Administration

Faculty: Have you and your students taken the Penn State Community Survey?

Support diversity, equity and inclusion efforts by taking the survey — and help spread the word with your students

Credit: Penn State. Creative Commons

UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. — There is still time for students, faculty and staff at all campus locations to help support diversity, equity and inclusion efforts by taking the Penn State Community Survey. For your unique survey link, search “HEDS Consortium” in your Penn State inbox and/or spam folder. On Feb. 24, community members who have not yet taken the survey will receive a second reminder email from “pennstate@hedsconsortium.org.” 

To engage students, some faculty are providing class and meeting time to take the survey or sending reminders through Canvas, for example. Those who take the 15-minute survey by its deadline on Feb. 28 will have a chance to win an Amazon or Starbucks gift card ranging from $10 to $50.

The confidential survey will seek feedback from students, faculty and staff to identify areas of importance and help units develop action plans. Survey results also will be used to align diversity and inclusion efforts with Penn State’s Strategic Plan, including those to support a diverse student body and employee workforce and to develop curriculum that fosters cultural awareness and competencies, among other objectives.

“It is incredibly important to include the voices and perspectives of the people who make up this community,” said Leticia Oseguera, associate professor of higher education in the College of Education and survey working group member. “This survey is an opportunity to be heard, and why we are reaching out to everyone at Penn State instead of inviting only a sample of our community.”

Penn State has made the privacy of survey respondents a priority to enable students, faculty and staff to be candid with their responses. The University is contracting with the Higher Education Data Sharing Consortium (HEDS), an independent nonprofit organization, to administer the survey.

Though the mobile-friendly survey can be taken anywhere, anytime, there will be survey-taking stations available at various campuses throughout the month.

“We are taking everyone’s response seriously and we want to better understand and improve how everyone experiences the University, so that all people feel like Penn State is a place for them,” Oseguera said.

To learn more, visit communitysurvey.psu.edu. If you have additional questions, reach out to project co-chairs Sonia DeLuca Fernández, associate vice provost for educational equity, and Karen Vance, assistant vice provost for institutional research, at communitysurvey@psu.edu.

 

Last Updated April 15, 2021