ACE Releases Insights from Diverse Learning Environments Survey

These are among the findings in ACE's brief Sense of Belonging: Insights from the 2023 Diverse Learning Environments Survey, the inaugural brief ACE has published since announcing a partnership with the UCLA School of Education and Information Studies (UCLA Ed&IS) to strengthen and lead the Higher Education Research Institute (HERI), administered by CRESST, a research and development center within UCLA Ed&IS. Additional briefs will be published in the coming months.

This brief examines differences in students' perceptions of their learning environments-even within the same campus contexts-to identify potential pressure points against persistence and completion. In addition to findings on mental health, the brief includes insights on accessing resources and feelings and experiences of belonging. The authors encourage senior leaders to use insights from the report and their own internal data to ask themselves:

• How are we assessing students' sense of belonging at the institutional level, especially that of underrepresented students?

• Does the distribution of the institution's service usage rates look like the campus's population?

• How are we identifying barriers to engagement for our students and actively working to reduce those barriers?

"This approach is crucial for fostering a supportive and successful campus environment," the authors write. "Once these questions have been posed, senior leaders should bring any insights to cabinet meetings, stakeholder conversations, and engagement with community partners to address gaps that have been identified."

The Diverse Learning Environments Survey, one of six surveys administered by HERI, captures student perceptions regarding the institutional climate; campus practices as experienced with faculty, staff, and peers; and student learning outcomes.

Registration is open through October 2024 for one of HERI's surveys: the CIRP Freshman Survey. A recent blog post highlights how participating in the CIRP Freshman Survey benefits institutions.

Through this partnership, ACE and UCLA Ed&IS are working to elevate and expand HERI's research and reach through ACE's extensive capacity and expertise in faculty and presidential-level data collection and research. ACE and HERI are collaborating on data sharing and research design and development with the goal of supporting higher education institutions' leadership and the students they serve.

Click here to read the brief.