This Valentine’s day, Neumann University launched the HEDS Diversity and Equity Campus Climate Survey.
The survey is open to students, faculty, and staff. A Neumann email address is required to start the survey.
The leaders of this survey effort are Sr. Mary Kathryn Dougherty, vice president for mission and ministry, and Dr. Katie Barnes, interim provost.
In advance of the survey’s release, Sr. Dougherty sent out an email explaining what the survey was and when it would be available to take.
This email explained that the purpose of the survey is to get feedback from students to further gain insight on diversity, equity, inclusion, and belonging, and how they play a role in Neumann's community.
It also addresses that the end goal is to use this information to “enhance support systems, refine policies, and improve practices across Neumann University.”
Many of the survey’s questions request agreeing or disagreeing with specific statements regarding an individual’s experience with diversity on campus.
There are no specific examples of change that have been addressed but “when we receive the results of the survey, we will identify any areas that we feel need improvement. Then, we can create trainings or programs to address those issues” said Sr. Dougherty.
According to Sr. Dougherty, there was not any specific experience that prompted this survey other than the DEIB council simply thinking that “it would help us to understand how people feel about their experience at NU.”
Multiple incentives to take the survey have been given, one being that it is anonymous and the other being that by completing it, students are automatically entered into a raffle to win a $20 Wawa gift card.
