Syracuse University has made strides to secure an accurate, inclusive and transparent method of gauging the opinions of the campus community through the development of a campus climate survey — an opportunity that should be realized by the university body.

A collaborative effort between university administrators and Rankin & Associates Consulting — a firm that has conducted climate surveys at nearly 170 college across the country — will result in the release of a university-wide climate survey starting Feb. 9 to measure community satisfaction with life at SU.

The assessment will consider various social and cultural aspects of campus life, including instances of sexual assault, relationship violence, bias, stereotyping and harassment in regard to topics such as race and sexual orientation from students, faculty and staff.

The implementation of this survey as the first of its kind at SU ties in strongly with the same values that propel the Fast Forward and One University initiatives in actively listening for input from communities represented in administrative policies rather than SU leadership acting on blind decisions.

But what sets this survey apart most from previous efforts to garner community feedback, and carries the most potential to take the university forward, is that the responses collected will be made public while preserving participant anonymity. This component that not only adds a human element in a typically data-driven evaluation, but also allows the community to hold the administration accountable should there be a failure to respond to the survey accordingly.

This transparent nature of participant responses will allow students, faculty and staff to highlight what should be addressed by the university, what is already being attended to and what has been sidelined. But however transformative, these observations can only be made if students provide genuine feedback, advice and criticisms to the survey — an opportunity the university body has called for and should take advantage of.

SU has done its part to provide students, staff and faculty with a comprehensive approach to measure the campus climate with the enlistment of a firm that specializes in creating impactful surveys and outlining a specific timeline for progress to be made before responses have even been collected.

However, it is ultimately the responsibility of students, staff and faculty to make use of such an accessible outlet to offer input and generate tangible results that will improve the working and living environments of the Syracuse University campus.

Published on February 3, 2016 at 1:40 am

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