The survey helps Loyola understand the experiences of students, faculty, and staff, so we can enhance our campus culture, address challenges, and continue building a more inclusive and welcoming community.

All Loyola students, faculty, and staff are invited to participate in the survey to share their experiences and insights.

• The campus climate at Loyola University Chicago shapes the lives of all of us - students, staff and faculty. Understanding deeply the varied experiences of our community is a critical part of continuing to improve how we work towards creating a more inclusive and equitable campus environment. That is the goal of the Loyola University Chicago Climate Assessment. 
• The idea to conduct a campus climate survey originated from interested students, faculty and staff who believed data from such a survey might be useful in planning for the future and improving the climate at Loyola University Chicago.
• This qualitative and quantitative research effort will allow us to better understand the experiences of our community. We know from the research that thriving campus climates contribute directly to overall success for students, staff and faculty. This information will help us better understand how members of our community experience harassment, bias and a lack of support that can lead individuals to elect to leave the Loyola University Chicago community. This is an opportunity for you to ensure your voice is part of this effort. 
• We seek a campus climate grounded in mutual respect, nurtured by dialogue, and evidenced by a pattern of civil interaction. We actively foster an environment characterized by openness, fairness, and equal access for all students, staff, and faculty.  
• Therefore, the question we are asking ourselves is: How can Loyola University Chicago collect actionable data to ensure we are a community environment that respects individual needs, abilities, and potential?  
• Ensuring inclusive and equitable campus experiences for all members of the Loyola University Chicago community requires us to deeply listen and understand these often disparate experiences. 
• A transparent, holistic and confidential climate assessment is an important opportunity to engage, learn and act to further enhance the Loyola University Chicago community experience for students, faculty and staff.   

• Climate is defined as current attitudes, behaviors and standards of faculty, staff, administrators, and students, as well as Loyola University Chicago’s environment and policies, which influence the level of respect for individual needs, abilities, and potential.  
• It is well researched that the campus climate influences the levels to which students, faculty, and staff members thrive. For example, when students feel they have a “sense of belonging”, they report higher levels of perceived academic success and are more likely to persist. Contrarily, if students experience microaggressions or biases, they are more likely to consider leaving.  

• This past December through February, we worked with a campus-wide Climate Study Working Group (CSWG) and University leaders to develop the survey and submit our IRB proposal.  
• In March we will administer the campus-wide survey.  
• Over the summer, our consultant, Rankin Climate will conduct data analysis and begin to develop the report. 
• Results will be presented in the fall and that will be the start of our Action Planning so that the lessons we learn throughout the process can be acted upon. 

Rankin Climate, our consultant, developed a repository of tested questions from administering climate assessments at more than 250 institutions across the nation. To assist in contextualizing the survey for Loyola University Chicago, and to capitalize on the many assessment efforts already undertaken, a Climate Study Working Group (CSWG) was formed. The CSWG is responsible for developing the survey questions. The team will review selected survey questions from the consultant’s tested collection and will also include Loyola University Chicago-specific questions. 

It is important in campus climate research for survey participants to “see” themselves in response choices to prevent “othering” an individual or an individual’s characteristics. Some researchers maintain that assigning someone to the status of “other” is a form of marginalization and should be minimized, particularly in campus climate research which has an intended purpose of inclusiveness. Along these lines, survey respondents will see a long list of possible choices for many demographic questions. However, it is reasonably impossible to include every possible choice to every question, but the goal is to reduce the number of respondents who must choose “other.” 

The survey will be administered to all students at Loyola University Chicago. Climate exists in micro-climates, so creating opportunities to maximize participation is important as well as maximizing opportunities to reach minority populations. Along these lines, the consultant has recommended not using random sampling as we may “miss” particular populations where numbers are very small (e.g., Native American students). Since one goal of the project is inclusiveness and allowing invisible “voices” to be heard, this sampling technique is not used. In addition, randomized stratified sampling is not used because we do not have population data on most identities. For example, Loyola University Chicago collects population data on gender identity and racial identity, but not on disability status or sexual identity. A sample approach could miss many groups. 

The target participation in the survey is all students, faculty, and staff at Loyola University Chicago. Every response matters and is valuable in providing the most beneficial feedback and results. 

The consultant, Rankin Climate, will provide a final report that will include: an executive summary; a report narrative of the findings based on cross tabulations selected by the consultant; frequencies, percentages, means and standard deviations of quantitative data; and content analysis of the textual data. The reports provide high-level summaries of the findings and will identify themes found in the data. Generalizations for populations are limited to those groups or subgroups with response rates of at least 30%. The CSWG will review draft reports with senior leaders to develop to a strategy for release.

• The purpose of conducting the survey is to assess student, staff, and faculty sense of belonging and culture at Loyola University Chicago and to identify successes and opportunities for improvement.  
• The findings will serve as a guide when creating the action plan that accounts for the identified opportunities for improvement.  
• Although the CSWG believes the survey process itself is informative, we have sought and received commitment from the senior leaders that data will be used to plan for an improved climate at Loyola University Chicago.  

• Submitting the survey to the university's Institutional Review Board (IRB) is an important step of the campus climate study project. There are several benefits to going through this process. Firstly, it provides some assurance to potential participants that their responses to the survey will remain confidential. People who have participated in social science research may recognize and expect that the process has been reviewed by IRB. They may feel more comfortable sharing their confidential information and personal stories. Secondly, going through an IRB review provides some protections to the Principal Investigators (PIs) who will be entrusted with analyzing and managing the data, including both Rankin Climate and the institutional PIs. The expectation is that the data will not be shared with others, as designated in the data security plan. Lastly, an IRB review provides some cache to the study in the eyes of those who conduct research professionally, such as faculty members and scientists.  These individuals understand what an IRB review requires and the protections for the data to which research professionals commit.   
• The primary investigator from Loyola University Chicago for the IRB process is Blase Masini at Loyola University Chicago. An IRB application was submitted for the project. Once the project is approved, the survey will be administered. 

Participation in the survey is completely voluntary. Additionally, participants do not have to answer every question and can skip any questions they consider to be uncomfortable. 

• Confidentiality is vital to the success of campus climate research; particularly as sensitive and personal topics are discussed. While the survey cannot guarantee complete confidentiality because of the nature of multiple demographic questions, the consultant will take multiple precautionary measures to enhance individual confidentiality and the de-identification of data. No data already protected through regulation or policy (e.g., Social Security number, campus identification number, medical information) is obtained through the survey. In the event of any presentation resulting from the assessment, no personally identifiable information will be shared. 
• Confidentiality in participating will be maintained to the highest degree permitted by the technology used (e.g., IP addresses will be stripped when the survey is submitted). The survey is run by RC via Qualtrics, whose servers are protected by high-end firewall systems and scans are performed regularly to ensure that any vulnerabilities are quickly found and patched. Qualtrics uses Transport Layer Security (TLS) encryption (also known as HTTPS) to protect transmitted data. Access to RC surveys is restricted and audited for compliance. In addition, the external consultant (RC) will not report any group data for groups of fewer than five individuals, which may be small enough to compromise confidentiality. Instead, RC will combine the groups to eliminate any potential identifiable demographic information. In addition, the consultant and college will not report any group data for groups of fewer than five individuals, because those “small cell sizes” may be small enough to compromise confidentiality. Instead, the consultant and the college will combine the groups or take other measures to eliminate any potential for demographic information to be identifiable. Additionally, any comments submitted in response to the survey will be separated at the time of submission to the consultant, so they are not attributed to any individual demographic characteristics. Identifiable information submitted in qualitative comments will be redacted and the college will only receive these redacted comments. 
• Participation in the survey is completely voluntary, and participants do not have to answer any question and can skip any other questions they consider to be uncomfortable. 
• Information in the introductory section of the survey will describe the manner in which confidentiality will be guaranteed, and additional communication to participants will provide expanded information on the nature of confidentiality, possible threats to confidentiality and procedures developed to ensure de-identification of data. 

• Rankin Climate uses a research data security description and protocol, which includes specific information on data encryption, the handling of personally identifiable information, physical security and a protocol for handling unlikely breaches of data security. The data from online participants will be submitted to a secure server hosted by the consultant. All Rankin Climate analysts have CITI (Human Subjects) training and approval and have worked on similar projects for other institutions. 
• The consultant has conducted more than 250 institutional surveys and maintains an aggregate merged database. The data from the Loyola University Chicago project will be merged with all other existing climate data stored indefinitely on the consultant’s secure server. No institutional identifiers are included in the full merged data set held by the consultant. The raw unit-level data with institutional identifiers is kept on the server for six months and then destroyed. The paper and pencil surveys are returned to the consultant directly and kept in a locked file drawer in a locked office. The consultant destroys the paper and pencil responses after they are merged with the online data. The consultant will notify the CSWG chairs of any breach or suspected breach of data security of the consultant’s server.
• The consultant will provide the primary investigator with a data file at the completion of the project.

• When we launch the survey in March, please fill out the survey and encourage your community to do the same!  
• Spread the word and help us ensure that our community is involved in this entire process.  
• Ensuring inclusive and equitable campus experiences for all members of the Loyola University Chicago community requires us to deeply listen and understand these often disparate experiences. You can help us gather voices!  

The Working Group is co-chaired by:  

Other Working Group members include:  

In reviewing efforts by other universities to conduct comprehensive culture climate studies, several best practices were identified. One was the need for external expertise in survey administration. The administration of a survey relating to a very sensitive subject like culture climate is likely to yield higher response rates and provide more credible findings if led by an independent, outside agency. Members of a college community may feel particularly inhibited to respond honestly to a survey administered by their own institution for fear of retaliation. 

• After a review of potential vendors, the Climate Survey Working Group selected Rankin Climate, LLC.  
• Rankin Climate, LLC has been working with college campuses for over 20 year and has conducted similar assessments on more than 250 college campuses nationwide.  
• Rankin Climate developed and utilizes the Transformational Tapestry model as a research design for campus climate studies. The model is a “comprehensive, five-phase strategic model of assessment, planning and intervention. The model is designed to assist campus communities in conducting inclusive assessments of their institutional climate to better understand the challenges facing their respective communities” (Rankin & Reason, 2008). 
• Their process is highly confidential and transparent. No protected data is used in the project.  
• Rankin offers benchmarking against relevant institutions.