The annual report is a year-end ritual for many institutions, and higher education is no exception.

Each summer, as NC State’s academic and fiscal years come to a close, offices and departments across the university document their efforts of the year. The resulting reports serve as a record of the work: progress, achievements and goals attained.

With a new leadership team led by Vice Provost Sheri Schwab and increasing attention on the areas of diversity, equity and inclusion, the Office for Institutional Equity and Diversity examined its year-end reporting process and identified potential for improvement.

Over the course of the 2019-20 academic year, a workgroup within the office overhauled the office’s assessment practices, launching a new assessment model that combines research from several frameworks, including the work of Marcella LeFever.

Due to the pandemic, some of the programs originally selected to pilot the new model did not take place this year, but the office still benefited from a reconceptualization of the way it reports on its efforts that will help steer its future course. 

Instead of reporting programs by unit, the new model divides initiatives into nine core areas: assessment and accountability; campus culture and climate; equal opportunity employment; institutional, student faculty and staff excellence; mentoring and leadership development; recruitment, retention and graduation; research and inquiry; strategic planning; and training and education. 

The new groupings align with the office’s strategic goals and provide answers to the questions, “Why are we doing this work?” and “What do we need to accomplish?”

• We invite you to review our 2019-20 annual report to learn more about our programs and initiatives and why we do the work.