Fostering Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Belonging
Our Vision
Penn State aspires to be a beacon of inclusive excellence, a community where everyone feels valued, respected, and empowered to thrive.
We are committed to creating an environment where all students, faculty, and staff can reach their full potential, free from prejudice and discrimination. We will address equity gaps within our community, enabling everyone to access our campuses’ opportunities and resources. We will foster a culture of open dialogue and respectful discourse, where diverse perspectives are valued and where we learn from one another to build a more just and equitable world.
Our Goal
Penn State will be a place where all our students, faculty, and staff can flourish in an environment of inclusive excellence, incorporating the fullness of their identities and their whole selves.
Objectives and Measures
To continue building a culture of inclusive excellence, we will concentrate our efforts on the following objectives (what we want to achieve) and measures (how we will evaluate success) to drive impactful change.
Measures in our Strategic Plan are meant to show progress and effectiveness towards achieving the objectives set forth in the plan. Measures may be updated or modified during the life of the plan to appropriately support data-informed decision making or to reflect changes in strategic objectives.
Objective 1: Address institutional barriers to close student outcome gaps.
How we will measure success:
Student Success and Outcomes
- Student sense of belonging
- Progression, persistence, retention, and graduation rates
- Number of students who achieve the minimum GPA to maintain scholarships after first semester and first year
- Underrepresented student group retention and graduation rates
Access and Inclusion
- Student access to and usage of academic and co-curricular opportunities
Student Retention
- Inquiry, application, yield, and enrollment rates for undergraduate (including transfer students), graduate, and professional students
- Retention of underrepresented student groups across academic programs
Objective 2: Cultivate a deep sense of belonging for faculty and staff, with opportunities for professional development and an employee population that reflects the classrooms of tomorrow.
How we will measure success:
Workplace Engagement and Belonging
- Employee sense of belonging over time in career (1, 5, 10 years, for example)
- Hiring, retention, and progression across ranks and disciplines for faculty with a broad spectrum of perspectives and experiences
- Employee participation in professional development and continuing education opportunities
- Hiring, retention, and progression for staff with a broad spectrum of perspectives and experiences
Employee Engagement
- Faculty and staff sense of belonging
- Net promoter score
Hiring and Retention
- Hiring yield rates
- New hire turnover rates
- Promotion rates
- Turnover rate
- Retention rates
- Trainings offered on fair hiring practices and processes
- Outreach to a wide variety of potential applicants
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