Penn State launched a new dashboard Monday to track metrics related to Diversity, Equity, Inclusion and Belonging, or DEIB.
The new dashboard is the first university-wide platform to gather DEIB-related data in one publicly accessible place. It tracks undergraduate enrollment and 4- and 6-year graduation rates by race, and the diversity of administrators, executives, staff and faculty. For faculty, it breaks down race for tenure and non-tenure positions and for different levels of professor, and instructors and lecturers.
Penn State President Neeli Bendapudi originally announced plans for the dashboard last November, along with four DEIB-focused goals.
On the same day as the dashboard, Bendapudi released a vision statement with a video where she named five overall goals for the next five years, including DEIB.
It is built specifically to track the key metrics that reflect Bendapudi’s four DEIB-focused goals, including enrollment and graduation rates, faculty representation, and staff representation across different backgrounds and identities.
“Our focus should be on investing on our students, so they are the most sought-after graduates in every sphere; growing our interdisciplinary research excellence; building on our land grant mission of research and economic development for the state; investing in Diversity, Equity, Inclusion and Belonging; and improving our internal operations to be nimble,” Bendapudi said.
The Office of Planning, Assessment and Institutional Research says work on the dashboard will continue, and they might add additional diversity metrics, including disability status and LGBTQ+ identities.
Bendapudi and other university leaders are planning a virtual town hall on March 28 to discuss the dashboard and other ongoing DEIB work.