Accessibility, Diversity, Equity & Inclusion
At Western Washington University we see equity, justice, and inclusion as fundamental principles integral to our success. We value diverse experiences and perspectives, and strive to create learning, living, and working environments that promote respect, access, opportunity, and equity for all.
On This Page
Featured Resources
Western's
Framework for
Accessibility Diversity Equity Inclusion
Goals
Advancing Inclusive Success
Increasing Washington Impact
Enhancing Academic Excellence
The Feedback Loop
Western's framework is illustrated here, with links to relevant pages. Our Policies and Programs feed our Learning and Traditions, which in turn leads to Support Resources and Infrastructure. This all creates Accountability, which then creates a feedback loop to strengthen and improve all aspects of the framework.
Policies
- Revised discrimination complaint procedure
- Threat & safety communication protocol
- Gender-inclusive housing policies
- Access to campus records for immigration enforcement purposes
Programs
- Provost’s faculty diversity & hiring initiative
- Climate surveys
- Council & Task Forces
- Enrollment & Student Services Advising Council
- Secured legislative funding of $1.016 million per bienna for an Ethnic Studies Program
Learning
- Recently expanded sexual harassment prevention training for students
- Government-to-Government training
- Ethnic studies curriculum
- College-level EID initiatives
- Creating welcoming environments for LGBTQ+
Traditions
- Alma Clark Glass Hall, new residence hall named after the first black student at Western
- Equity & Inclusion Achievement Award
- Hispanic Heritage Month
- Indigenous Peoples Day
- International Cultural Night
- MLK Day & Black History Month
- Pow Wow
- Social Justice, Equity, and Diversity Awards
- World Kindness Day
Resources & Support
- Bias Response Team
- LGBTQ+ Director
- Tribal Liaison
- Multicultural Student Services Director
- Executive Director of Civil Rights & Title IX Compliance
Infrastructure
- Disability Access Center
- Multicultural Center
- Meditation/Prayer Rooms
- Gender Neutral Restrooms (recently expanded)
- Indigenous Cultural Center
- Student Success Fundraising Initiative
Accountability
2024-25 Targets
Overall First-year Retention Rate
87 - 90%
- Students of Color: 87 - 90%
- Pell Grant Eligible: 87 - 90%
Overall six-year graduation rate
75 - 80%
- Students of Color: 75 - 80%
- Pell Grant Eligible: 75 - 80%
Overall transfer four-year graduation rate
75 - 80%
- Students of Color: 75 - 80%
- Pell Grant Eligible: 75 - 80%
Percent Students of color
30 - 35%
Percent Faculty of color
18 - 23%
Climate Metrics
Updates on Current ADEI Initiatives
| Action | Implementation/Next Steps |
|---|---|
|
Hire Director of Multicultural Student Services |
Hired in September 2021. |
|
Hire Retention Counselor for African American and Black students |
The search process is in progress. |
|
Launched fall 2020. SET report on University Budgeting Through a DEI lens. The 2020-21 Bias Response Team report was shared in Spring 2021. |
|
|
ADEI leadership education/training |
ADEI training for executive and academic leadership, based on Kathy Obear’s Creating Inclusive Organizations framework started in August 2020 and culminated in May 2021. |
|
Mandatory ADEI training for students (in addition to sexual assault prevention training) |
Launched spring 2021. |
|
ADEI training for new and existing employees including senior leadership |
Planned for 2021-22.
|
|
Research existing campus building namesakes, and appoint a legacy review committee for Huxley College of the Environment |
Legacy Review Task Force charged in late fall 2020 to review names associated with buildings and colleges, including Huxley College of the Environment, and recommend to the President and Board of Trustees whether any names should be considered for removal. The Board of Trustees made the decision to remove the Huxley name from the College of the Environment. |
|
Name new residence hall after one of Western’s first notable Black graduates |
Board of Trustees approved naming of the new residence hall after Alma Clark Glass, the first Black student to attend Western in 1906, in December 2020. The new residence hall will include Black affinity housing, and be ready for occupancy in fall 2021. |
|
Climate survey conducted by USC Center for Urban Education |
Launch Fall 2021. |
|
Sign on to the Okanagan Charter and make a commitment to become a health-promoting institution. |
Western Washington University is one of seven universities — and the first in the Northwest — to have adopted the Okanagan Charter and joined the United States Health Promoting Campuses Network, which calls on higher-education institutions to embed health into all aspects of campus culture and to lead health-promotion action and collaboration locally and globally. |
|
Ethnic Studies curriculum |
Ethnic studies funding request funded by the legislature for $1.2 million per biennium during the 2021 legislative session. Ethnic Studies faculty working on the development of content and curriculum for the program ongoing. |
|
Add a General University Requirement focused on African American studies and structural anti-Black racism |
The Faculty Senate has initiated a process, led by the Committee on Undergraduate Education, on reframing and updating the General University Requirements to include a set of courses to help students understand and grapple with issues of power, equity, and justice in the U.S. and in the broader world. |
|
Expand Viking Launch for first-generation, Pell Grant eligible, and scholarship students |
Fall 2021 and ongoing. |
|
Annual institution-wide recognition and celebration of Black History Month, MLK Day, and Juneteenth |
On January 18, 2021, WWU, in partnership with Whatcom Community College, Northwest Indian College, and Bellingham Technical College, hosted a virtual MLK Day ceremony, attended by nearly 1,000 people, featuring New York Times bestselling author and WWU alumna Ijeoma Oluo (’07), as the keynote speaker. On January 17th, 2021, WWU in partnership with several community sponsors hosted a virtual MLK Day event with Ibram X. Kendi, author of the #1 New York Times bestselling book How to be an Antiracist for our 2022 event. Work on enhancing and expanding recognition is ongoing. |
Western Resources
Associated Students Organizations
For Faculty and Staff
Enrollment Statistics
All Students, Fall 2021
Headcount
All Students: 15,125
Men: 6,376 (42.2%)
Women: 8,749 (57.8%)
Full-time: 13,261 (87.7%)
Part-time: 1,864 (12.3%)
Undergraduate Headcount
Total: 14,215
Full-time: 12,603 (88.7%)
Part-time: 1,612 (11.3%)
Graduate Headcount
Total: 910
Full-time: 658 (72.3%)
Part-time: 252 (27.7%)
Fall 2021 Enrollment by Race/Ethnicity
| All Students | Fall 2020 | % of Total |
|---|---|---|
| Hispanic | 1596 | 10.6% |
| Hispanic Ethnicity | 578 | |
| Hispanic & White | 782 | |
| Hispanic & non-White | 236 | |
| American Indian or Alaska Native | 270 | 1.8% |
| American Indian or Alaska Native Single Race | 68 | |
| American Indian & White | 202 | |
| Asian | 1,725 | 11.4% |
| Asian Single Race | 963 | |
| Asian & White | 762 | |
| Black or African American | 491 | 3.2% |
| Black or African American Single Race | 281 | |
| Black & White | 210 | |
| Native Hawaiian or Other Pacific Islander | 72 | 0.5% |
| Native Hawaiian or Other Pacific Island Single Race | 20 | |
| Native Hawaiian & White | 52 | |
| International | 148 | 1.0% |
| Race and ethnicity unknown | 322 | 2.1% |
| Two or more races: Other | 188 | 1.2% |
| White | 10,313 | 68.2% |
| Total | 15,125 | |
| Students of Color | 4,812 | 31.8% |
Student enrollment by place of origin
More detailed metrics can be found at the Office of Institutional Effectiveness
Inclusive Success
First-to-second Year Retention
Overall: 80%
Underrepresented Minority Students: 72%
Pell Grant eligible: 74%
Six-year Graduation Rate
Overall: 67%
Underrepresented Minority Students: 61%
Pell Grant eligible: 61%
Transfer Four-year Graduation Rate
Overall: 76%
Underrepresented Minority Students: 69%
Pell grant eligible: 74%
Faculty Retention Rates
The following are three year retention statistics, showing how many faculty employed in a given year remained employed three years later.
These data are broken down by Tenure Status*, gender, and Faculty of Color Status**.
TN and TT mean tenure and tenure Track. NT means non-tenure track.
Faculty retirements lower measured retention rates. To account for this, we also present the retention rates of faculty who are under the age of 59 on the hypothesis that faculty who leave WWU before 59 are not retiring. 59 has been used because it coincides with when people can start drawing from tax-deferred retirement accounts. This second table is potentially better at demonstrating the mobility of faculty for reasons other than retirements.
*Tenure status reported is the tenure status of the faculty member at the start of the three-year period.
**Faculty of Color are reported per IPEDS guidelines. Race categories include: American Indian or Alaska Native; Asian; Black or African American; Hispanic; Native Hawaiian or Other Pacific Islander; or two or more races.
Three-Year Faculty Retention Rates
Summary of Faculty & Staff Demographics
| Employee type | Total WWU Employees | Women | Racial/Ethnic Minority | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Faculty | 916 | 461 | 50.33% | 188 | 20.52% |
| Staff | 1279 | 738 | 57.70% | 210 | 16.42% |
| Total | 2195 | 1199 | 54.62% | 398 | 18.13% |
Source of Data: Banner HR; WWU 2021 AAP for Women and Minorities (as of October 31, 2020), prepared by the Office of Civil Rights and Title IX Compliance. Data includes persons employed at any FTE.
Employees who self-identify as women and belonging to a racial/ethnic minority are included in numbers for both women and minorities. Racial/ethnic minority includes individuals who self-identified as: Hispanic or Latino; American Indian or Alaskan Native; Asian; Black or African American; Native Hawaiian or Other Pacific Islander; or Two or more races. Providing demographic information is voluntary. The totals and percentages in the above table do not include individuals whose demographic information is not available.
Faculty numbers include tenure track and non-tenure track faculty.
