Presidential Campus Climate Committee - Final Report

Executive Summary

In 2020, President Macpherson convened the Presidential Campus Climate Committee (PCCC). The PCCC, composed of students, staff, and faculty members, were charged to advise the President on how to ensure that Brockport is an inclusive campus community that is in alignment with the University’s mission statement, “to be an inclusive learning community that inspires excellence through growth, engagement and transformation,” the “Building a Better Brockport 2017-2022 Strategic Plan” or any subsequent strategic plan, and the EDI Strategic Plan.

Between 2020-2021, the PCCC was to focus specifically on the following:

Review any recommendations from the previous campus climate survey that need to be revisited.
Work in partnership with OEDI to develop and implement a new Campus Climate Survey; such a survey can be either procured externally or developed internally.
Recommend appropriate policies, practices, and initiatives to support and enhance equity, diversity, and inclusion efforts, helping create a welcoming campus culture and climate for all Brockport community members.

However, the administration of a campus climate survey was delayed due to unforeseen challenges. The survey provided by the HEDS Consortium was finally conducted in November 2022. Survey results were received in late May 2023, with analysis taking place over the summer.

Over 1100 members of the Brockport community completed the survey: 35% of employees (faculty and staff), 5% of graduate students and 8% of undergraduate students. The response rate was lower than the national average of 15% of students and 39% of faculty and staff. Most of the respondents identified as cisgender women (62%), heterosexual (78%) able bodied (86%) and white (74%). The survey also collected data regarding respondents’ religion, political views and veteran’s status.

Most respondents expressed satisfaction with the overall campus climate and sense of belonging. In comparison to other 4-year public institutions who participated in the HEDS survey, however, Brockport had a higher percentage of respondents who expressed dissatisfaction with the campus climate. Further, faculty and staff who identified as Black/African American or multiracial expressed the lowest level of satisfaction with the campus climate. Similarly, students who are from historically marginalized identities (racial, ability, non-Christian, LGBQ+) also expressed a lower level of satisfaction with the campus climate.

On questions related to institutional support for diversity and equity, Brockport respondents generally indicated less satisfaction than the average at other 4-year public institutions. These questions specifically asked one’s level of agreement with the following statement, “the campus environment is free from tensions related to individual or group differences”. Only 21% of faculty who completed the survey agreed or strongly agreed with this statement, 25% of staff/administration, 33% of graduate students and 46% of undergraduate students agreed or strongly agreed with this statement. The survey also gathered information regarding one’s experience with hearing stereotypical and/or disparaging remarks based on a person’s identity (racial, gender, etc.) as well as religious status, sexual orientation and political views. On average, Brockport respondents indicated that they heard insensitive/disparaging remarks more frequently than respondents at other 4-year public institutions. Furthermore, students from marginalized communities (non-binary/transgender, African American/Black, Hispanic/Latino) indicated they had heard insensitive/disparaging remarks more frequently than those without marginalized identities. Among faculty and staff, those who identify as African American/Black, have a temporary disability, or are spiritual, but not religious heard insensitive disparaging remarks most frequently. Overwhelmingly, students and the local community were identified as the most frequent source of disparaging and stereotypical remarks. Compared to 4-year public institutions, a higher percentage of Brockport respondents identified Students as the source of frequent disparaging remarks (59% vs. 49%).

Data from questions related to one’s experience of discrimination and harassment was also collected. Twenty-four percent of respondents responded “Yes” or “Unsure” to having experienced discrimination or harassment; and of those, 62% indicated it had occurred in the past year (2021-2022). The most frequent forms of discrimination or harassment experienced were being stared at; derogatory remarks; being deliberately ignored, isolated, left out, or excluded; and being intimidated/bullied. Most respondents who experienced discrimination or harassment indicated the source was among their peers (student, faculty or staff member). Compared to 4-year public institutions, a higher percentage of Brockport respondents identified staff as the source of discrimination or harassment in the past year (38% vs. 29%).

While the survey findings were not what we hoped, we did find a silver lining, a point which we can build upon. Over 80% of respondents agree or strongly agree that diversity improves campus interactions.

The PCCC presented these findings of the survey to the Brockport community through a series of open forums. Attendees were briefed on the survey findings, asked to share their thoughts on the findings and then invited to provide feedback about how the university can move forward and improve our campus climate. The feedback provided in these forums informed the recommendations the committee drafted for the Cabinet’s Review.

What follows is a summary of the PCCC’s findings and recommendations. Please see the accompanying document for a full read-out of the recommendations that the committee is putting forth.

Themes

The committee noted several themes that applied to all sections of campus, and some unique themes for each of SUNY Brockport’s students, faculty, and staff.

Overall: Brockport community members who participated in the forums expressed a need to feel heard, seen and valued. Some members of the community voiced frustration, feeling that their efforts to Build a Better Brockport were not formally appreciated, or in some cases were acknowledged in empty tones. Also, the feedback highlighted a disconnect between community members and a need for enhanced diversity efforts. Finally, some forum participants expressed fear of retaliation when voicing their concerns or submitting a formal complaint or shared a general sense that their concerns went unheard/were ignored.
Themes for Students: Students articulated a need and desire to have better relationships with faculty, via creating a safe classroom experience, mentoring and advisement. A sense that student concerns were ignored was also raised during discussions. Finally, students expressed their desire to have an enhanced student life.
Themes for Faculty: Faculty voiced a lack of trust in leadership, sharing that they felt decisions are often made without academic affairs in mind. They felt their expertise is ignored and/or not utilized. Faculty/instructors on campus emphasized a need for more trust with administrators. They also tend to feel stretched very thin in their roles, limiting their opportunities for growth. Lastly, faculty would like to learn how to navigate and resolve conflict.
Themes for Staff: Members of the staff shared some of the most concerning comments. In general, staff who were part of the forums did not feel appreciated, noting they felt that they are “looked down upon” and their work and expertise are not respected. In multiple cases, staff members did not even want to share feelings and concerns due to disbelief that change would ever occur. Staff members also noted that they felt stretched thin and ignored, and lamented how SUNY Brockport is far too siloed to work as it needs to.

Participants made it clear how important it is to take steps toward fostering a more inclusive climate at SUNY Brockport. When individuals feel welcomed, nurtured, cared for, and interpersonally safe, they are more likely to thrive and in turn can foster a stronger sense of community. Promoting a caring climate would be a key first step in building new bridges among all University stakeholders. Therefore, the PCCC took great care in drafting a list of recommendations, which can be seen in detail in the accompanying document.

In general, the committee tried to focus on recommendations that can be addressed with the existing system and without adding more to one’s plate. At the same time, we acknowledge that many of the concerns raised during the presentations and brought to light from the survey data will require intentional effort to design a path forward. The Presidential Campus Climate Committee believes that while the Campus Climate Survey revealed some hard truths, our challenges are not unsolvable if we work together. The work from the past 6 months has bolstered that belief; we continue to believe that hard work and thoughtful solutions can bring the best out of all community members.

This report was prepared by the PCCC co-chairs:

Damita A. Davis, Ph.D., Chief Diversity Officer
Mario Fontana, Ph.D., Assistant Professor, KSSPE

PCCC Open Forum Themes & Recommendations

The Campus Climate Survey was administered in November 2022. The President’s Committee on Campus Climate offered several open forums with faculty, staff and students throughout fall 2023 and spring 2024, to collect additional information and feedback on how to improve our campus climate. The President’s Committee on Campus Climate summarized the feedback from the open forums by theme and identified recommendations for consideration.

Feedback from All Groups

Theme	Explanation	Recommendations
A need to be more heard, seen, and valued.	Good work isn’t often recognized A feeling that many across campus don’t know all that people do and contribute to the University. Acknowledging strengths, celebrating wins, and focusing on growth.	Offer regular campus climate forums to continue to provide a space for feedback to be shared and acted upon. Recommend that each school/division/department evaluate their recognition programs and identify opportunities to bolster efforts to recognize faculty, staff and students. Utilize campuswide recognition committee(s) to compile opportunities for recognition into one central spot on the website. Enhance opportunities to recognize EDI-related contributions. Regularly promote opportunities to recognize one another. Recognize months that celebrate professions and cultures. A written overview or webpage that highlights a divisional overview of “who does what” at the university. There seems to be a lot of confusion and/or misunderstanding about roles and how we work together to support students. Consider adopting a trauma-informed approach to our work. Trauma informed care is an approach and philosophy that includes the values of safety, trustworthiness and transparency, peer support, collaboration and mutuality, empowerment (voice and choice) and attention to cultural/historical and gender-based trauma. Explore training for the campus community on this approach. Create guidelines/checklist for building community through meetings (humanity check-ins, highlight individual accomplishments or co-worker appreciation).
More connections with administrators, staff and faculty outside of the classroom.	Stronger relationships Attendance at student events. Follow through on office hours Closed doors More visibility of administrators, staff and faculty outside of the classroom at student events	Improve communication practices among leaders, including visibility, rationale for decisions, clear communication across divisions, communication beyond email, practice compassionate communication, and provide regular access to engage with leadership. Foster an ethos of communication and engagement. Continue weekly messages from the President. Evaluate opportunities to share divisional updates across the university. Embody a customer service approach when communicating with students. Consider training opportunities for the campus regarding inclusive excellence, civility, cultural sensitivity, and customer service. Consider adding headshots to the email signature; it is humanizing.
A need for enhanced diversity efforts.	More diversity (particularly employees). “We need more people who look like me” Greater cultural awareness amongst employees. More EDI programming offered to build community and awareness.	Enhance the diversity of the workforce and student body through recruitment and retention efforts aligned with the EDI Strategic Plan. Offer more robust EDI programming, including social media content and energy around EDI events. More promotion of EDI-related events so more students, faculty and staff, can take advantage of the activities. Offer more trips to Rochester and other areas for students to explore the area. Consider relaunching the Community Conversations program that was offered previously.
Desire for more community-building across campus.	Participants are interested in informal efforts to build relationships and partnerships with others on campus. More time and space for people to gather and connect with one another. Address concerns with food service on campus	Offer World Cafe experiences focused on community building and connecting folks who generally don’t get to spend time together. Review report drafted in 2013 (?) regarding a university common hour. Determine if there are viable options that can be implemented. Consider a cross-divisional committee that includes students over the next year to be considered for 26-27. Create more space for community building and collision space (i.e. comfortable lounges, outdoor workspace, etc.). Ensure spaces prioritize accessibility. Offer more campuswide events, luncheons and other regular opportunities for staff, faculty and students to gather. For example, BASC used to offer more luncheons for faculty and staff to participate in, like administrative assistant’s day lunch. Consider adjusting when First Fridays; Fridays are not feasible for many.

Feedback from Students

Theme	Explanation	Recommendations
A need for stronger relationships with faculty.	Mentoring is desired and advising can improve Need a greater sense of empathy towards students Increased levels of communication and support Timely response to student concerns Creating classroom experiences where students can feel safe to fully express themselves	Promote best practices and expectations on responding to student emails and outreach. Explore the use of multiple communication channels (i.e. responding in Brightspace, email responses, connections in-person, teams, office hour availability with door open, etc.). Students are frustrated with office hours “by appointment only” or “virtual only” and honoring office hours as if it’s class time. Offer, promote and/or expand tools and training on how to be approachable and empathetic to students. Highlight and recognize individuals who do this exceptionally well. Consider adopting a trauma-informed approach to our work. Trauma informed care is an approach and philosophy that includes the values of safety, trustworthiness and transparency, peer support, collaboration and mutuality, empowerment (voice and choice) and attention to cultural/historical and gender-based trauma. Communicate resources and events more regularly to students. Promote help-seeking behaviors and how to get help; normalize the growing pains that come with asking for help. Reinforcing that it’s ok to struggle and faculty/staff are here to help.
A need for enhanced student life.	More/improved student programming More effective communication around what IS happening. Improved food quality and more dining options.	Build upon EDI-related events for students that are appealing to different cultural groups, ensure there is a diversity of offerings, an increase in offerings, including social media campaigns. Getting a student app to promote student events and resources is a request among students. They want easier access to find out about events and activities. Students want more fun things to do to get to know others and build community. They want more transportation to explore the area and go on day trips facilitated by the campus (i.e. Darien Lake trip). Charge a full-scale taskforce exploring our opportunities to improve food quality, availability, and options, inclusive of diverse cultural foods. Require all student events to be on the events calendar.
There is a sense that student concerns are often ignored.	Sometimes unsure of how to share concerns Sometimes afraid of sharing concerns Lack of follow through. Students feel like their feedback isn’t considered. A need to be validated for their feelings.	See trauma-informed practices recommendation above. Students expressed concern about how hard it is to schedule a meeting with faculty, staff and administrators; better customer service to students in communication. More training and consider dedicating a person to an ombudsperson/advocacy role and/or someone to offer training for students/faculty/staff. Ensure students know how to escalate complaints and concerns, through different avenues to pursue a resolution. Identify how we close the loop better with students. Point out and communicate where student feedback was considered and applied.

Feedback from Faculty

Theme	Explanation	Recommendations
Desire for increased trust in administration.	A need for greater transparency. Seeking communication that explains rationale behind decisions. True opportunities to participate in decision making processes. Belief that decisions are already made even when asking for input. Feeling that faculty expertise is ignored and not effectively utilized. A sense that faculty feedback is ignored; some are too intimidated to share feedback. (and/or some have simply “given up” in terms of sharing feedback). Overall, there is a feeling that administration lacks the care and concern to appropriately address faculty feedback.	Embed transparency throughout the entire decision-making process. Share goals, vision and direction while regularly consulting with faculty to gather feedback. For example, clarity on decision making processes, rationale, and how faculty can provide feedback. Provide clarity about non-negotiables (i.e. classes remote only vs in person over the summer). Where can faculty have input and where can they not? Point out and communicate where faculty feedback was considered and applied. Continuing existing weekly communication by the President. Consider adopting a trauma-informed approach to working together. Trauma informed care is an approach and philosophy that includes the values of safety, trustworthiness and transparency, peer support, collaboration and mutuality, empowerment (voice and choice) and attention to cultural/historical and gender-based trauma. Recommend that the provost attend departmental meetings regularly to collect feedback and engage with the different areas. Consider internal expertise prior to hiring external consultants.
Feeling stretched thin and at capacity, hindering opportunities for professional growth.	Have been asked to do too much Lack adequate resources to effectively complete their work. More access to professional development opportunities. Lack of acknowledgement of workload changes.	Systems audit: Recommend that each Dean review systems, tasks, and duties to explore efficiencies, redundancies, and collect feedback from staff. Gather input from HR and IT. Evaluate what reports are necessary, the frequency of reporting and identify how to eliminate duplication of efforts on what faculty have to report on. Consider workload issues when launching new endeavors. Evaluate access to professional development opportunities and programs in each school and institutionally. Identify ways to gather regular feedback from faculty about their experience, workload and professional needs.
Unsure of how to navigate conflict and resolve concerns without fear of retaliation, and with accountability	Feel that concerns are not taken seriously or addressed. The chairs expressed uncertainty about how to resolve conflict.	Evaluate reporting processes and identify opportunities to better track complaints, address concerns, accountability and close the loop; and address retaliation concerns. Chair Training, and ensure Chairs are accessible and open to receiving concerns. More training and consider dedicating a person to an ombudsperson/advocacy role and/or someone to offer training for faculty/staff. Offer training for faculty on how to provide feedback, receive feedback, effective communication, conflict resolution, etc. Create a more robust training program through dedicated human resources (in-person rather than virtual trainings or recorded videos).

Feedback from Staff

Theme	Explanation	Recommendations
Feeling a lack of appreciation and respect for their work and expertise.	Concerns about treatment of staff based on role or level at the organization. Feel left out of decision-making processes and would like to be more involved, empowered and supported. Staff expressed feeling looked “down” upon by faculty and administration, especially CSEA staff.	Recommend that each division/department evaluate their recognition programs and identify opportunities to bolster efforts to recognize faculty, staff and students. Campaigns around thanking staff roles (i.e. thank a nurse, counselor, essential worker, staff person, etc.). For example, share the names of staff who are assigned to clean areas so they can be recognized and thanked on a more personal level. Consider a staff spotlight/shout out program and/or an employee of the month program could be explored. Collect feedback from various staff groups to ensure they are comfortable with additional recognition opportunities. Invite facilities staff to signature events like welcome back events, commencement, etc. Consider issues around paid time vs volunteer time. Acknowledge staff who are working at the events. Create specific events and activities to recognize facilities staff. Ensure to offer recognition events for various shifts (nights/weekends).
Feeling stretched thin and at capacity.	Have been asked to do more with less due to unfilled vacancies. Do not have adequate resources Lack of training/follow up. More professional development and time to participate in it.	Systems audit: Recommend that each division review systems, tasks, and duties to explore efficiencies, redundancies, and collect feedback from staff. Gather input from HR and IT. Consider IT resource needs for this. Evaluate access to professional development opportunities and programs in each division and institutionally. Identify ways to gather regular feedback from staff about their experience, workload and professional needs.
The University operates in silos.	Lack of effective collaboration across departments and divisions. Lack of understanding what others do and how departments and divisions can work together. Simple issues can get bogged down in bureaucratic processes. Limited time to collaborate and limited opportunities to connect with areas other than their own.	Create a sense of teamwork, mutual respect and inclusion across divisions. A proposed common hour could assist with this. Leadership should set the tone for interdepartmental cooperation and have expectations around collaboration. All divisions and levels of the organization have a role to play in achieving this environment. Awareness that different levels of the organization might have different levels of collaboration, response time, etc. Kindness needs to be demonstrated at all levels towards staff, and this message needs to be reiterated. Encourage leaders to introduce staff to others in different areas to build bridges. For example, at First Fridays, intentionally have leaders introduce staff to others. Collect additional feedback from facilities employees about their interest in rotating work locations and collaborating with other facilities employees. For example, facilities staff indicated that they wished they help their peers once their work is finished in their location.
A sense that staff feedback is ignored; some are too intimidated to share feedback.	Some are unsure how to provide feedback Others feel providing feedback is futile, or it would be too difficult, or unsafe to provide feedback.	Evaluate reporting processes and identify opportunities to better track complaints, address concerns, accountability and close the loop, and address retaliation concerns. More training and consider dedicating a person to an ombudsperson/advocacy role and/or someone to offer training for faculty/staff.