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Dear ������ Students, Faculty and Staff,

In spring 2021, Kent State conducted the “Climate Study on Race: Our Voices Count” to understand the current climate that exists at the university’s Northeast Ohio locations. Kent State strives to create and maintain a welcoming and inclusive environment on our campuses that respects individual abilities, differences, needs and potentials. The goals of the university-wide climate study were to:

• Gauge progress from the efforts conducted since the 2016 climate study.
• Home in on experiences related to race and how these experiences intersect with other identities to inform our practices.
• Further inform the university’s anti-racism efforts.

Preliminary Analysis of Data

More than 5,200 or 18% of invited campus members responded to the survey, which is a favorable response rate considering the survey was issued during a pandemic.

The data is currently being reviewed by the climate study team co-leads and the qualitative and quantitative analysis teams. There have been preliminary benchmark comparisons to the 2016 study, which will enable us to analyze differences. This initial analysis produced a comparative overview of the quantitative data for students and employees.

Next Steps

Quantitative and qualitative reports will continue to be shared as they become available. College and campus reports, with recommendations, will be available in May. In early 2023, recommendations will be shared with President Todd Diacon and Cabinet members.

The timeline, next steps and a presentation about the survey can be found on the climate study site at /voices/2021-climate-study-status.

This survey extends the work that was done in our 2016 Great Places Initiative. Coupled with the ongoing work of our Anti-Racism Task Force, we are confident that the results of this survey will provide valuable insight to advance Kent State’s efforts toward access, equity and full opportunity on our campuses. We will address issues raised in the climate study to further make Kent State an even stronger place to learn, work and live.

Sincerely,

Amoaba Gooden, Ph.D.
Vice President for Diversity, Equity and Inclusion