This first ever campuswide climate assessment of SF State was released yesterday online in a 400-plus page report, allowing the University to evaluate how the community can be improved in upcoming years.
Provost and Vice President of Academic Affairs Jennifer Summit spoke at an April 23 town hall meeting where key findings of the assessment were announced.
According to Summit, the Campus Climate Steering Committee comprised of students, faculty, staff and administration began work on this survey in February 2018. The committee partnered with Rankin and Associates Consulting to figure out how the way a campus’ structure and organization affects student and staff development.
“We chose Rankin and Associates Consulting because they have a very nuanced and long standing track record for doing surveys of exactly this kind,” Summit said.
Rankin and Associates Kadian McIntosh, senior research associate, unpacked some of the assessment results in a presentation at the town hall meeting.
“We define campus climate as far as the current attitudes, behaviors, and standards as well as the practices of an institution amongst the employees but also the students, McIntosh said. “And then from there you can think about how you want to measure it.”
McIntosh said the survey assesses personal experiences, perceptions and policies at the University and how they affect learning outcomes. Students and staff received different questions.
The survey was completed by only 7 percent of eligible students and faculty, according to the report.
One success of the report was that the majority of students surveyed had high levels of comfort on campus. McIntosh said SF State in particular had higher levels of comfort when it came to reporting undocumented status. In a similar manner, the majority of faculty surveyed reported feeling valued by their department or program.
In contrast the study outlines that 25 percent of students surveyed reported hostility said they received some form of hostility against them due to their gender identity, position, or ethnicity.
“We’re a big complex campus,” Summit said. “We are known also for valuing freedom of expression and the expression of the members of our campus yet we’ve never really put the mic up to the constituents of our campus to say, ‘how are things going for you?’ So I think [the survey] represents a major step forward for our campus.”
According to the SF State Climate website, from now until May 7, members of the community can submit questions about the report to be answered on the website.
