Members of the CU community will have the opportunity beginning this week to share their perspective on how well the university is implementing its commitments to diversity and inclusion.
All CU students, faculty and staff will be asked to participate in the Diversity Engagement Survey (DES), aimed at assessing efforts in diversity, inclusion, and equity across CU and providing insight that will be used to improve the university’s culture. It will be delivered via email beginning Monday, Oct. 28, and will remain open for three weeks.
“Diversity and inclusion are core values and a guiding principle at CU, so it’s important for us to understand how we are doing,” said Patrick O’Rourke, vice president, general counsel and secretary to the Board of Regents. His office will oversee the administration of the survey. He worked with faculty and staff governance groups, as well as the Board of Regents and administration, to fine tune the survey, developed at the University of Massachusetts.
It will be administered by DataStar, Inc., an independent survey management firm, which will conduct the survey anonymously and analyze results independently. The survey has been used at other colleges and universities across the United States, which will allow DataStar to provide benchmark data.
Faculty, staff and students will be able to complete the brief (10 minutes or so), voluntary survey confidentially. All responses go directly to DataStar and are reported back to CU in aggregate form. No data will be reported to the university in a way that would identify anyone based on responses. A list of frequently asked questions is posted here.
Access survey here
To access the survey, click the following URL or copy this address into your web browser:
https://www.edatastar.com/des/colorado/
We greatly appreciate your time in taking the survey and your support for this important initiative.
O’Rourke said he expects results will allow CU to improve its diversity and inclusion efforts, as well as to inform the systemwide Leaning Into the Future strategic plan, which is in process.
“CU values the contributions and perspective of each of its students, faculty, and staff members, but we need information about their experiences,” he said. “The survey will provide a better understanding of the strengths and weaknesses of our policies, practices and programs. It will also help to identify challenges to diversity and inclusion, create opportunities for improvement, and raise awareness of diversity- and inclusion-related efforts at CU.”
He said results will be shared widely across the university in early 2020. The report will show big-picture results at CU, but will also be broken down at the campus and college levels.
