Mistake Leads To Delay Of Campus Diversity Survey Findings

Carolyn Kroupa
Contributing Writer

On March 1, Lawrence Burnley, Vice President for Diversity and Inclusion, released a statement on Porches pertaining to a mistake made in the AIM4 Community Excellence Survey.

The survey’s purpose is to aid the Diversity and Inclusion Assessment Task Force to identify areas that need improvement regarding diversity, equity and inclusion. The Task Force will then strategize a plan to advance these initiatives on a university-wide scale.

However, in January, an error was found in the survey.

Hispanic/Latino/Latina/Latinx identities were omitted from the demographic section of the survey. This was an oversight of the Task Force and the third-party consulting firm, Halualani & Associates.

“…Hispanic/Latino/Latina/Latinx identities were inadvertently omitted from the demographic sections when the survey was designed. This error occurred as we worked to align different ways that these identities are currently captured in various systems at UD,” Burnley wrote in the letter. “Although we developed appropriate categories for the survey, through human error the categories were left out in the final design, and the omission was not caught until the survey and its analysis were completed.”

Essentially, the mistake omitted members of the UD community who identify as Hispanic/Latino/Latina/Latinx.

As of Fall 2018, Hispanic students make up five percent of full-time undergraduate students. Hispanic students made up nine percent of the incoming Fall 2018 class.

In an attempt to remedy the situation, interactive online listening sessions will be conducted with Hispanic/Latino/Latina/Latinx employees and students.  The information collected will be combined with the rest of the survey results. The results are projected to be released in May.

Burnley invited all members of the UD community who identify as Hispanic/Latino/Latina/Latinx to participate in the interactive online listening sessions; members of the campus community can contact the Task Force at diversityandinclusion@udayton.edu for more information.

The Office of Diversity and Inclusion held an event to explain the survey to students in November 2018.