In the Fall semester of 2020, the FAMU-FSU College of Engineering deployed a diversity and inclusion (D&I) campus climate survey to gauge the attitudes, beliefs and lived experiences of our engineering community on issues related to D&I. This initial survey—the first of its kind used by our college in its 39-year history—served as the starting point for our work in diversity, equity and inclusion.
About the Survey
The survey was administered by the HEDS Consortium and utilized their nationally benchmarked survey tool. In short, the survey asks students, faculty, staff, and administrators about their:
- Perceptions of their institution’s climate,
- Perceptions of how their institution supports diversity and equity, and
- Experiences with discrimination and harassment at their institution.
Institutions can use information from this survey to develop a better understanding of the extent to which their campus climate supports diversity and equity and to inform and improve support, policies, and practices at their institution related to diversity and equity, including those to prevent or respond to discrimination and harassment.
The survey was designed to be used on campuses that are primarily face-to-face (not remote or online), but the COVID-19 pandemic forced us to administer the survey during the remote, quarantine pandemic period. Surveys were distributed via email and we used incentives to garner more participation from students, faculty and staff.
The survey was open from October 1 to November 12, 2020.
About the Respondents
All faculty, staff and students currently enrolled or employed by the college as of August 2020 were invited to participate in the survey. A total of 2691 individuals received the survey link and 632 responded (23.5% total response rate). Of those:
- 233 were faculty & staff & other invited
- 2458 students were invited:
- 415 FAMU grad & undergrad invited
- 2043 FSU grad & undergrad invited
- 2691 total invites with 632 responses = 23.5% overall response rate
- 70.8% faculty & staff response rate
- 18.9% student response rate
About the Report
HEDS Consortium administered the survey and collected responses, stripping away any identifying information. They also administered the incentive program, removing any personal identifiers from the lottery winner. They also developed the final FAMU-FSU Engineering HEDS D&I Comparison Report 2019-2020 that showed our results compared with the rest of the HEDS Consortium member institutions who deployed the survey in the same timeframe.
Download a copy of the final FAMU-FSU Engineering HEDS D&I Comparison Report 2019-2020.
Questions?
If you have questions about the survey, process or results, please contact Tisha Keller at (850) 410-6495 or via email.