Campus climate survey launching in February
The St. Joe’s Climate Study survey will officially launch on Feb. 6 and will be open to all students, faculty and staff to voluntarily participate until March 2.
Monica Nixon, Ed.D., assistant provost for inclusion and diversity and chair of the study, anticipates the need for more efficient opportunities in training and development to come out of the study.
“The outcome is not the finding, the here is what we have learned about our campus, it is actually: Here are the programs and policies that we are putting into place so that we can make a difference in how people feel,” Nixon said.
The Climate Study working group is made up of thirteen members, with representatives for all student, faculty and staff members.
“People in the group add layers of the university,” said Ergkys Alizoti, international graduate student from Greece and member of the group. Rankin & Associates Consulting, a consultation company that provides institutions with an examination of current campus culture, was officially chosen to administer the study in May of 2017, as per to the Campus Climate Study timeline.
A greater sense of transparency and importance of managing all perspectives factored into using Rankin & Associates Consulting according to the university announcement sent out July 17, 2017 from President Mark C. Reed, Ed.D.
“As the facilitators of this project, our goal is to truly help Saint Joseph’s University develop an instrument that will allow members of the community the opportunity to share their feelings, views, and opinions,” said Emil L. Cunningham, Ph.D., senior executive associate for Rankin & Associates Consulting.
The relationship between the Climate Study working group and Rankin & Associates Consulting is a crucial element.
The main reason for the working group is ultimately to educate Rankin & Associates on St. Joe’s so that they are better able to personalize the assessment questions and use appropriate language according to Katie Bean, M.A. assistant director of student outreach and support wellness, alcohol and drug education (WADE), The opinions and ideas shared during the Climate Study working group’s monthly meetings are impactful and valuable in terms of how people see St. Joe’s, Alizoti said.
In a matter of weeks, survey-style questions will be sent out to all members of the St. Joe’s community. Feedback on the information gained from the survey will be intended as a baseline for continued growth, Nixon said.
“[The study] will be able to see that we have advanced in terms of how people feel respected and included because of the programs we have created,” Nixon said.
