Overall Rating Silver - expired
Overall Score 54.11
Liaison Sarah Williams
Submission Date Feb. 7, 2020

STARS v2.2

Whitman College
PA-6: Assessing Diversity and Equity

Status Score Responsible Party
Complete 0.00 / 1.00 Elissa Brown
Campus Sustainability Coordinator
Office of Sustainability, Physical Plant Services
"---" indicates that no data was submitted for this field

Has the institution engaged in a structured assessment process during the previous three years to improve diversity, equity and inclusion on campus?:
No

A brief description of the assessment process and the framework, scorecard(s) and/or tool(s) used:
Whitman College, in its effort to nurture an inclusive, diverse and equitable learning and working environment embarked on a climate study during the 2015-16 academic year to better understand the experiences of all members of the Whitman Community.

This study was conducted by Rankin and Associates, who are an independent research organization and have done over a hundred of these kinds of studies across the country, in a variety of colleges and universities.. In Phase 1 Focus groups were created. In Phase 2 WIDE and R & A used the information from the focus group to construct the questions for the campus wide survey.The survey contained 104 items (23 qualitative and 81 quantitative) The survey included open ended questions for respondents to provide commentary. All members of the campus community were invited to take the survey via online or paper form. The final report was published in November 2016.

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?:
Yes

Does the assessment process address student outcomes related to diversity, equity and success?:
Yes

Does the assessment process address employee outcomes related to diversity and equity?:
Yes

A brief description of the most recent assessment findings and how the results are used in shaping policy, programs, and initiatives:
1,089 surveys were complete for a response rate of 52%. The results showed 4 areas with Opportunities for Improvement: 1) Members of several constituent groups indicated that they experiences exclusionary, intimidating, offensive and/or hostile conduct. 2) Several constituent groups indicated that they were less comfortable with the overall campus climate, workplace climate and classroom climate, 3) Faculty and Staff/Administrator respondents - Challenges with work-life balance 4) Faculty Respondents - Challenges with Faculty work. The WIDE council has committees dedicated to working on improving theses areas and reports to the cabinet to affect policies. The Intercultural Center Team is using these results to create programming for students.

Are the results of the most recent structured diversity and equity assessment shared with the campus community?:
Yes

A brief description of how the assessment results are shared with the campus community:
In the late fall of 2016 the results for the Campus Climate Survey were presented to the campus community and the presentation is currently posted on the Whitman Diversity, Equity and Inclusion website. The Findings of the Climate Study in more detail is also posted on the Whitman website and it was used to develop our strategic plan and lives in our strategic priorities which are evaluated and updated every year. Additionally, during the 2018 -19 academic year WIDE led an inclusive process for developing a community diversity statement that reflects the values and priorities of the Whitman community and is broadly used.

Are the results (or a summary of the results) of the most recent structured diversity and equity assessment publicly posted?:
Yes

The diversity and equity assessment report or summary (upload):
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Website URL where the diversity and equity assessment report or summary is publicly posted:

Optional Fields 

Website URL where information about the institution’s diversity and equity assessment efforts is available:
Additional documentation to support the submission:
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Data source(s) and notes about the submission:
Link to the 2016 report: https://drive.google.com/file/d/0BwZPN_7qHCG3bjk1elhpSVdZY1k/view

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.