Salve Regina encourages community to participate in national survey on campus diversity and equity

As a Mercy institution, the environment that Salve Regina creates for its students, faculty and staff is central to its mission. This is why Salve Regina’s Presidential Commission for Equity and Inclusion is currently collaborating with the Higher Education Data Sharing Consortium (HEDS) to administer the HEDS Diversity and Equity Campus Climate Survey. The survey is conducted nation-wide at a variety of universities.

“We are hoping to obtain a strong response rate as the results of this survey will help us to better understand the perceptions of the climate at Salve,” said Jennifer Boulay, assistant director for assessment and institutional research at Salve Regina’s Office of Institutional Research and Effectiveness. “Results will be used to inform the diversity, equity and inclusion efforts at the institution, including policies, practices, programming and training.

This survey was selected because it will reach the entire campus population, and it will be externally administered in order to ensure anonymity, according to Boulay. The instrument has been validated, and participation will provide Salve Regina with national comparative data with peer institutions.

“While we realize this is a busy time of the year, the commission truly appreciates you taking the time to offer your perspective on this important matter,” said Boulay.

In order to take the survey, expect to receive an email from salve@hedsconsortium.orgwith a subject reading, “Salve Regina seeks your perspective on the campus climate for diversity and equity,” on Thursday, March 18. Please check the “other” or “focused” inbox if the email has not been seen by the end of the day.

The HEDS Diversity and Equity Campus Climate Survey will take about 10 to 15 minutes to complete. Responses will be completely anonymous, and participants may stop taking the survey at any time or choose not to answer particular questions. It is recommended that participants take this survey in one sitting; however, if they must exit the survey, their responses on previous pages should be saved when they return.

To learn more about Salve Regina’s policies on discrimination and harassment, including reporting procedures, please click here. For more information on how responses will be kept anonymous, refer to this information sheet.

If anyone has questions about this survey, please contact Annemarie Bartlett, director of Institutional Research and Effectiveness, at annemarie.bartlett@salve.edu, or Nicole Seidler, research analyst and data manager at the Higher Education Data Sharing Consortium, at nicole.seidler@hedsconsortium.org.