Letter from President
Dear WCU community member,
At West Chester University we strive to create an environment characterized by openness, fairness, and equal access for all students, staff, and faculty. A welcoming and inclusive campus climate is grounded in mutual respect, nurtured by dialogue, evidenced by a pattern of civil interaction, and is one of the foundations of our educational model. Creating and maintaining a community environment that respects individual needs, abilities, and potential is critically important.
The Office for Diversity, Equity and Inclusion is in the process of assessing how all members of our community experience the current campus climate via a Confidential Assessment of the Environment for Learning, Living, and Working. The goals of the project are multifold: 1) identify successful initiatives that promote a positive environment, 2) uncover any challenges facing members of our community, and 3) develop strategic initiatives to build on successes and address challenges.
When we conducted our last campus climate survey in 2009, we developed initiatives based on a number of excellent suggestions from the University community, including featuring WCU faculty and staff on the website and WCU publications as ways to recognize and acknowledge their value to the WCU community, implementation of a Sexual Misconduct Policy and an on-line reporting mechanism, adding a Sexual Misconduct Advocate for victims of sexual violence, increased LGBTQA training and programming across the campus, modifications to the University Forum RFP process to increase programming related to campus climate issues, and more.
I encourage you to take a few minutes to help us understand the current climate at West Chester University. This survey is designed to provide information about both positive and challenging aspects of our climate and is an opportunity to describe your personal experiences, your observations, and to offer suggestions for changes that might enhance the campus climate of West Chester University.
Be assured: All of your answers will remain confidential and the results will be reported in group form only. You will not be identifiable as an individual. Your participation in this project is voluntary. This research has been reviewed and approved by the West Chester University Institutional Review Board. To encourage participation, over 50 incentives including Apple Watches, Go Pro cameras, gift cards, and Ram Bucks will be raffled. Additional information about the project and incentives is available at the Survey Awards page.
I urge you to take the 20-30 minutes needed to answer questions on the survey.
Thank you in advance for your contribution to this vital project.
Sincerely,
Greg R. Weisenstein, President