultural understanding between our Indigenous, local, regional and global
communities in the context of:
• The indigenization of our university through the inclusion of traditional
and contemporary Indigenous teaching, learning, knowledge, research
and creative practice
• The internationalization of our university through the inclusion
of globally-engaged teaching, learning, knowledge, research and
creative practice
• The recognition of the diversity and uniqueness of Canadian society,
including a local and BC perspective.
• The creation of a culture of inclusion in all aspects of university work and life

They are open to anyone to see from this website: https://www.tru.ca/sustain/initiatives/reporting.html (under 'TRU AASHE STARS Reports' see the bullet 'Assessing Diversity and Equity')

Sources:
Regarding the staff and faculty assessment: Larry Phillips and Paul Archer from TRU HR office - May 2018 - https://www.tru.ca/hr.html
Regarding the two student assessments, the TRU Integrated Planning and Effectiveness office - May 2018 - https://www.tru.ca/ipe.html