Twice a year, Ohio University asks employees to voluntarily self-report on race and ethnicity, disability and veteran status so that the university can utilize this data for a variety of reasons.
Title IX Director and Coordinator Kerri Griffin said the data collected helps the university understand its workforce.
“If we don't know what our workforce looks like, then we don't know whether we're being representative or not,” Griffin said. “We may think somebody appears white, when in fact, they are African American, or they are Asian and or they’re multiple races, we don't know. We don't want to make assumptions about who they are. We want them to be able to tell us who they are.”
The federal government requires the university to request this information, Griffin said. Once collected, the data is used to draft an affirmative action plan.
However, affirmative action regarding student admission was shut down by the U.S. Supreme Court in late June 2023.
The case was only about admissions, but some state attorney generals have interpreted the Supreme Court’s decision in a broader sense and how it may apply to other things, including employment, Griffin said.
“In addition to meeting our requirements as a federal contractor to capture voluntary demographic data for reporting purposes, this feedback helps us benchmark the university’s progress toward diversifying its workforce via recruitment and retention strategies,” Interim Vice President for Diversity and Inclusion Russell Murrow wrote in an email.
According to the Division of Diversity and Inclusion’s Diversity dashboard, about 80% of faculty and staff is white, while 13.5% of faculty is “underrepresented” and 6.4% is unknown. Of staff, 80% are white 10% are “underrepresented” and 10.2% are unknown.
The university constantly monitors employee compensation to keep up with the competitive job market in the area, according to Murrow.
“Last spring, the university turned this commitment into action by providing employees with one-time bonuses and merit-based pay increases that went into effect at the beginning of (financial year 2024, which began July 1),” Murrow wrote in an email.
Although this was a one-time payment, the university will be working with OU leadership and stakeholders to create short- and long-term strategies regarding compensation, benefits and recruitment, as well as faculty and staff engagement and career growth and development.
“We look forward to working alongside OHIO’s most valuable resource – its people – to position our university as one of the best places to work in higher education,” Murrow wrote in an email.
The university is also coming up on its 10-year accreditation renewal with the Higher Learning Commission. According to a university press release, accreditation validates the university’s ability to give students a quality education.
Associate Provost for Institutional Effectiveness Loralyn Taylor deals with the mandatory reporting for the university and supports internal leadership on data-based decision-making.
“These data can also be used by those accreditors to make sure that we are continuously improving the education that we provide and the student support services that we provide,” Taylor said.
According to HLC, one of the requirements for accreditation is for the institution to provide civic engagement opportunities in a diverse and multicultural environment.
Self-reporting is voluntary for both staff and students, but Taylor said the majority of people responded to the university’s request.
Not everyone knows how this information is used, which is why some people don’t self-report, Griffin said.
“A lot of folks don't want their employer to know because it isn't an issue for them, and they don't want to be viewed as (an) other,” Griffin said. “Most people don't understand that when you apply for a job here at Ohio, the hiring committee, the supervisor, they don't get any of that information at all.”
ap208619@ohio.edu
