MSU forms committees to evaluate campus diversity study

Missouri State University administrators and students have formed three committees to analyze the findings of a March diversity survey of the Springfield campus community.

In his Sept. 8 Clif’s Notes blog, MSU President Clif Smart said he appointed Vice President for Diversity and Inclusion Ken Coopwood as chairman of the Climate Study Response Task Force that would work with similar groups created by the school’s Faculty Senate and Student Government Association in response to the Campus and Community Climate Study Report. Champaign, Ill.-based DiversityWorks Inc. was chosen in May 2013 to facilitate the 19-month project.

Of the 20,816 survey invitations sent to faculty, students, staff and administrators, 3,160 came back useable, according to Diversity.MissouriState.edu.

Among survey findings:
    •    a majority believed efforts at MSU to improve diversity and inclusion are succeeding;
    •    less than a majority of those identifying as LGBTQ (40.9 percent), non-Christians (45.9 percent), politically liberal (42.9 percent) or politically conservative (47.2 percent) believed MSU was inclusive of identities;
    •    the majority of whites believed people at MSU were not treated differently based on racial-ethnic identity, while minorities largely disagreed; and
    •    the majority - 52.3 percent - of people with disabilities believed the campus is supportive.

Smart is asking the administrative committee to recommend improvements to campus diversity efforts, particularly working with the steering committee of the university’s 2016-21 long-range plan.