Diversity Mapping Report Indiana University East (IU East)

A) Diversity Mapping Project Undertaken:

In Fall 2015 through Spring 2016, Halualani & Associates conducted a diversity mapping through which all of Indiana University East’s (hereafter IU East) diversity efforts from January 1, 2010 through December 2015, were examined. This type of diversity mapping is similar to “asset mapping” through which an organization’s resources, strengths, leverage points, and gaps are identified. In this diversity asset mapping, we defined a “diversity effort” as “any activity or program that promotes the active appreciation of all campus members in terms of their backgrounds, identities and experiences, as constituted by gender, socioeconomic class, political perspective, age, race, ethnicity, religion, sexual orientation, disability, regional origin, nationality, occupation and language, among others, as well as any activity or program that brings together any of these aspects.”

B) Key Findings:

Through the diversity mapping analysis, we conclude that IU East has built up a beginning foundation of diversity and inclusion efforts in the last five years. Specifically, we found the following:

• IU East has an active record of diversity activity and one characterized by a primary (high quality) focus on diversity and inclusion. More specifically, IU East has 77 active diversity efforts. This amount is in the usual range that we often find for campuses of similar student size (4,716 as of Fall 2015). Beyond the issue of quantity, 84% (65) of these diversity efforts represent substantial and high quality ones with a primary focus on diversity and inclusion.
• Diversity efforts at IU East are driven by three major divisions. The Office of the Chancellor, IU East (55%, 42) and Academic Affairs (30%, 23) led 85% of all of its diversity efforts. These divisions also had a primary focus (ranging from 83% to 93%) in their diversity efforts.
• IU East’s record of diversity activity features a wide range of diversity effort types beyond just diversity events/programming. IU East’s diversity efforts are mostly events (29%, 22), strategic plan elements (16%, 12), mission statements (9%, 7), and institutional research (8%, 6). The remaining 39% of diversity efforts are spread out across 14 different themes. More specifically, IU East featured diversity efforts across many different themes (18) with diversity-related events and strategic plan elements being the highest in number. While there are several different types of efforts, there does not appear to be a strategic framework or direction that informed IU East’s diversity efforts from the last five years. The current university-wide strategic plan (IU East Strategic Plan: Strategic Priorities — 2014-2019) and the 2014-2016 Diversity Plan will infuse more of a strategic focus with regard to diversity and inclusion in the future.
• A significant portion of IU East’s diversity efforts have been stable and institutionalized. For example, from our time series analysis, there was a significant amount (63%, 50) of diversity efforts that recurred and were institutionalized from 2010 to 2015. Moreover, these institutionalized efforts were mostly diversity-related events, student organizations, and campus resources and ones that highlighted race/ethnicity and broad culture/diversity from 2010 to 2015.
• IU East displays an emerging collaborative culture around diversity and inclusion. For example, 21% (16) of all diversity efforts at IU East are collaborations. Meaning, that divisions, departments, programs, and units are indeed somewhat working together on diversity efforts at IU East.
• IU East’s record of diversity activity reveals that it is in a solid action stage while also leaning towards implementing more intentional diversity strategy. For example, in an analytical layer entitled “Change Order Sequence” (which locates the strategic phase of an institution’s diversity efforts), IU East has undertaken a significant amount (75%, 58) of second-order efforts (efforts that demonstrate the commitment to diversity through specific action), followed by only 25% (19) of first-order efforts (efforts that showcase a commitment to diversity). In order to transition from its current second order stage to a third order stage, IU East will need to follow through on its goals from its current university-wide strategic plan (IU East Strategic Plan: Strategic Priorities — 2014-2019) and the 2014-2016 Diversity Plan. It will also need to rigorously determine the impact of its diversity efforts going forward.
• IU East’s diversity efforts reflect the university’s genuine and internally motivated commitment to diversity and inclusion work. 96% (74) of the efforts derive from an intrinsic/internal motivation source to engage in diversity and inclusion work for its campus community. Thus, IU East has taken the initiative to make diversity contributions to its campus environment.
• IU East’s diversity efforts reflect a more generalized approach to diversity and inclusion. We found that 56% (43) of campus diversity efforts highlight mainstream audiences while 44% (34) focus on specific (identity-based, cultural) groups in terms of the target focus of diversity efforts. This finding indicates that a broader, generalized approach to diversity and inclusion is at work at IU East. We encourage IU East to integrate more specific group focused interventions especially in the areas of retention-graduation for diverse students (to create structures of belonging and success for diverse students) given its graduation rates for African American and Latino students.
• IU East’s diversity efforts span a wide range of key constructions of diversity. More specifically, the diversity efforts from the last five years featured 14 different definitions of diversity with the most frequent framings being race/ethnicity (23%, 59), international/global (15%, 38), gender (13%, 33), and nationality (10%, 25). We found that there was a more varied range within and across diversity effort types in comparison to all of the regional campuses.
• We highlight the following areas as opportune areas for action for IU East for the next several years:
  • Diverse undergraduate student recruitment (for all minority groups)
  • Diverse graduate student recruitment (for all minority groups)
  • Student retention and graduation for diverse groups
  • Diverse faculty recruitment and retention
  • Diverse staff recruitment and retention

C) Recommended Action Steps:

In terms of the delineated findings, we recommend the following next action steps:

There is an accompanying infographic that is posted on the OVPDEMA website.