“We want to get our arms around what the perceptions about diversity are, to help us better develop strategies to enhance what we’re doing here,” noted Curtis Powell, Vice President for Human Resources. In order to ensure the accuracy and lack of bias in data collected, Hubbard & Hubbard, a leading diversity consulting firm, has been engaged to conduct the study.

The first stage of the investigation is the completion of a cultural audit. Consultants have held confidential focus groups for five constituencies on the Troy campus: faculty, staff, undergraduate and graduate students, women, and members of minority groups. The results of these studies will be combined with responses to an online diversity survey to develop a baseline of campus diversity on metrics that include home geographic origin, gender, and ethnicity. “We want to establish baselines on various levels on a number of demographics,” explained Vice Provost for Institute Diversity Ken Durgans. Invitations to participate in the focus groups and online survey were sent by e-mail to the entire campus community, to encourage participation throughout the Institute.

The data collected will be compared to benchmarks in a proprietary Hubbard & Hubbard database to create a campus diversity report. This report should be completed by the end of June for a presentation to President Jackson, her cabinet, and a committee of the Board of Trustees for review and analysis, leading to recommendations in the fall for initiatives to improve diversity at Rensselaer.

Olivette Sturges, Assistant Director of the Office of Minority Student Affairs, participated in a staff focus group, and felt that it “went very well. It was very well organized. The questions were thought provoking. It was done in an anonymous format, something that allows people to be more honest.” She also noted that OMSA, as an organization, believes that a diversity assessment is a necessity, and supports this initiative.