Diversity Assessment Summary for National-Louis University

Assessment Process  Conducted leadership interviews  22 phone interviews including a representation of: Board of Trustees Administration, Staff and Faculty Leadership Alumni All Deans  Conducted web-based student, staff & faculty surveys  Conducted 13 focus groups to further explore survey perceptions  Minority Faculty  Staff African American Management African American Non-Management Latino Management Latino Non-Management  Students African American Undergraduate African American Graduate Latino Undergraduate Latino Graduate Students with disabilities  Conducted marketplace, workforce, and workplace review

Organizational Strengths  President’s awareness and commitment  Staff and Faculty are willing to make a commitment to the diversity journey  A collegial work environment exists for staff and faculty of similar age and gender  International representation of students  Students recognize a diverse student and faculty population enrich their learning experience  Faculty perceive the University is attractive to both genders

Organizational Concerns  An unclear diversity mission  A lack of formal diversity awareness & skills training  Inconsistent application of hiring/promotion practices (staff & faculty)  Lack of diverse representation throughout the NLU community – specifically, amongst faculty and leadership  Lack of specific recruiting mechanisms for recruiting and hiring diverse (staff and faculty) candidates.  A lack of respect for Gay, Lesbian, Transgender, Bi-Sexual individuals.  The lack of focus felt by Latino and African American students on their communities and their absence in marketing visuals  A level of disrespect exists between some staff and faculty.  A level of unawareness exists of disability issues.  A level of disrespect exists for people with disabilities.

Recommendations  Create a Diversity & Inclusion Council  Conduct diversity & inclusion education for all leaders, managers, faculty and staff.  Create affinity groups for staff and faculty  Increase outreach to external African American and Latino community organizations  Develop specific diversity marketing strategies including but not limited to advertising in African American and Latino media outlets  As currently measured for staff, conduct exit interviews for faculty  Managers should be held accountable for creating diversity and inclusion action plans  Re-evaluate current people processes and practices to ensure diversity and accountability are woven throughout