DE&I Pulse Survey Results
In his August 16
letter to campus,
Father John Jenkins charged each of us to “… live up to our highest ideals, making this community, rich in diversity, ever more one characterized by mutual respect, care for one another, and solidarity.” His letter recognized the many efforts across campus to advance diversity, equity and inclusion, but also affirmed there is much more to be done.
The importance placed on diversity by the University is true of Mendoza as well. My purpose in this column is to give you an idea of the current sentiments of College staff on DE&I-related matters by sharing the findings from the Mendoza Staff DE&I Pulse Survey conducted in May. I also want to provide an update on the work that has been done and/or is planned for the future in response to the feedback we received, as well as areas where we have great opportunities for continued advancement.
First, thank you to all who responded to the inaugural DE&I Pulse Survey. We had almost a 50% response rate to the anonymous survey which included over individual 125 comments. This information provided additional context to the quantitative responses. Your candor, transparency and suggestions were greatly appreciated
What did we learn?
- The most favorable responses related directly to immediate managers’ effectiveness to work with others. In addition, results suggested a strong sense of belonging within the College.
- The least favorable responses pertained to the areas of making a complaint of harassment/discrimination without fear of retaliation, a feeling of fair opportunities to succeed, feeling safe to speak up and satisfaction with procedures for resolving employee complaints.
- Collectively, the highest ratings were from exempt male staff members with 10-20 years of service; the lowest ratings were from non-exempt female staff members with less than 10 years of service.
- Comments covered a variety of topics, including leadership, faculty and staff differences; hiring, advancement and job opportunities; trust and respect; and general concerns and challenges. There was general appreciation for the work we’re doing, and at the same time, the sense that we have a lot of work to do.
Strengths-Weaknesses-Opportunities-Threats (SWOT)
The Staff DE&I Council analyzed the results and conducted a SWOT analysis that was later shared with the dean, associate deans and directors in the College. Following are key points in each category.
Strengths
- University and College commitment to advancing diversity, equity and inclusion aligned with Catholic Social Teaching.
- Existence of active DE&I councils, clubs and activities for staff, faculty and students.
- Proactive efforts to build DE&I awareness across Mendoza (e.g., calendar, intranet, student-facing page).
Weaknesses
- Limited diversity among staff, faculty and students across the College
- Limited coordination between faculty, staff and student groups working on DE&I initiatives
- Limited awareness of the full scope of diversity issues within the Mendoza community due to hesitancy to speak up.
Opportunities
- Creating a data-driven, actionable strategy with clearly defined, measurable, reported results.
- Tapping into experts in the College, on campus and in the local community
- Enhancing leadership engagement and presence.
Threats
- “Checking boxes” by focusing on short-term actions that don’t lead to meaningful change
- Fear of having conversations about race and culture
- Trust and accountability across College, individually and as a whole.
Next Steps
With approval and support from the dean and in partnership with associate deans and directors, the Council identified several key objectives to advance toward a diverse, equitable and inclusive environment for all.
These include:
- Launching, sustaining and driving traffic to our new College DE&I intranet site.
- Establishing metrics and dashboards for accountability and success across the College.
- Establishing College, team and individual OKRs/goals supporting the University’s strategic goals.
- Offering ongoing education opportunities such as workshops, speaker series and discussions.
- Continuing to offer the Compassionate Listening Circles.
- Creating and implementing a new hire survey to assess new staff members’ sense of belonging and inclusion in their first 30, 60 and 90 days.
- Launching and sustaining a DE&I Calendar of Awareness to highlight important national recognition days.
- Benchmarking efforts to identify and implement best practices and resources across the University as well as peer and aspirant business schools.
- Creating a College DE&I Report template for use by faculty, staff and student groups.
Continuing the Mendoza Staff Pulse Survey throughout the year with analysis and action plans to follow in conjunction with feedback and results from the 2022 ND Voice Survey (scheduled to launch in early 2022.
In closing, I’ll quote again from Father John’s letter: “Our commitment must be for the long term, so that the change we seek will last.” As a community, it’s essential we all come together to be advocates, allies and leaders in this space.
In Notre Dame,
Kara
Kara J. Palmer
Director of Administration
