Fellow Bears,
I am writing to share an update on UNC’s most recent campus climate survey and invite
you to join me and Vice President Tobias Guzmán for an informal, small-group discussion
to learn more about how we will use the findings to foster inclusivity and a strong
sense of belonging across the university.
Campus Climate Discussion
Monday, March 25, 2:00 p.m. to 3:15 p.m.
Centennial Hall
Please register here.
One of the vision elements of our Rowing, Not Drifting 2030 strategic plan is Empower Inclusivity. This element is integral to all that we do. As we entered the second phase of our
strategic plan in July 2022, we identified the administration of a university-wide
campus climate survey as a priority. Periodically seeking feedback from the university
community is an important opportunity to better understand how faculty, staff, and
students experience the campus and to ensure we are taking necessary measures to create
a place where all feel welcomed and supported.
After researching current best practices in campus climate survey design and administration,
we distributed in October 2022 targeted surveys designed by the Higher Education Research
Institute (HERI), which is based out of UCLA’s Center for Research on Evaluation,
Standards, and Student Testing. The HERI Faculty Survey provides a picture of key aspects of the faculty experience, the HERI Staff Climate Survey is designed to capture staff members’ perceptions of diversity and the campus climate,
and the Diverse Learning Environments Survey captures student perceptions regarding the campus climate and student learning outcomes.
The surveys closed in December 2022 with a 46.5% response rate from faculty, a 52.4%
response rate from staff, and a 16.4% response rate from students. Last spring, our
Office of Institutional Research and Effectiveness (OIRE) reviewed and analyzed the
data, and the HERI also conducted a comparative analysis of UNC’s data with other
institutions that utilize the same survey instruments. Throughout the summer and into
the fall, Vice President Guzmán and OIRE director Sonia Schaible Brandon met with
various stakeholders, including divisional leadership teams and student, faculty,
and staff shared governance partners to share preliminary insights.
These discussions served as opportunities to acknowledge and celebrate our achievements
that contribute to a positive campus climate, identify areas for improvement, understand
the many perspectives within our university community, and explore variations in experiences
across diverse identities. They also affirmed that many of the survey findings aligned
with key actions underway as part of our strategic plan. While using data to revise
and develop new strategies where needed is a valuable outcome of assessing the campus
climate, I was pleased to see that there are many ways in which actions already underway
as part of our strategic plan are effectively moving us toward our collective vision
for UNC’s future.
As we recently shared with the UNC Board of Trustees, several common themes emerged from the data returned
across the three surveys. The students, faculty, and staff who participated in the
surveys offered insights and experiences into their sense of belonging at UNC, relationships
within and between groups, the working and learning environments at our university,
their experience with safety and wellbeing, and the extent to which we are fostering
a culture of diversity, equity, and inclusion.
Already, we are using these insights to inform our work. For example, seeing an opportunity
to cultivate stronger connections for students who identify in the Black diaspora,
we expanded our existing catalogue of Understanding and Navigating Inclusion Through Education (UNITE) offerings to include a new session aimed at helping faculty and staff better
understand the dynamics and impact of Anti-Blackness. Hearing from faculty and staff
about the importance of receiving competitive benefits packages informed our decision
to pay the entire portion of medical benefit premium increases beginning in January
2024 so that those mandated cost increases were not absorbed by employees. Affirming
the value of student-centered pedagogy for student persistence toward graduation,
we began consistently utilizing students’ degree plans for informed course scheduling
that more effectively meets our students’ needs. I am pleased to share that members
of the university community who are interested in interacting with the data and learning
more about findings can request access to explore internal dashboards here.
In the months ahead, we will continue to use qualitative and quantitative survey findings
to guide our immediate work and future planning. This includes integrating insights
gained into the tactics and actions being developed for the third phase of our Rowing, Not Drifting 2030 strategic plan and beginning our work to create a comprehensive DEI roadmap for the
next three years. We will also establish a plan for administering future climate surveys
at an appropriate interval.
I want to thank everyone who completed the campus climate survey and those who have
been participating in discussions about using the findings to make informed and strategic
decisions. Our university is strongest when everyone feels empowered to use their
voice and engage together in building an inclusive university community.
Rowing, Not Drifting,
Andy Feinstein 
President
