The Campus Climate Survey was distributed last spring to nearly 20,000 Metropolitan State University of Denver students, faculty members, staff members and administrators to assess campus culture with the goal of shaping programming and policies at MSU Denver. An Executive Summary of the preliminary findings and a comparison report are available online and were distributed to Roadrunners on Monday.
A total of 1,824 responses were received from 1,012 students (5.8% response rate), 412 faculty members (25.5% response rate), 387 staff members (43.7% response rate) and 13 administrators (61.9% response rate).
“The survey is designed to help University leadership examine and understand the levels of belonging, respect and trust present in our campus community,” said Michael Benitez Jr., Ph.D., vice president for Diversity and Inclusion. “Data from this survey can show when there are different experiences between diverse groups of faculty, staff or students, as well as indicate potential evidence-driven directions for intervention.”
Overall, findings indicate that faculty and staff members value and appreciate the diversity of MSU Denver’s student body and employee representation and the University’s commitment to diversity. When asked to agree/disagree with the statement “I love my job,” 76% of faculty and 64% of staff agreed with this statement. Conversely, findings point to dissatisfaction among faculty and staff members on salary and workload, with 76% of responding faculty members and 64% of responding staff members indicating they love their jobs and 14% of faculty members and 13% of staff members indicating they want to leave their jobs.
Findings also indicate that fewer Hispanic/Latina/o/x- and Black/African American-identified faculty members (compared with white- or Asian-identified faculty members) and fewer cisgender women staff members (compared with cisgender men) disclosed feelings of belonging on campus. In contrast, students described varying degrees of belonging on campus with BIPOC-identified students and LGBTQIA+ students describing more positive experiences of belonging.
The Campus Climate Survey is designed to help University leadership examine and understand the levels of belonging, respect and trust present in our campus community. Results have been shared with a variety of campus constituents. Further, findings from the campus climate survey, among other data, informed the Diversity Strategic Plan and are currently being used to help University leaders develop strategies and institutional actions and to create metrics for assessing progress and addressing diversity and equity gaps. Subsequent reports on students, faculty members and staff members will be released throughout the remainder of the spring semester.
To request a presentation of the survey findings, please contact Jeremy VanHooser, diversity coordinator.