TerrapinSTRONG Annual Report 2023-24

Campus Unit: TerrapinSTRONG
Updated: Jul 31, 2024

Vision

The University of Maryland strives to create an inclusive environment where every member of our community feels that they belong and are empowered to reach their full potential.

Mission

TerrapinSTRONG introduces and infuses its vision of inclusion and our institutional values across the university to create a more cohesive identity and a stronger commitment to community, connection and inclusion.

Priorities

Community

TerrapinSTRONG creates a sense of belonging and an expectation of personal responsibility among UMD community members. It acknowledges the exclusionary issues in our shared community history, communicates our values, indicates the importance of taking care of our community and emphasizes the role every person plays in the success of this place.

Connection

TerrapinSTRONG connects people to history, place and people. TerrapinSTRONG helps members of the UMD community build relationships, find support systems and understand how their work connects to the wider vision of inclusion. It provides opportunities for engagement with ourselves, with each other and with our institution.

Inclusion

TerrapinSTRONG emphasizes the importance of an environment where everyone can reach their full potential. It represents the diversity of our campus community in the past, present and future, provides resources for support of diverse people, and encourages practices that serve everyone. TerrapinSTRONG brings marginalized voices to the table and clearly communicates our commitment to be a welcoming and safe place.

A Broadening Year

In our third year, TerrapinSTRONG has been broadening our scope across campus. At the campus wide level, we have implemented an annual DEI symposium for all faculty and staff, not focused solely on new employees. Many colleges, schools and divisions have also begun to expand DEI initiatives for their entire unit, weaving TerrapinSTRONG into those initiatives and smoothing the transition between onboarding and ongoing development.

TerrapinSTRONG served as a subject matter expert for the Excellence in Supervision program administered through CLOC, created new content for New Employee Orientation administered by UHR, and demonstrated the ability to host a large-scale welcome event for graduate students.

As TerrapinSTRONG continues to evolve, we expect to see more of this blurred transition from the TerrapinSTRONG initiatives surrounding onboarding and the overarching goals of inclusion and equity touted by the TerrapinSTRONG program.

TerrapinSTRONG Symposium

The inaugural TerrapinSTRONG Symposium took place on November 1, 2023, as a collaboration between TerrapinSTRONG, the Office of Faculty Affairs and University Human Resources. The TerrapinSTRONG Symposium is an opportunity for faculty and staff to learn from each other about diversity, equity, inclusion, justice and belonging topics. The annual campus conference day provides space to bridge the work of scholars, researchers and practitioners to create greater collaboration and to provide insights from all sides that may inform our work.

Over 200 faculty and staff members convened in the STAMP Student Union for a daylong conference around this year’s theme of Belonging. Keynote speakers were Dr. Jennifer Roberts and Dr. Shannon Jette, two School of Public Health faculty members who run the Wekesa Earth Center, which aims to increase sense of belonging and restore relationships between marginalized communities and nature. The Symposium featured 20 additional presenters, six roundtable discussions and one restorative circle. Presentations ranged from theoretical belonging models used in develop of K-12 students in the 4-H program to autoethnographic stories of belonging and more.

Assessment of the event revealed its resounding success. Seventy-five percent of participants engaged with someone from a different function (faculty with staff), 90% learned something new, and participants overwhelmingly agreed that the Symposium was worth their time. Participant feedback also identified some areas for improvement, to include recruiting more faculty and male-identified attendees, empowering more staff presenters and providing more networking opportunities to promote a sense of belonging.

The second TerrapinSTRONG Symposium is scheduled for October 24, 2024, centering on the theme of Inclusive Leadership. A plenary panel will open the upcoming Symposium, featuring co-authors of "Dear Department Chair: Letters from Black Women Leaders to the Next Generation".

How the University Works

This year TerrapinSTRONG developed a script for a fifth module called “How the University Works.” The module will be included in the FY24 courses in a written format until the final video is completed. Topics in this video include:

Land-grant status
Academic freedom & tenure
Freedom of speech
Shared governance
Strategic plan

Student Onboarding

Colleges and schools continue to build upon their TerrapinSTRONG initiatives for new undergraduate students. Long-term planning has become more realistic as initiatives begin to take shape that meet the needs of these communities.

Highlights include:

Embedded Learning: The College of Behavioral & Social Sciences (BSOS) has integrated TerrapinSTRONG into the learning outcomes for each of their academic departments to ensure the TerrapinSTRONG messages are explicit within each major. The College of Arts & Humanities (ARHU) continues to introduce intentional action planning during orientation and then has embedded conversations about their reflection, “The Art of Becoming TerrapinSTRONG,” in the first advising appointment with every student.
The College of Computer, Mathematical, & Natural Sciences has integrated TerrapinSTRONG into introductory courses and is now working toward offering intergroup dialogue courses that would expand the academic DEI offerings within the college.
Storytelling: Letters & Sciences has developed a pilot program for their UNIV100 courses utilizing the empathy tool Narrative 4. They are hosting a live team training to ensure instructors feel prepared and will roll out the initiative in Fall 2024.
Strong Connections: Many units have increased the opportunities for students to meet socially and connect both interpersonally and with the institution. Letters & Sciences offered a new “STRONG Connections program" throughout FY24 by collaborating with a different student organization or campus resource each week. The School of Public Policy has charged themselves to offer at least one community building event open to faculty, staff AND students each semester, in addition to other engagements that might target a particular group.

This year, TerrapinSTRONG held a Graduate Student Welcome event with over 800 new graduate student attendees and more than 40 departments tabling at the resource fair and/or offering educational workshops. Grad Welcome was a low-cost pilot to determine the interest and need for in-person orientation opportunities for graduate students.

We conducted a feedback survey of participants and received 63 responses. We also received feedback surveys from 15 of our campus partners.

Educational Workshops

Those who attended educational workshops found them worthwhile (4.4 average on a 5-point Likert scale where 5 is "extremely worth my time"), learned something new (3.9 average out of 5) and would recommend them to other graduate students (4.3 out of 5). All but one respondent indicated having them the week before classes started was the perfect time. (Only one respondent wished the workshops were during the semester.) The highest-rated workshops were related to library resources for research, career planning, and goal-setting. The only suggestions for improvement to the workshops was that attendees wished they had been staggered so that they could have attended more than one workshop.

Resource Fair

Campus partners were overwhelmingly supportive of the event. Fifteen faculty, staff and graduate student volunteers from across campus assisted in managing the event, in addition to those who facilitated workshops and tabled at the resource fair. Fifty-seven campus departments and student groups were represented. Feedback respondents found it very worthwhile (4.4 out of 5) and all but two found it perfectly timed the week before classes. Qualitative responses indicated that campus partners had many meaningful interactions with graduate students ("We connected with more students than expected.") and were able to answer many questions. Many campus partners also reached out to TerrapinSTRONG later in FY24 to thank TerrapinSTRONG for the opportunity to get rare facetime with graduate students, to offer their involvement in another graduate welcome event for FY25 and/or to ensure they scheduled their own orientations around any welcome events so that their students could take full advantage of this offering.

We noted a few areas for improvement for future events. The space was crowded and it could be difficult to hear and maneuver during the event. We also had difficulty with the distribution of food, resulting in long lines and excess leftovers that would have been eaten with better management and larger plates.

Formal Program

The event concluded with brief speeches by campus leaders: President Pines, Vice President Dodge, AVP McShay, Dean Roth and Graduate Student Government President Autumn Perkey. Speakers were well-received, and feedback was positive. However, many attendees left prior to the formal welcome. Only three respondents indicated they wished there were fewer speakers, but this was also an area for consideration in future events. We received suggestions to offer the formal program prior to the resource fair or in the middle of the fair to reach more students.

Looking Ahead

Following the event, the Graduate School and Student Affairs, who had previously hosted this event and actively participated in this year's iteration, expressed the desire to resume hosting these welcomes going forward. TerrapinSTRONG has offered to partner on and assist in future events.

FY24 was the first opportunity for TerrapinSTRONG to meet with the faculty and staff members who oversee graduate programs campuswide. Graduate program directors now have access to a resource with a recommended onboarding process for new graduate students, suggested activities and information to share, and the offer of partnership or consultation with TerrapinSTRONG to enhance their onboarding experience.

All colleges and schools should have TerrapinSTRONG onboarding initiatives for the graduate students for Fall 2024. We have received more requests to participate in graduate student orientations than in past years and will present at least eight times the week before the semester starts. Mentorship programs have cropped up as a next phase for some units. The School of Architecture, Preservation and Planning (ARCH) is piloting a graduate student peer-to-peer mentorship program beginning in Fall 2024, and the College of Arts & Humanities's (ARHU) is currently working on a mentorship program for their international students.

Employee Onboarding

In 2022-2023, units across campus focused on assessment and development, so in FY24 they implemented many new initiatives to support employees. Units are also incorporating more foundational DEI learning into faculty and staff trainings, recognizing that a lot of what works for students is also important for staff. The following highlights only include new initiatives and are in no way inclusive of the great work happening in every unit.

All Hands on Deck: The Office of Undergraduate Studies (UGST) has appointed staff from across the college to serve as "navigators" for new employees for six months to a year after joining. They have also created a task force to improve professional development opportunities that would assist new employees with their transition.
Well-being: The School of Architecture, Planning & Preservation (ARCH) developed a weekly newsletter to promote self-care among employees, as well as a number of workshops and events to support employee well-being. UGST is working on a website called "Growth" to support employee well-being.
Intentional First Day: Many units, including the Division of Administration, Division of IT, ARHU and UGST, implemented welcome resource packets, welcome letters from leadership, outlines of onboarding, and training for managers to ensure that employees feel supported and prepared from day one.
Identity Exploration: Many departments have brought variations on the classic identity wheel activity to their professional team. (e.g. ARHU, Division of Student Affairs)
Leadership Connection: Several units have implemented conversation series and drop-in opportunities to engage more closely with deans, directors and VPs. (ARHU, Division of Research)

Ongoing Initiatives

Design for Belonging

TerrapinSTRONG offered an additional six Design for Belonging workshops open to the wider campus community. Design for Belonging has also begun to attract graduate student leaders and undergraduate student organization leaders who want to enhance belonging within their groups. We have also been able to run customized workshops, including an upcoming session for academic advisors in the School of Public Health and the College of Agriculture & Natural Resources.

New Employee Onboarding

TerrapinSTRONG has continued our partnership with University Human Resources on revamping the new employee onboarding experience. While structural changes and new positions in UHR have slowed the revamp process, we are still fully committed to this work.

A new TerrapinSTRONG welcome video was filmed at the end of 2023-2024 which has been integrated into the beginning of New Employee Orientation sessions as of July 2024. In addition, TerrapinSTRONG has purchased M Books for everyone who attends New Employee Orientation beginning in August 2024. University Human Resources (UHR) piloted an offering of the African American History & Landmark Tour, led by Dr. Kim Nickerson, for new employees and a new employee welcome event and resource fair in an effort to expand opportunities for community, connection and inclusion among new employees.

UHR's Talent Acquisition team has taken over responsibility for the rest of the onboarding process, and TerrapinSTRONG meets regularly with the team to share resources and discuss progress. Revamping the onboarding process is their goal for FY25 with the intention to roll out the new plan in summer 2025.

Alumni Association

TerrapinSTRONG provided another customized live version of the course for the leadership of the Alumni Association. These leaders received a special alumni version of the action plan and had the opportunity to discuss ways to infuse the TerrapinSTRONG messaging into alumni activities.

TerrapinSTRONG by the Numbers

51,193

total enrollments

43,843

total course completions

pie chart showing 90% of new employees completed TerrapinSTRONG

% of full-time employees new in FY24 who have completed the training

pie chart showing 81% of new undergraduates completed TerrapinSTRONG

6,963

new undergrads completed

1,321

new graduate students completed

5,420

staff completed

pie chart showing 73% of full time faculty have completed TerrapinSTRONG

3,379

faculty completed

compares staff completion percentages across units, with the GRAD at 100% to SPH at 68%

bar chart showing percentage completion from UGST with 94% to SPH at 54% completion by faculty

What People Say

Mean scores from participants after completing TerrapinSTRONG. Scale is of 1 (not at all) - 5 (very much).	I understand what UMD values.	I believe UMD values DEIJ.	I am proud to be at UMD.	I feel like I am a part of UMD.	I understand ways I can get more involved in DEIJ on campus.
Faculty	4.8	4.74	4.73	4.44	4.74
Staff	4.83	4.82	4.81	4.58	4.8
Grad Students	4.77	4.57	4.74	4.43	4.71
Undergraduates	4.85	4.83	4.79	4.47	4.79

First three questions asked pre- and post-completion of TerrapinSTRONG. All averages increased from pre- to post-test.

Less than 3% of undergraduate students had a net negative change in response. 60% saw net positive change.
Less than 2% of faculty had a net negative change in response. 64% saw net positive change.
Less than 5% of graduate students had a net negative change in response. 55% saw net positive change.
Less than 4% of staff had a net negative change in response. 69% saw net positive change.

The vast majority of those who saw no net change from pre- to post-test began with 5s in the pre-test and maintained them at post-test

Participants completing the TerrapinSTRONG Action Plan select actions they intend to take to further their learning and engagement. The top Community action for all four groups was to attend the Farmers' Market on campus. Faculty, graduate students, and undergraduate students also selected the Farmers' Market as their top choice in FY23. Faculty, undergraduate students, and graduate students had the same top interests as in FY23. Staff interests shifted, with Mental Health First Aid and the Farmers' Market beating out the Campus Pantry and the African American History Tour for the top spot in FY 24. In the Community and Inclusion categories, top choices were:

	Connection	Inclusion
Faculty	Join a TLTC learning community.	Create accessible, inclusive, affordable courses.
Staff	Join an employee affinity space.	Get Certified in Mental Health First Aid
Undergraduates	Join a student organization.	Register to vote & vote.
Grad Students	Get involved in Graduate Student Life.	Commit to climate change action.

In FY25 action plans have seen a number of changes and enhancements in an effort to broaden engagement with other initiatives on campus and keep actions relevant and impactful. To see all current action plans, visit the Take Action page on the TerrapinSTRONG website.

Type

Report

Campus Unit

TerrapinSTRONG