General    |    Employees     |    Results     

General

Why did we conduct this survey?

As we continue to grow, inclusion has become an increasingly integral focal point for the University of North Texas due both to its changing demographics as an emerging Minority Serving Institution (MSI) with nearly 50% students of color and our emerging status as a Hispanic Serving Institution (HSI), currently with approximately 22% Latinx students. UNT will assess our existing policies, programs, practices and people to determine whether current approaches effectively serve these students, and the faculty and staff that support them.

UNT also seeks to create a diverse and inclusive working environment where all employees - regardless of identity, rank or status - can be fully engaged. The resulting data will be used to create a strategic plan for diversity and inclusion that will guide our efforts for the coming years as we strive to become one of the greatest places to work, learn and grow.

How do the results affect me?

UNT’s first-ever climate survey will provide a division-based “snapshot” of faculty, staff, student, and administrator perspectives, perceptions, and experiences of diversity, inclusion, harassment, and equity . The data will be disaggregated by various demographics asked in the survey to provide greater insights regarding student and employee experiences. Themes and trends identified in the survey will result in the creation of focus groups to collect more information.

Employees

Customized survey tools were created for faculty, staff, and administrators to address their perspectives and respective roles. Results will be disaggregated by division , and data insights will be presented with both strengths and areas for growth.

How is this different from the Gallup and COACHE Surveys?

The Gallup Survey and COACHE survey (Collaborative on Academic Careers in Higher Education (COACHE) are different than a climate survey on inclusion. While these tools measure job satisfaction and employee and faculty engagement, the climate survey will ask questions specifically related to diversity and inclusion, fairness and equity, and support for building capacity towards an intentionally inclusive institution. Much like the Gallup and COACHE, the data will create a baseline for comparison to develop actionable items and work in tandem with other surveys. Faculty survey questions were compared to the COACHE survey to avoid question duplication. The data will be compared with the COACHE survey results to identify additional insights related to faculty engagement.

How are “staff” and “administrators” defined?

“Administrators” for the purpose of the climate survey are those whose employee classification are Executive/Administration/Managerial (listed as “Senior Administrator” on the administrator survey) and First/Midlevel Officials and Managers (listed as “Other administrator” on the administrator survey). All other employees will receive to their UNT email either the faculty or staff survey according to their employee classification. Staff are asked to indicate whether they are Administrative Support, Professional Non-Faculty, Service Maintenance/Service Workers, Skilled Crafts, or Technical/Para-Professional. Faculty will identify whether they are tenure-track or non-tenure track.

You may review UNT’s Human Resources employee classifications here.

Were surveys translated into Spanish?

While UNT was the first-ever Viewfinder survey client requesting its surveys be translated into Spanish, only the staff survey was available in Spanish because of the unique customization tool. The Division of Institutional Equity and Diversity identified bi-lingual volunteers to help Spanish-speaking staff who may have limited computer proficiency (as was provided for the Gallup Survey) to encourage broad participation. Spanish responses were translated into English and incorporated with the rest of the staff responses.

Results

How do I access the results?

Results for the student, staff, administrator, and faculty surveys are password protected. You will need your UNT EUID and password for access.

What’s in the results?

Each survey has two documents:

• Executive Summary provides a synopsis of the data and key findings
• Full reports include the survey data AND executive summary

Results are presented overall and disaggregated by race and ethnicity, gender/gender identity, college (students) and division (employees). Each survey also has a section to assess the experiences of people of color, veterans, people with disabilities, religion/spiritual worldview affiliations, international, and LGBTQIA+ people.

How will the results be used?

Diversity and Inclusion Councils are forming in divisions and colleges across the university to address climate survey data through action plans. These councils are supported by the Diversity & Inclusion office which provides the necessary training and capacity-building to execute the action planning. An overall strategic plan for diversity and inclusion will be developed with input from the campus community.

How can I learn more?

The Division of Institutional Equity and Diversity is planning to host Town Halls for the campus community to learn more about the results and how they can be applied. Follow #IncludeMeUNT for more information or subscribe to Culture Connection, the Division’s newsletter.

To learn more about definitions and terminology used in the survey in English and Spanish, visit the definitions page.