Introduction

What is the context for the EDI consultations?

Under the Irish Human Rights and Equality Act 2014 and Public Sector Equality and Human Rights Duty, all public higher education institutions must undertake equality assessment and monitoring. This is in addition to having policies and plans to promote equality, prevent discrimination and protect the human rights of staff, students and the wider public that are served by the work of the higher education institution.

Data collection from staff and students is crucial for informing the University's work in the areas of Equality, Diversity, Inclusion, and Belonging (EDIB). To reduce the number of consultations and to meet the organisational commitment under Goal 4.2.ii of the UCC Strategic Plan 2023-2028 to “measure progress, ensure accountability, share feedback with the UCC community and to inform action under an agreed governance and accountability framework”, UCC is committed to conducting bi-annual all-staff and all-student EDI consultations (EDI Framework Action Plan, 2.11).

Commenced in 2018, recurring EDI consultations follow a similar methodology to enable data comparison and benchmarking.   See the History of EDI Consultation section for more details.

What are the aims of the EDI Consultation?

• To identify areas where the University can make improvements and build on good practice.  
• To inform a range of positive interventions and actions in UCC.
• To inform strategic and policy planning by UCC management and governance bodies.
• To provide a vital part of reporting for the Athena Swan accreditation for School-level and Institutional applicants, which reporting is a requirement under the University’s performance agreement with the HEA.
• To assess progress and impact of previous commitments and KPIs.
• To support mandatory reporting requirements to the Higher Education Authority (HEA), National Disability Authority (NDA), Department of History of EDI Consultation   Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation, and Science (DFHERIS), and the Irish Human Rights and Equality Commission (IHREC).

 See History of EDI Consultation at UCC, and Results for an overview of the impact that this data collection has had on working life in the University.

Who should take part?

Staff Survey:

The EDI "Values and Culture" Staff Survey is available to all University employees, regardless of their role.  We encourage Heads of Schools/Units and Managers to make a special effort to ensure that colleagues who work part-time, on hourly occasional contracts, or in roles with limited reliance on email (e.g. security, grounds staff) are made aware of this consultation, have access to the survey link, and are encouraged to share their views. 

Student Survey:

The EDI Student Survey is for all students of the University, regardless of the study mode or programme type. We encourage Heads of Schools/Departments to ensure their undergraduate, postgraduate, as well as visiting students are made aware of this consultation, have access to the survey link, and are encouraged to share their views. 

EDI Gathering

Representatives of diverse staff and student groups will be invited to take part. 

How is my data going to be protected?

EDI consultations follow strict data protection rules and best practice as outlined in the University's Data Protection Policy.  The University's Social Research Ethics Committee (SREC) and Data Protection Officer (DPO) oversees and approves the ethics and data protection documentation.

Visit Data Protection section for more information on the types of data collected, who has access and how is the data going to be processed. 

How is the data going to be used?

Consultation findings will:

• Inform future policies and initiatives related to equality, diversity and inclusion.
• Play a crucial role in evaluating progress and impact on multiple actions and KPIs.
• Aid School- and Institution-level Athena Swan applications.
• Inform mandatory data reporting to the HEA, NDA, DFHERIS and IHREC.

Summary reports of results will be circulated in line with the ethics and data protection agreements.  Athena Swan applicants will have access to School-level disaggregated data reports to aid their self-assessment.

 Visit Data Protection section for more information. Visit Results for selected findings of previous staff consultations and History of EDI Consultation for the examples of impact achieved.

Who is responsible for the consultation?

The survey and EDI Gathering were developed and are administered by UCC’s EDI Unit.  The EDI Unit team would like to acknowledge the contributions of the many UCC staff who provided important feedback during the development of the EDI Consultation. 

The University's ULT EDIB Sub-Committee oversees and approves the development of this consultation. 

Contact edicultureandvalues@ucc.ie or ediunit@ucc.ie if you have questions.