See discussions, stats, and author profiles for this publication at: https://www.researchgate.net/publication/324068808 Iowa State University's Diversity Audit and Asset Inventory Technical Report · January 2014 CITATIONS READS 0 19 2 authors: Jerlando F. L. Jackson Lavar J Charleston University of Wisconsin–Madison University of Wisconsin–Whitewater 111 PUBLICATIONS 491 CITATIONS 29 PUBLICATIONS 71 CITATIONS SEE PROFILE SEE PROFILE All content following this page was uploaded by Jerlando F. L. Jackson on 11 April 2018. The user has requested enhancement of the downloaded file. 1 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS Iowa State University, along with the authors would like to acknowledge the in-kind contributions of Wisconsin’s Equity and Inclusion Laboratory (Wei LAB) at the University of Wisconsin-Madison to the production of this report. On behalf of Iowa State University, the authors of this report respectfully acknowledge individuals who contributed information presented in this report: Jeffery Johnson, President/CEO, Alumni Association, Iowa State University; Miles Lackey, Associate Vice President and Chief of Staff, Iowa State University; Gebre Tesfagiorgis, Director of Institutional Research, Iowa State University; Craig Ogilvie, Professor and Assistant Dean of the Graduate College, Iowa State University; Robin Kelley, Director of Equal Opportunity, Iowa State University; Jerry Stewart, Director of Department of Public Safety, Iowa State University; Carole Custer, Director of University Marketing, Iowa State University; Ryan Adserias, Research Associate, Wei LAB; Mauriell Amechi, Research Associate, Wei LAB; Jonathan Berhanu, Research Associate, Wei LAB; and Benjamin Toff, Editorial Associate, Wei LAB. Recommended Citation: Jackson, J. F. L., & Charleston, L. J. (2014). Iowa State University’s Diversity Audit and Asset Inventory. Ames, IA: Iowa State University. Cover and page layout and design by: LaVar J. Charleston Photos: University Marketing, Iowa State University Carver Hall Photo: Special Collections, Iowa State University Library Jack Trice Photos: Athletics Department, Iowa State University © Iowa State University This report is available for download at http://www.iastate.edu/. 2 TABLE OF CONTENTS EXECUTIVE SUMMARY ................................................................................................................................. 5 INTERVIEW THEMES AND FINDINGS .............................................................................................................................. 5 OBSERVATIONS BASED ON THE DIVERSITY AUDIT ........................................................................................................ 5 RECOMMENDATIONS BASED ON THE DIVERSITY AUDIT ................................................................................................. 6 IOWA STATE UNIVERSITY’S DIVERSITY AUDIT AND ASSET INVENTORY......................................... 7 INTRODUCTION ......................................................................................................................................................... 7 BACKGROUND ............................................................................................................................................................. 7 STATE OF IOWA DEMOGRAPHICS: A CALL TO ACTION FOR ISU ............................................................. 8 PROJECT OVERVIEW ........................................................................................................................................ 9 RESEARCH OBJECTIVES ............................................................................................................................................... 9 METHOD ..................................................................................................................................................................... 9 INTERVIEW METHOD ................................................................................................................................................... 9 DATA COLLECTION ................................................................................................................................................... 10 DATA ANALYSIS ....................................................................................................................................................... 10 PARTICIPANTS ........................................................................................................................................................... 10 DOCUMENT ANALYSIS METHOD ................................................................................................................................ 10 INTERVIEW THEMES AND FINDINGS ........................................................................................................... 12 PROMOTING DIVERSITY AND EQUITY ON CAMPUS ....................................................................................................... 12 CULTURAL AND ATTITUDINAL PRACTICES THAT PROMOTE OR IMPEDE INCLUSIVE ....................................................... 13 WORK AND LEARNING ENVIRONMENTS ...................................................................................................................... 13 RECRUITMENT, RETENTION, AND ORGANIZATIONAL CHANGE: ..................................................... 16 BEST PRACTICES FROM THE LITERATURE ............................................................................................ 16 RECRUITMENT AND RETENTION OF DIVERSE STUDENTS .............................................................................................. 17 RECRUITMENT AND RETENTION OF DIVERSE FACULTY AND STAFF .............................................................................. 19 ORGANIZATIONAL LEADERSHIP AND CHANGE ............................................................................................................ 20 SUMMARY OF BEST PRACTICES .................................................................................................................................. 22 INSTITUTIONAL DIVERSITY AND INCLUSION COMPARISONS ...................................................... 23 DIVERSITY INFRASTRUCTURE OPERATIONAL DEFINITIONS ..................................................................................... 24 LAND GRANT COMPARISONS ................................................................................................................................. 25 BIG 12 COMPARISONS ............................................................................................................................................ 28 OBSERVATIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS BASED ON DIVERSITY AUDIT DATA, BEST PRACTICES LITERATURE, AND INSTITUTIONAL COMPARISON DATA ....................................... 31 OBSERVATIONS ....................................................................................................................................................... 31 AREAS IN NEED OF IMPROVEMENTS TO SUPPORT AN INCLUSIVE WORK AND LEARNING ENVIRONMENT ................ 31 CURRENT PRACTICES OF EXCELLENCE ON CAMPUS ................................................................................................. 32 RECOMMENDATIONS .................................................................................................................................. 34 REFERENCES .................................................................................................................................................... 37 DOCUMENTS REVIEWED ............................................................................................................................... 43 3 APPENDIX A: DIVERSITY ASSET INVENTORY ......................................................................................... 44 APPENDIX B: RECRUITMENT AND RETENTION BEST PRACTICES FROM THE LITERATURE .... 72 APPENDIX C: UNABRIDGED RICH NARRATIVE TEXTS ..................................................................... 87 4 EXECUTIVE SUMMARY The principle goals of this diversity audit are Assess Cultural Practices and/or Attitudes that to spark an institution-wide focus on equity Promote or Impede Inclusive Work and and diversity on campus and to ultimately Learning Environments further the institution’s commitment to . The recruitment of diverse groups was diverse constituents. To accomplish these viewed as strong, but retention was goals, it is essential to fully understand perceived as weak. existing diversity assets and attitudes toward . Sensitivity training is believed to be them on campus and in the surrounding absent on campus but warranted. community. Likewise, it was necessary to . Coordination of existing diversity comprehensively assess existing institutional efforts was championed over practices and understand how they compare reorganization. to known best practices in the literature. The primary focus of the Search and Diversity at Iowa State University is also Screen process was perceived to foster measured against two peer groups (i.e., land a diverse pool of applicants, rather than grant universities and institutions in the Big diverse hires. 12). The following is a summary of interview themes and findings as well as OBSERVATIONS BASED ON THE observations and recommendations based on DIVERSITY AUDIT the diversity audit. Understand Areas in Need of Improvement to Support an Inclusive Work and Learning INTERVIEW THEMES AND FINDINGS Environment Assess How Well the Institution is Promoting . The living environment