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A survey found that Syracuse University students, faculty and staff have negative views of the university’s commitment to diversity despite significant action by SU. 

The Board of Trustees Special Committee on University Climate, Diversity and Inclusion engaged Damon Williams, an expert in diversity efforts, and the Center for Strategic Diversity Leadership and Social Innovation to implement a campus climate survey last fall.

The survey achieved a 22% response rate among students, 42% among university staff and 47% response among faculty. 

Williams and his team also compared SU to selected peer institutions and performed an inventory of all ongoing diversity, equity and inclusion programs at SU. The group released its executive summary Monday and plans to release its full report Tuesday. 

Here’s a breakdown of what Williams and his team found, as well as their recommendations for SU:

Dissatisfaction

Significant proportions of students, staff and faculty said they are unsatisfied with SU’s general climate and environment. Based on survey results, 43% of students, 43% of staff and 37% of faculty said they are unsatisfied with the university’s climate. 

“Consistently, no matter how the data were examined by identity, students, faculty and staff reported remarkable consistency in feeling dissatisfied with their experiences during the previous 12 months at SU,” the executive summary reads. “It is important to note how incredibly unusual this response is.” 

Surveys most often find dissatisfaction concentrated in smaller groups, such as historically underrepresented groups, but that was not the case at SU, the report concluded.

Analysis by Williams and his team shows that the pandemic did influence perceptions about the campus climate but only modestly.

Most students, staff and faculty had fairly positive reviews of the university’s actions related to the pandemic, though they expressed notably high levels of personal stress and worry, the report concluded. That worry and stress was greater among underrepresented communities.

Discrimination and belonging

When asked about experiences with discrimination, students reported the most discrimination in classrooms, with faculty and with peers of different racial or ethnic identities. Faculty and staff reported the most experiences of discrimination with peers and colleagues of other racial or ethnic identities and within university buildings.

Despite substantial progress by the university in expanding programs and funding for a variety of diversity-related initiatives, members of the campus community still expressed skepticism about SU’s commitment to inclusion, the report concluded. 

“When asked how committed they felt the university is to diversity, equity and inclusion, participants again across the board expressed negative viewpoints here,” the report reads. 

In early March, the Board of Trustees special committee on diversity announced a $50 million investment toward faculty diversification. The university has also increased the number of learning communities geared toward underrepresented communities and hired additional counseling professionals from marginalized identities. 

SU tracks its progress toward diversity and inclusion commitments and student demands on its campus commitments webpage. 

In contrast, numerous survey respondents said they felt valued and listened to at SU. 

“Even after participants expressed low satisfaction and deeply negative views about the university’s commitment to diversity, numerous participants felt that yes, they belonged at SU,” the report reads. 

Further analysis by Williams and his team found that SU’s many affinity groups, organizations, dedicated gathering spaces and support services proved important and beneficial for many students, leading multiple to feel at “home” despite negative views of the university’s institutional response to diversity and inclusion. 

Recommendations 

Williams and his team highlighted five recommendations for SU to move forward in supporting diversity, equity, inclusion and anti-racism. 

The team argued that SU must commit to a systematic approach to strengthen its diversity, equity and inclusion plans and accountability systems. To do this, SU must continue to build the office of chief diversity and inclusion officer and add more diversity, equity and inclusion infrastructure in its schools and colleges. SU must also create an equity, diversity, accessibility and inclusion plan to be implemented across campus.

Williams and his team also surveyed 27 SU schools, colleges and administrative units to learn about all the diversity-related programs that exist at SU already. The team identified over 450 visible programs, a finding it said was “surprising given the overwhelmingly contrasting opinions” about diversity, equity and inclusion shared in the climate survey.

Syracuse Diversity Equity and Inclusion Executive Summary by The Daily Orange on Scribd

The committee’s second recommendation was to elevate SU’s diversity, equity and inclusion initiative to be more visible across all levels of the university. This includes holding regular town halls for communicating progress on initiatives with the campus community and getting their input. 

The report also recommended that SU mandate diversity, equity and inclusion training for students, faculty and staff. While SU has made efforts to improve its training, these efforts can be “scaled up,” according to the report. 

SU can also continue to improve campus climate by building community, according to the report. The university should scale up its living-learning communities — especially those that are related to diversity, equity and inclusion — to bring the community together. 

The university has announced that it will add Brewster Hall to the Multicultural Living and Learning Communities portfolio for a total of 140 spaces for fiscal year 2022. It will also add 40 spaces in Watson Hall to the portfolio for upperclass Multicultural Living and Learning Communities, for a total of 112 spaces.

The committee’s last recommendation was to continue enhancing diversity among faculty and staff. The $50 million commitment to faculty diversity is a “bold step” in the right direction, the report said. 

“In my career, I have worked with thousands of organizations and want to emphasize that your challenges are much like those we see at most institutions across the country,” Williams said in a press release Monday. “What is different about Syracuse is that you are facing these challenges institutionally and that your students, faculty, staff and leadership are making the types of investments of time, attention and finances that can lead to meaningful change over time.”

Published on March 29, 2021 at 10:12 pm

Contact Mira: mlberenb@syr.edu