Campus Climate Survey is Coming

Some readers may remember that after a series of incidents aimed at minority students on various campuses, including UCLA, the UC president was pressed by the Regents to "do something." (Some readers will recall the "Asians in the library" incident at UCLA.)  What emerged was an elaborate all-campus survey of "campus climate."

In late December and early January, it will be coming to UCLA.

There have been reservations raised about the participation rate and biases in participation caused by what appears to be a rather lengthy survey. The campus faculty welfare committee at UCLA, for example, raised such issues.  Apparently, offering prizes is the solution that has been adopted.

There was a program at the Faculty Club back in March on this process.  You can find audios of that program on this blog at:
http://uclafacultyassociation.blogspot.com/2012/03/uc-and-ucla-campus-climate-survey.html

There is an announcement of the survey schedule, etc., at:
http://www.universityofcalifornia.edu/news/article/28503

And there is a website devoted to it at:
http://campusclimate.ucop.edu/index.html

What isn't on the website at present, although you find links to "take the survey" on it, is the survey itself.  When you click on "take the survey," nothing happens.  So whether the survey instrument is as lengthy as earlier versions that were circulated for Academic Senate review is unclear.  The campus faculty welfare committee was told that something like a million dollars was being spent on this effort.  In any event, the Regents wanted the university to "do something" and so "something" is being done. Whether we will have an accurate measure of the climate or do anything more with the results of the survey once they are gathered is another matter yet to be determined.