Hi Anne
We have also begun to look at equality impact assessing our faculty processes. To address your questions:
a) the approach you have taken e.g. integration into other annual
processes or otherwise
We have talked about integrating into other annual processes as part of the equality impact assessment process. The idea being that the actions that result from the equality impact assessment should include that integration for the future.
b) the kind of policies and processes you have prioritised
We have organised the policies and procedures into five areas of the student lifecycle and are under headings used by Widening Participation - Pre Entry, Admissions, First Semester, On Course and Graduation, Employment & Enterprise. Within those areas we have looked at what may be considered to have the highest risk of adverse impact - such as marketing, admissions, disability and dyslexia provision, accommodation, retention and success and curriculum design - and have started with them
c)the challenges you have experienced
1. Persuading people that this is positive process aimed at achieving recruitment, retention and success improvements which could benefit all students not just members of equality groups.
2. Collecting consistent and reliable management information with which we can do trend analysis or draw any meaningful conclusions - the data is from many sources, collected at different parts of the year, not all central and has gaps.
3. Finding the 'right' time to work with colleagues in departments and faculties avoiding busy times such as recruitment, admissions, clearing, induction, teaching times, exams and assessments, staff being on holiday etc - so.... most of the year then
d) the resources you have committed in terms of the diversity champions
or from the centre
Our overseeing committee is the executive level Equality Committee chaired by our Deputy VC. We also have an Equality Advisory Group with a wider academic and general and professional membership which advises us. We have engaged departmental and faculty professional and senior staff to be 'leads' in each lifecycle area. They provide us with information such as, who is the best person to talk to in the faculties about certain procedures and how to structure our enquiry in order to capture information from policy through procedures through to faculty practice. The work itself is carried out by academic and support staff at a variety of levels within departments and faculties
e) it would also be useful to know whether your institution has a more
devolved decision making structure where respective faculties write most
of their policies or how they apply the central ones or a more
streamlined approach across the institution.
Most policies and regulations are written or owned by central departments eg. Student Services and Administration, Academic Development and Academic Registry. They are then used by the faculties who implement them in their own ways using their own budgets and decision making processes. We have worked to tie up our policy scrutiny with the faculty practices through collaborative departmental and faculty working.
I am happy to provide more information if you would like it. We are fairly near the beginning of the process but thing are definitely progressing. We are viewing our structure as organic in that we will take advice from those carrying out the equality impact assessments and adapt the process as we move forward.
Kind regards
Tammy
Tammy Rich | Equality Adviser
Equality Unit | Kingston University | 53 Portland Road | Kingston | KT1 2SH
DL: 020 8417 4025 | Internal: 64025 | Fax: 020 8417 4159
Single Equality Scheme Consultation - Click here and be part of it!
-----Original Message-----
From: HE Administrators equal opportunities list [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of Anne Mwangi
Sent: 10 June 2009 16:58
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Re: Impact Assessments in Faculty Departments
Many thanks Deb, this is very useful.
Is there anybody else who has done some IA work in Faculty Areas?
Regards
Anne
-----Original Message-----
From: HE Administrators equal opportunities list [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of Deborah Viney
Sent: Wednesday, June 10, 2009 2:53 PM
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Re: Impact Assessments in Faculty Departments
Hello Anne
I've been thinking about this for a while. We have yet to definitely agree a process but I am hoping we can get something like the following.
Here are two sets of info that may be hepful to you:
Annual programme / departmental / Faculty reports could address the following questions:
i. Does the dept recruit male / female students in much the same
proportions as the overall school body? If not, can we account for
that?
ii. Does the dept recruit people from different ethnic groups in
similar proportions to the overall school body? If not, can we account
for that?
iii. Does the dept recruit disabled and non-disabled people in similar
proportions to the overall school body? If not, can we account for
that? [and if you can break down further, e.g. do some departments recruit more / less dyslexic students?]
iv. Does the dept recruit younger and mature people in similar
proportions to the overall school body? If not, can we account for
that?
v. In your dept's programmes are there any anomalies apparent in the
number of students who complete the year or defer or withdraw?
(including breakdown by age / disability / ethnicity / gender)
vi. What about achievement? Are %age rates of proportion of
students awarded each final degree classification similar across all groups (including breakdown by age / disability / ethnicity / gender) or are some people more likely to get a 1st or 3rd?
Also things like:
vii. Does analysis of students' feedback provide any indications that
different sub-groups have markedly different experiences? Or that
they differ in terms of what causes them concern?
If you can get that kind of annual reporting, it can be used to build into a monitoring analysis and reporting cycle which could underpin a planning / financial expenditure cycle and would also contribute to the
institution's quality assurance procedures. Perhaps something like
this:
Level 1: each course / programme gets its routine monitoring stats on
age, disability, ethnicity and gender at least once a year. In their annual report to their School / Faculty, they consider whether those stats need any explanation (e.g. is it odd that, say, degree programme A
recruits 90% men when our overall population is 60% women? Do we know
why?). If they think it needs investigating, they can make that an
action point and any other action points the stats might suggest also go in the annual report - and next year they report on progress against those action points. the action points should form part of the their local operational plans for the next year.
Level 2: based on the course / prog reports and the Faculty's routine monitoring stats on age, disability, ethnicity and gender the Faculty also makes an annual report which includes action points - ideally more strategic than operational actions, which feed into the Faculty's strategic planning cycle and again report back next year on progress.
Level 3: An annual whole institution report on diversity stats is informed by the Faculty reports (any points from course / programme reports if appropriate) and includes the institutional strategic level
action points which derive from those reports. It also includes a
report back on progress against last year's action points.
Level 4A: As and when each programme / course is subjected to its
quinquennial review for re-validation, the 5 (or however many) years worth of annual reports are collated into a report showing (a) statistical trends over the 5 years and (b) progress on actions identified and addressed during that period.
Level 4B: As and when each department is subjected to its Departmental review the 5 years worth of annual reports for the whole dept are collated into a report showing (a) statistical trends over the 5 years and (b) progress on department level actions identified and addressed during that period.
Level 5: Perhaps once every 5-7 years (when a cycle of departmental
reviews is completed) a report on the the 5 years worth of institutional annual reports are collated into a report showing (a) statistical trends over the 5 years and (b) progress on institution level actions identified and addressed during that period.
I hope that's helpful, regards, Deb
2009/6/8 Anne Mwangi <[log in to unmask]>
Dear colleagues,
We are embarking on impact assessing policies and processes in our
Faculty Departments. I would be interested to hear from any institutions
that have carried out IA in this area. In particular
a) the approach you have taken e.g. integration into other annual
processes or otherwise
b) the kind of policies and processes you have prioritised
c)the challenges you have experienced
d) the resources you have committed in terms of the diversity champions
or from the centre
e) it would also be useful to know whether your institution has a more
devolved decision making structure where respective faculties write most
of their policies or how they apply the central ones or a more
streamlined approach across the institution.
Please contact me offline at [log in to unmask] or ring me on
01482
466333.
Many thanks for your help
Regards
Anne
Anne Mwangi
Equality & Diversity Adviser
University of Hull
Tel: 01482 466333
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Deb Viney, Diversity Advisor, SOAS
---------------------------------------------------------
School of Oriental and African Studies
(SOAS), Thornhaugh Street, Russell Square, London, WC1H 0XG tel: 0207
898 4957 email: [log in to unmask]
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