1. Saint Joseph’s University Campus Climate Study
Share why your audience is critical
Examples include making sure we have a robust sample for the study; opportunity to provide input into development of recommendations for the institution; encouraging peers to take part
Be creative and specific for your group!

2. What is Campus Climate and Why Does It Matter?
Components of campus climate

3. Campus Climate
Includes the “current attitudes, behaviors, standards and environment of faculty, staff, administrators and students, as well as university policies that influence the level of respect for individual needs, abilities and potential”
Rankin & Associates, 2017
Community members thrive in a healthy environment free of discrimination, where respect and inclusion are valued and are the norm.  
Research about campus climate and its correlation to successful outcomes for all constituents in campus community
For students, experiences with campus climate affect learning and developmental outcomes, persistence and long-term relationships with the institution.
For faculty and staff, positive and inclusive working environments contribute to professional growth and satisfaction, retention and overall well-being.

4. Campus Climate and Students
How students experience their campus environment influences both learning and developmental outcomes 1
Discriminatory environments have a negative effect on student learning 2
Research supports the pedagogical value of a diverse student body and faculty on enhancing learning outcomes 3
Research about campus climate and its correlation to successful outcomes for all constituents in campus community
For students, experiences with campus climate affect learning and developmental outcomes, persistence and long-term relationships with the institution.
For faculty and staff, positive and inclusive working environments contribute to professional growth and satisfaction, retention and overall well-being.
1 Pascarella & Terenzini, 1995, 2005
2 Cabrera, Nora, Terenzini, Pascarella & Hagedron, 1999; Feagin, Vera & Imani, 1996; Pascarella & Terenzini, 2005
3 Hale, 2004; Harper & Quaye, 2004; Harper & Hurtado, 2009; Hurtado, 2003

5. Campus Climate and Faculty/Staff
The personal and professional development of employees are impacted by campus climate 1
Faculty members who judge their campus climate more positively are more likely to feel personally supported and perceive their work unit as more supportive 2
Research underscores the relationships between 1) workplace discrimination and negative job and career attitudes and 2) workplace encounters with prejudice and lower health and well-being 3
Research about campus climate and its correlation to successful outcomes for all constituents in campus community
For students, experiences with campus climate affect learning and developmental outcomes, persistence and long-term relationships with the institution.
For faculty and staff, positive and inclusive working environments contribute to professional growth and satisfaction, retention and overall well-being.
1 Settles, Cortina, Malley & Stewart, 2006
2 Sears, 2002
3 Silverschanz, Cortina, Konik & Magley, 2007; Waldo, 1999

6. SJU Climate Study Project
Outcomes, process and timeline

7. SJU Climate Study Outcomes
Gain knowledge about how faculty, staff, and students currently perceive and experience the campus climate
Apply findings to inform current inclusion work, develop strategic priorities, and create an Inclusive Excellence Blueprint for all areas of the institution
Collective accountability
Centralized and localized planning
All departments and units
Measurable and meaningful goals
Transparency in communication
Share why your audience is critical
Examples include making sure we have a robust sample for the study; opportunity to provide input into development of recommendations for the institution; encouraging peers to take part

8. Climate Study Timeline
Dates
Phase
January – March 2017
CSWG appointment; process design and decision-making
March 1, 2017
RFP for external consultant
May 1, 2017
Selection of consultant
June – August 2017
Plan focus groups, begin development of assessment tool, create communication and marketing plan
September – December 2017
Focus groups (September)
Complete assessment tool and submit to IRB
January 2018
Marketing plan implementation
February 2018
Survey administration
March – May 2018
Data analysis
June – August 2018
Report development
Fall 2018
Presentation of findings to campus community
Action planning and creation of Inclusive Excellence Blueprint
Survey will be administered to ALL active students (undergrad, grad, adult completion), all faculty (FT/PT, TT/NTT), and all staff (including vendor partners)
Assessment tool development: R&A has bank of questions; we can adapt to our particular climate
Submit to IRB: we will own our customized survey and our data at the conclusion of the study

9. Rankin & Associates, Consulting
Primary consultants: Susan Rankin, Ph.D., Emil Cunningham, Ph.D.
Highly-experienced
Campus Climate Assessments at universities/colleges, including 8 other AJCU institutions
2010 State of Higher Education for LGBTQ People
2011 NCAA Student-Athlete Climate Study
2014 International Athlete Sur vey
2015 United States Transgender National Sur vey
Sue Rankin and Emil Cunningham will serve as the primary contacts for this project, overseeing all data collection and analysis
Rankin & Associates:
Far and away the strongest proposal in terms of scope, understanding of campus complexities
Assessment tool development: R&A has bank of questions; we can adapt to our particular climate, structures, and needs
Submit to IRB: we will own our customized survey and our data at the conclusion of the study
Dr. Rankin has conducted 190+ institutional climate assessments, including:
Loyola University – New Orleans (2017)
Rockhurst (2017)
USF (2017) – Shirley
Gonzaga (2016)
Xavier (2016) – Taj Smith
Seattle U (2014)
Marquette (2014)

10. Survey Instrument 20 focus groups during fall semester
Sample = Population
Students, faculty, staff, vendor partner staff
Primarily web-based with paper option
Quantitative questions and qualitative questions for additional commentary
Demographic questions
SJU-specific questions
Sample
Surveying entire population
All voices are needed to understand the state of equity and inclusion on campus
We want to make sure the voices of underrepresented groups are well-represented in the respondents
Our target participation is 100% of all of our SU community members. The response rate we are striving for is 30% to allow for generalizability of results.
Assessment instrument
Primarily web-based
Paper options will be available at the Campus Assistance Center in the Student Center and in special sessions that we are targeting to employees who do not have regular access to computers during work hours
Types of questions
Combination of scales (e.g., highly likely to highly unlikely, strongly agree to strongly disagree) and commentary with textboxes after each section to add more detail
Demographic questions – we want to be able to analyze results by group (for example, how do students with disabilities have a different experience that students who don’t report having a disability?)
Customized questions for SJU-specific locations, situations, demographics

11. Special Considerations
Confidentiality is paramount
Online survey must be taken in one sitting
Paper surveys mailed back to R&A
No report if N < 5
Data ownership and use
Further analysis, research by campus community
Managed with Institutional Research
Confidentiality
This was the primary concern for the task force, in order to encourage people to participate in the process.
Online surveys often have a unique identifier attached to each respondent, so survey developers can track who has or has not responded. Having a unique identifier often means that you can start the survey, save your results, and return later to complete the survey.
We will not have any unique identifiers, because the survey is confidential. This means that the online survey will need to be taken in one sitting. Once you start the survey, you need to finish it in that same session.
We anticipate that the online survey will take about 15 minutes to complete.
Earlier I mentioned that we would ask you to complete demographic questions in the survey. For some of our groups, we might have small numbers in our campus population and/or in our respondents. For any demographic groups with fewer than 5 people, we will not report their findings. Those findings will be rolled into other groups. For example, we have few Native American/American Indian faculty and staff, so any report of their results would likely be quite identifiable. Therefore, we would probably include their responses in reporting findings for faculty and staff of color or in other groups as appropriate.
Data ownership
SU’s Office of Institutional Research will receive the full data set from Rankin & Associates after they deliver a final report. Members of the campus community will be able to access the data for future analysis.
The data will be governed by the same guidelines around confidentiality as we are using for the work with Rankin & Associates.
We would not authorize any access to data for any demographic groups with fewer than 5 people, and access to the findings would be granted only for a study that has been screened by the SU Institutional Review Board.

12. Taking the Survey Survey open February 6 – March 9
invitation from President and Assistant Provost for Inclusion & Diversity, with link to R&A survey site:
Employees should be able to take survey during work hours
Accessibility: Visit Student Disability Services in Bellarmine G10
Why take the survey?
Our target participation is 100% of all of our SJU community members. The response rate we strive for is 30% to allow for generalizability of results. Here a few additional reasons that we hope inspire participation:
All voices are needed to make SJU more inclusive and welcoming
Weigh in on the state of equity and inclusion on campus
Recommend steps to enhance diversity at SJU
Influence the university’s priorities and direction for the next few years
Make Saint Joe’s a stronger community and more welcoming place

13. Survey Outreach
Frequently-asked questions on Climate Study website:
Incentives:
Sticker for completion
Gift cards
One term of parking for a student, staff, and faculty
Opportunity to designate donation to a non-profit organization
General and targeted invitations
Rankin & Associates will monitor response rates, and if we find that we are low in any areas, we will target outreach. We will likely reach out to our ambassadors to assist in that process.

14. Data Analysis and Presentation
Rankin & Associates data analysis: Spring Semester 2018
Report development: Summer 2018
Campus presentations: September 2018

15. What You Can Do Participate in the study
Encourage others to participate in the study
Participate in open forums
Share ideas with the Climate Study Working Group

16. Climate Study Working Group
Ergkys Alizoti, M.S. 2020
Jeff Martin, Associate Director, University Communications
Kim Allen-Stuck, Assistant VP for Student Success
Peter McLallen, Assistant Provost for Online Education
Katie Bean, Assistant Director, Student Outreach and Success
John Neiva de Figueiredo, Associate Professor, Management
Sharon Eisenmann, VP for Human Resources
Monica Nixon, Assistant Provost for Inclusion and Diversity (Chair and Project Manager)
Jim Grasell, Director of Institutional Research
Becki Scola, Associate Professor, Political Science
Melissa Logue, Assistant Professor, Sociology
David Steingard, Associate Professor, Management
Megan Lynott, B.A. 2019
Kelly Welsh, Senior Director of Executive Communication, Office of the President

17. More Information
sju.edu/climatestudy Monica Nixon CSWG Chair