Campus Climate
The Office of Equity and Inclusion’s goal for Campus Climate is to support the work of colleges and universities to ensure welcoming and inclusive environments.
Campus climate refers to the current attitudes, behaviors, standards, and practices of employees and students of an institution (Rankin & Reason, 2008), as well as the perceptions of campus community members related to environments being safe, feeling welcomed, and being included. It encompasses social interactions and norms, as well as the physical spaces and buildings that make up the campus environment.
Campus Climate Assessment
The Minnesota State Office of Equity and Inclusion developed a campus climate assessment process and framework that its colleges and universities can use to measure and address issues impacting campus climate.
Data and metrics will be collected and shared to measure progress across the colleges and universities on campus climate efforts.
Assessment Schedule
Under the campus climate assessment framework, all Minnesota State colleges and universities are expected to administer both student and employee climate assessments at least once between fiscal years 2023-2025 and reassess climate at least once every three years following their initial assessment.
Contact Tarnjeet Kang to learn more.
Survey Vendors
Three survey vendors have been selected for campuses to use in this work:
- Personal Assessment of College Environment (Employees)
- Higher Education Data Sharing Consortium (Employees and/or Students)
- Modern Think - Great Colleges to Work for Program (Employees)
In September 2023, the Bureau of Justice Statistics awarded a vendor to create a standardized Campus Climate Survey, which is required per the Violence Against Women Act Reauthorization Act (2022).
The survey will be available through a secure and accessible online portal for all postsecondary institutions to use to collect data and information regarding students’ experiences of interpersonal violence, including domestic violence, dating violence, sexual harassment, stalking, and sexual assault.
The vendor has up to 3 years to have the Campus Climate Survey tool ready for implementation (estimated 2026).
Currently, each Minnesota State college and university publishes annual security reports (Clery Act reporting), which include annual reporting statistics for the interpersonal violence.
Contact
Tarnjeet Kang
Director of Equity Assessment
Tarnjeet.Kang@MinnState.edu