Campus Climate and You

College campuses are large. They often consist of the centralized area with the library, community center and academic buildings, and then there are dorms both near and far away from campus grounds, not to mention all the different floors some buildings might have. With how busy one single college day can be, there are plenty of developments and occurrences that can happen within the span of that time frame. As such, it’s important to talk about how to treat other students and faculty on campus. Shawnee State University regularly offers training and advice regarding things such as sexual misconduct, hazing, violence or other forms of injustices regarding campus students interacting with one another. One of the ways to gauge effectiveness in these fields is the Campus Climate Survey.

What is a Campus Climate?

A campus climate is essentially the environment that campus grounds are able to cultivate through interaction with students and faculty; the standards that student and faculty are held to when they’re on campus grounds; the level of respect individuals should have for each other; and the needs, the abilities and potential that can be coaxed from campus population in general.

Some of the most important things regarding campus quality are respect, diversity and inclusion. It’s important to realize that respect goes beyond treating others with baseline appreciation, but also considering the quality of interactions that students may have on campus grounds between both individuals and groups. Diversity and inclusion aren’t necessarily a solid factor unless they address the campus climate surrounding them. Being able to address campus climate is an important part of regulating and cultivating a positive climate for everyone involved on campus grounds.

Campus climate affects many different parts of a student’s daily life on campus, particularly when it comes to each student’s learning and developmental progressions. It’s also been shown that discriminatory environment lead to students dropping into a negative gain when it comes to learning. After all, it is much harder to learn when the overall mood of a room is downer. As a result, being able to erase discrimination and other sources of negativity.

Specific Effects Regarding Campus Climate

Campus climate can help boost the professional development of students, professors and staff members during their time on campus. Some of the direct benefits of a good campus climate include a more hospitable environment, the ability to feel included in campus spaces, and the attribute of feeling professionally and personally supported by their campus environment. There also seems to be a direct relationship between relationships and actions between them.

Campus Climate Survey

Currently, there is a Campus Climate Survey going on right now. You can take the survey here if you want to participate. The Campus Climate Survey includes a variety of questions that analyze your experiences directly on campus grounds. “This questionnaire asks about your perceptions of safety on campus, including your personal safety in relation to various types of harassment/violence. The questionnaire takes about 5 minutes to complete. Your participation is voluntary, and you may choose to stop responding at any point. However, your cooperation will be greatly appreciated and will contribute to our understanding of a very important aspect of student life on your campus.”

The answers that you submit in the survey are completely confidential, and won’t be shown to anyone outside of the collection. This survey in particular is being conducted by a third-party vendor, and will be sent over to the Title IX Office to offer recommendations on how they can improve their operations. The more surveys sent their way, the better they can reform and reanalyze the way that they already handle situations regarding negative campus climate.

The survey takes about five minutes to complete, and a few rewards are being handed out as a giveaway for those that participate. These rewards include:

• $20 Gift Cards
• 32 ounce and 40 ounce Hydroflask Water Bottles
• Various Shawnee State University Merchandise (such as umbrellas, jackets, hats, etc.)

The deadline to complete the survey is April 22. Signing up for the giveaway is simple! Just enter your email, full name and Student ID, and you’ll be all set to enter the giveaway and earn one of the prizes that are listed above.

Campus Climate is something that we should all try and uphold during our time here at Shawnee State University. If you ever see someone struggling or in need, do your best to lend a hand and help them out. Kindness can often inspire kindness out of other people, so if other people see you doing good deeds, it might inspire them to go out and help other people, as well. Cultivating a healthy campus climate isn’t something you can do alone, it needs to be done with the help of other people, as well.

We as a community have the capacity to better not just ourselves, but others around us, too. We should strive to stand as a shining example of goodwill and inclusivity. By bringing a healthy campus climate to fruition, we are able to make those dreams a reality. Inspire others around you! Give others something to wonder about, and do your best to be an upstanding member of the campus community. Together, we can all enhance our campus climate, one step at a time.