Diversity Scorecard Project
Section II: The CSUDH Diversity Scorecard
In the course of compiling and analyzing data (or noting the lack of them) in the four categories for the Diversity Scorecard project, namely access, retention, excellence, and institutional receptivity, the Dominguez Hills team eventually decided to focus its efforts on two of the areas, retention and excellence. The rationale for this decision is related in part to the fact that the composition of our student body is noteworthy in its ethnic diversity, suggesting that the areas of access and institutional receptivity are less problematic for Dominguez Hills at present than might otherwise be the case.
Additionally, the foci of retention and excellence are highly germane to issues that have already been identified as major problems by the university community in the area broadly defined as student success. In particular, under-preparedness of entering freshmen, weakness in basic skill development as a characteristic of many students, lower than desirable completion rates, and relatively poor performance on standardized tests such as CBEST all have brought the issue of quality to the fore.
The focus on quality has led to a variety of campus planning initiatives, and the Dominguez Hills team believes that the data presented in this Diversity Scorecard report will contribute to the campus discussion and decision-making with regard to improving quality for our students.
Accordingly, the CSUDH Diversity Scorecard has the following objectives:
Retention Perspective
- Objective One: Improve the one-year continuation rate of first-time freshmen to match CSU first-time freshmen system-wide rate of 76 percent.
- Objective Two: Improve the six-year tracking rate [1] of first-time freshmen cohorts to reach CSU system-wide rate of 50 percent.
Excellence Perspective
- Objective One: Improve the data collection process so as to be able to measure the number of students who actively pursue both Masters level and Ph.D. graduate education opportunities.
- Objective Two: Increase the number of students who achieve summa cum laude, magna cum laude and cum laude status to match yet to be determined system-wide rates.
The Dominguez Hills Diversity Scorecard team believes that fulfilling the objectives in each in the areas outlined above will assist the university in its quest to enhance the success of our students.