This initiative aspires to create a sustainable Culture of Belonging where all faculty, staff, students and alumni feel connected to the TWU community across all campuses. The ideals guiding this committee work include developing a campus ethos and Culture of Belonging that provides individuals the freedom to express their genuine selves and the opportunity to connect with others. The Committee has been developing a comprehensive multi-prong approach to identifying core components of a Culture of Belonging.
The Committee has also actively been creating processes for gathering baseline data to drive TWU-specific initiatives. The Caring study received IRB approval to conduct interviews from members of the TWU community. The Committee is also conducting a quantitative data review from staff and student surveys from past 5 years. We are reviewing data from the Student Satisfaction Survey (SSI), Multi-Institutional Study of Leadership (MSL), National Survey of Student Engagement (NSSE), Priorities Survey for Online Learners (PSOL) and Gallup Excelencia.
Additional activities include:
- Lunch and learn presentation of belonging/caring literature review by Emily Munro, honors student in Nursing in April.
- Focus groups with student organizations to discuss experiences with belonging on campus Spring/Summer 2019.
- Focus groups with staff to discuss experiences with belonging at work to be planned for Summer 2019.
- Focus groups with faculty to discuss experiences with belonging on campus to be planned for Fall 2019.
- Discussing programming for first generation college students. Identifying faculty and staff who are first generation college students and presenting at Pioneer Camp.
- Surveying colleges about existing faculty peer mentoring programs.
For additional information, contact initiative champions Monica Mendez-Grant, Abigail Tilton, Becky Spencer, or Stephanie Brown.
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Written by the Strategic Plan Design Team