The Campus Climate Assessment: How the Office of Institutional Research is Helping Increase Inclusion

You might be familiar with the course evaluations that pop up on your Canvas home page towards the end of every semester, but the Office of Institutional Research does much more than facilitate surveys to better your classroom experience.

The Office of Institutional Research is responsible for collecting and analyzing information about Vanguard’s campus in order to make evidence-based decisions that strengthen educational effectiveness. For example, they sent out the Basic Needs Survey which after evaluating the responses, led to the creation of Living Well and Samson’s Career Closet.

During the fall season of 2022, the Office of Institutional Research in conjunction with the Office of Diversity and Inclusion conducted the Campus Climate Assessment, a survey centered on the racial and ethnic diversity on Vanguard University’s campus.

Educational Effectiveness Specialist Priscilla Ziegler states via email that the purpose of the survey was “to gauge perspectives on racial and ethnic diversity at Vanguard University.” It focused on understanding how culture and race affect the student experience, especially the sense of community, belonging, and faith for both white students and students of color.

“Understanding students’ perspectives racial and ethnic diversity allows us to gauge the effectiveness of university diversity efforts and determine how we can improve student experiences of the campus climate,” states Ziegler.

Ziegler shared that the findings from the survey indicated the need for “providing clarity about our commitment to diversity and inclusion and providing safe spaces for dialogue around race and ethnicity.”

Some of these ideas have already begun to incite change and development. The Student Affairs and Athletics staff, as a result of the assessment’s findings, underwent a year-long professional development series which utilized the Intercultural Development Inventory (IDI), an assessment and enhancement of intercultural competence.

The Campus Climate Assessment had been launched once before in 2017, serving as a benchmark for the 2022 results. It was found that there was an overall improvement in racial and campus climate. The Office of Institutional Research aims to launch a Campus Climate Assessment again in the Spring of 2025 to track the progress of Vanguard’s efforts towards inclusion.

As the Office of Institutional Research continues to investigate the existing and future data, expect to see more changes on campus regarding diversity.