Digital Access and Inclusion Project

Our goal is to ensure equitable participation and full community engagement at the University by increasing digital access and knowledge for NC State employees who do not use computers regularly in their jobs.

The Employee Experience and Relations Committee estimates that between 750-800 NC State staff do not use a computer regularly as a part of their job. Many of these staff members, primarily working in dining, housekeeping and groundskeeping services, may not have consistent or convenient access to digital technology and some may also need to build their technology skills in order to use digital tools effectively.

Because of these digital access barriers, many staff may be missing important communications or opportunities for engagement and participation in the university community.

In 2021, the staff senate conducted a survey of a sample of employees in Dining and Housekeeping teams.

80% of staff reported 1 or more challenges accessing digital technology, such as lack of time during the day or no computer available in their work area.

30% of staff reported that their primary language is a language other than English.

54% had never participated in any technology-related training, mostly because they didn’t know what was available or no one had ever encouraged them to participate.

33% of employees reported accessing their NC State email only monthly or more rarely.

Recommendations

To address these needs, the Employee Experience and Relations Committee has drafted recommendations for how the university community could come together to provide full inclusion and equitable participation for this group of employees. The recommendations address five key goals:

Goal 1: Ensure all staff members can access digital resources and receive support.

Goal 2: Ensure all staff members can develop technology skills, starting from the beginner level.

Goal 3: Support supervisors to support their staff.

Goal 4: Address language barriers.

Goal 5: Communicate the program directly to relevant staff members.

Read the Full Recommendations

The recommendations were developed with the input of many campus stakeholders, including Facilities, Campus Enterprises, University Human Resources, Office of Information Technology, and the Office for Institutional Equity and Diversity. Two events were held in spring of 2022 to gather input from campus partners.

Watch the Digital Access and Inclusion* Summit – April 5. 2022

* Note: This event was originally called the Digital Access and Literacy Summit, but we have changed the name of our initiative moving forward and replaced the word “literacy” with the word “inclusion,” because we want to show the utmost respect for our colleagues learning digital technology.

Watch the Digital Access and Inclusion Working Sessions – June 9, 2022:

Next Steps

The Employee Experience and Relations Committee of the Staff Senate will be taking a lead in the way to prioritize, plan and coordinate the implementation of these recommendations. However, this work will require involvement and support from many partners on campus.

If you would like to learn more or get involved, please contact Michelle Healey, chair of the EERC Committee, at mmhealey@ncsu.edu.

Looking for Resources?

If you are looking to for digital access or training resources for yourself or to support members of your team, here are some great campus resources: