The assessment was launched June 1. OVPDEMA is working alongside research and consulting organization Halualani & Associates to survey community members and gather data about the kinds of diversity efforts that have taken place at IU-Bloomington and IU-Purdue University Indianapolis throughout the past five years. Surveys for other campuses will open later. The IU-Bloomington survey is open to the public and closes Oct. 15.
In the survey, Halualani & Associates define a diversity effort or programs as “any major activity or program that promotes the active appreciation of all campus members in terms of their backgrounds, identities and experiences.”
Assistant Vice President of Strategy, Planning and Assessment at OVPDEMA Yolanda Treviño is facilitating work between IU and Halualani & Associates on the diversity assessment. She said this first assessment is being conducted partly because of outside requirements for the office.
“Professional and organizational standards require regular external assessments so that independent and expert advice and counsel can be provided,” Treviño said in an email.
Vice President for Diversity, Equity and Multicultural Affairs James Wimbush said he is excited to learn about what efforts have been carried out by IU community members and said he believes gathering as much feedback as possible is important.
“The challenge is to make sure that we capture everything that is being done that’s related to diversity, not just by the academic, support and service units, but also by student groups, alumni groups and advisory councils that are usually comprised of people from outside the University,” Wimbush said. “We need to capture everything that has been done so that we have a comprehensive picture of the types of diversity efforts that we have.”
Halualani & Associates has carried out similar diversity mapping and assessment efforts at other institutions of higher education.
Wimbush said working with an outside firm is helpful, not only for comparing diversity efforts being carried out by IU against those being carried out by its peers, but also for viewing IU’s efforts from a fresh perspective.
“Sometimes an institution can get in a place where a program or initiative has worked well for years and they keep doing it over and over again,” he said. “It sometimes takes outside eyes to look at it very objectively and to help you realize that its time has passed, that it’s time to do something different.”
The University-wide assessment will also review the structure of OVPDEMA. Wimbush said he expects the assessment to recognize when groups are carrying out similar diversity efforts and lead to opportunities for collaboration between them.
“A lot of people may be using a lot of resources and spending a lot of money for efforts that duplicate what other groups are doing,” Wimbush said. “It serves the University well when we can collaborate and achieve a bigger bang for our buck.”
The entire assessment is expected to last until 2017, but the first findings — the Diversity Efforts Mapping & Analysis for IU Bloomington and IUPUI — will be released in December.
