Campus climate is the attitudes, perceptions, experiences, and institutional efforts inside and outside of the classroom that shape an environment. An institution's campus climate influences how different individuals experience different environments as it relates to feelings of safety, inclusion, and respect.

*This definition has been adapted by Woodard, V.S., and Sims, J.M. (2000). Programmatic approaches to improving campus climate. NASPA Journal, 37, 539–552. and Cress (2002) and Cress, C.M. (2002). Campus climate. In A.M. Martinez, & K.A. Renn (Eds.), Women in higher education: An encyclopedia (pp. 390–397). Santa Barbara, Calif.: ABC-CLIO, Inc.

No. The Student Campus Climate for Diversity Survey is administered by UMB Student Affairs and is not the same survey that you have received from the Office of Accountability and Compliance. For students within the School of Dentistry, it is not the same survey you have received regarding diversity. 

Understanding how individuals and groups who have diverse identities experience the same University can inform the development of strategies to positively shape the campus climate.

A campus climate survey is an assessment tool used to gather data that will be analyzed to gain a better understanding of the University’s strengths, opportunities, and challenges related to diversity, inclusion, and equity.

Yes, not only will your results be confidential, they also will be anonymous. This means there is no way to connect you to your survey answers. If you choose to provide comments about your experiences, any personally identifying information will be deleted in reports of the survey results.

While previous surveys have been administered through the Education Advisory Board (EAB), a best-practices education research firm in Washington, D.C., Spring 2022's survey is being administered through UMB Student Affairs.

A task force is being assembled to develop a response plan. The task force will consist of representatives from the seven schools as well as central administration and UMB Student Affairs. The task force is committed to using the results to take action toward an improved UMB climate.