1. ClimateQUAL at Illinois
Update and Recommendations from the ClimateQUAL Implementation Team
Library Faculty Meeting
June 21, 2017

2. What Is ClimateQUAL? ClimateQUAL© aims to:
ClimateQUAL©: Organizational Climate and Diversity Assessment is an assessment of library staff perceptions concerning (a) their library’s commitment to the principles of diversity, (b) organization policies and procedures, and (c) staff attitudes.
ClimateQUAL© aims to:
Foster a culture of healthy organizational climate and diversity;
Help libraries better understand staff perceptions of organizational climate and diversity;
Facilitate the on-going collection and interpretation of staff feedback;
Identify best practices in managing organizational climate; and
Enable libraries to interpret and act on data.

3. What Does ClimateQUAL Measure?
Organizational Climate (OC) Organizational climate refers to the interpretative frameworks shared by employees regarding the priorities of their organization and it helps them understand what behavior is rewarded, supported, and expected in the organization. There are 9 organizational climate scales. Organizational Attitudes (OA) The information summarized in this section measures employee attitude on a number of different topics, such as their commitment to the organization, their satisfaction with their work, the extent to which they feel empowered. There are 7 measures for organizational attitude.

4. Why Did the Library Do ClimateQUAL?
The Library Diversity Committee had discussed doing an organizational climate survey for several years
Dean Wilkin supported the idea of doing a climate survey
The Library had never done a comprehensive climate assessment; this would provide us with baseline data
ClimateQUAL has reputation as being a solid tool and a well-tested instrument for climate assessment
We would be able to benchmark against other Libraries
We would receive support from the Association of Research Libraries
All information would be confidential

5. See ClimateQUAL Summary Report for Details
What Did We Learn?
UIUC Library Performs Best: Climate for Organizational Justice and Leadership
Distributive Justice, Procedural Justice, Interpersonal Justice, Informational Justice
Leader-Member Relationship Quality, Authentic Leadership
UIUC Library Performs Well: Continual Learning, Organizational Commitment and the Attitude for Work Unit Conflict
UIUC Library Needs Improvement – Empowerment, Citizenship Behaviors, Diversity and Teamwork
Team Psychological Empowerment in the Workplace
Organizational Citizenship Behaviors
Climate for Demographic Diversity
Climate for Teamwork: Structural Facilitation of Teamwork
See ClimateQUAL Summary Report for Details

6. Timeline of Climate QUAL at the Library
April 2014: Climate Survey Working Group appointed. Cindy Ingold, Chair; Jim Cotter, Qiang Jin, Cindy Kelly, Sue Searing, Jen-Chien Yu
Feb. 24-March : Survey administered
Early April: Report received from ARL
August-Dec. 2015: ClimateQUAL Response Team appointed. Cindy Ingold, Chair; JoAnn Jacoby, Cindy Kelly, Jessica LeCrone, Kyle Mc Cafferty, Ayla Stein, Beth Woodard, Jen-Chien Yu
February 2016: EC Accepts Recommendations
Summer 2016: Held 6 focus groups. CQ Implementation Team appointed. Cindy Ingold, chair; Sarah Christensen, Donna Hoffman, Qiang Jin, Laila Hussein Moustafa, Dani Postula, Tom Teper, and Beth Woodard
July 15, 2017: Final Report and Recommendations from CQIT

7. ClimateQUAL Implementation Team Key Recommendation
Appoint an Organizational Climate Steering Team with proposed charge: continually monitor the organizational climate to make sure recommendations from the survey are being met; identify ongoing and new issues related to the organizational climate; communicate regularly with Library administration and the Library; and actively engage with the Library, the campus, and the profession to make sure we are following and implementing best practices to create an inclusive and diverse workplace.
Membership: Chairs or designees of key committees, units, plus at-large members, e.g. Diversity Committee, LSSC, L-CAP, SDTC, HR, EC….
Would meet quarterly
Chair would be a member of Cabinet or would meet regularly with Cabinet

8. Additional Recommendations
Continue to Work on Communication Issues Including Creating an Internal Communication Plan
Develop an Organizational Climate Statement for the Library
Work on a Proposal to Offer Exit Interviews to all Employees
Partner with the School of Information to Determine Best Practices for Recruitment
Create and Implement Best Practices for Hiring and Retention
Host Events to Introduce Student Assistants to Librarianship as a Profession
Consider Repeating the ClimateQUAL Assessment in the Future

9. Please send Questions, Comments, and Suggestions to
Cindy Ingold Gender Studies and Multicultural Services Librarian SSHEL, Main Library
For information about the ClimateQUAL Survey at the University Library see
*I would like to thank Dean John Wilkin for his ongoing support of this effort; JoAnn Jacoby and Tom Teper, each who served on one of the CQ teams; Beth Namachchivaya who has provided valuable feedback; and Beth Woodard.