USC Well-being Collective KPI’s

USC Well-being Collective Key Performance Indicators 

The USC Well-being Collective harnesses the power of Collective Impact for a variety of distinct and often siloed academic departments, administrative units, recognized student organizations and local non-profits to come together and work with the student community towards our common agenda: strengthening a campus culture driven by student well-being.

To track progress, members of the student community and the participating partners of the Well-being Collective worked to identify 8 Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) to regularly report and share with the whole USC community. These KPIs are far from the only measures of progress. They represent essential common values and begin to measure movement towards the common agenda. The KPIs include:

  • Positive Sense of Belonging
  • Fairness and Equity in Classroom
  • Fairness and Equity out of Classroom
  • Positive Mental Health
  • At-risk Drinking Among All Students
  • At-risk Drinking Among Incoming Undergraduate Students
  • Sexual Assault
  • Upstanding Behaviors

SEIP ushers 3 of the 8 KPIs, which specifically guide SEIP’s practice and assessment of overall student equity and inclusion:

  • Positive Sense of Belonging
  • Fairness and Equity in Classroom
  • Fairness and Equity out of Classroom

Student well-being Key Performance Indicators: Baseline Data Report 2019 

In August 2019, the USC well-being Collective published the Student well-being Key Performance Indicators: Baseline Data Report. We’re highlighting SEIP’s 3 KPIs from the report:

KPI 1: Positive sense of belonging. Sense of belonging is a composite index of 5 items (The Healthy Minds Network, 2018):

  • I feel valued as an individual at this school
  • I feel I belong at this school
  • I have considered leaving this school because I felt isolated or unwelcomed (reversed coding)
  • This school is a place where I am able to perform up to my full potential
  • I have found one or more communities or groups where I feel I belong at this school

Respondents rated their agreement with these items from (1) strongly disagree to (5) strongly agree. Students with positive sense of belonging have a score of at least 20 out of 25 points on this index, an average of at least 4 on all items.

KPI 2: Perception on being treated fairly and equitably in classrooms and classroom settings. Respondents rated their agreement from (1) strongly disagree to (5) strongly agree if ‘I am treated fairly and equitably in classrooms and classroom settings,’ (The Healthy Minds Network, 2018). Students who feel they are treated fairly and equitably answer either (4) agree or (5) strongly agree.

KPI 3: Perception on being treated fairly and equitably out-of-classroom university spaces. Respondents rated their agreement from (1) strongly disagree to (5) strongly agree if ‘I am treated fairly and equitably in out-of-classroom university spaces,’ (The Healthy Minds Network, 2018). Students who feel they are treated fairly and equitably answer (4) agree or (5) strongly agree.

In July 2020, the USC well-being Collective published the Student well-being Key Performance Indicators: 2020 Data Report.

In February 2021, the USC well-being Collective published the Student well-being Key Performance Indicators: 2021 Data Update

Summary of the Changes in KPI Findings from 2018-2019 Baseline to 2020

  • Overall, all of the student wellbeing KPIs trend in the favorable direction from 2018-2019 baseline to 2020. In particular, four KPIs (positive sense of belonging, fairness and equity out of classroom, positive mental health, and upstanding behaviors) were found to have significant positive increases from the baseline in 2018-2019 to Spring 2020.
  • Despite the COVID-19 pandemic, 56% of USC students who were enrolled at UPC or HSC continued to live on or near campus in Los Angeles and another 22% remained in California.
  • While students moved to online classes, and practiced physical distancing, data demonstrate that students had more positive sense of belonging (+3.2%) and mental health (+5.7%) when compared to data from two years prior.

Positive Sense of Belonging

  • First generation students reported an almost 5% increase in positive sense of belonging from 35.3% in 2018 to 40.2% in 2020.
  • Positive sense of belonging also increased significantly by 6.3% (from 42.0% in 2018 to 48.3% in 2019) among undergraduate students
  • For 2020, Mixed-race (40.8%), Black/African American (41.6%), International Asian (43.1%) and Asian American (44.6%) students continued to be the racial/ethnic groups with the least sense of belonging at USC.
  • Mixed-race and Black/African American students were 1.3 times less likely than White students to have a positive sense of belonging at USC.
  • LGBTQ+ students were also 1.3 times less likely than cis-heterosexual students to have a positive sense of belonging

Fairness and Equity in and out of the Classroom

  • Only 67% of Indigenous and Black/African American students felt they were treated fairly and equitably in the classrooms compared to 80% or more of students from other races and ethnicities. 
  • Among the first-generation students, more reported to be treated fairly and equitably outside the classrooms at USC from 72.2% in 2018 to 76.2% in 2020.
  • Nevertheless, first generation students were still 1.5 more likely to feel they were not treated fairly and equitably out of the classrooms than non-first generation students.