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CU Boulder administered the Campus Culture Survey in fall 2021 to gather insights from students, faculty and staff about their experiences in classrooms, workplaces and, for undergraduate students, their campus residential environments.

Along with other resources and insights, the survey results will guide campus leaders in action planning, which includes the development and implementation of policies and practices to address inequities that impede our ability to create and maintain an inclusive campus environment for all members of our community. 

All four CU campuses and the CU system office in Denver administered the survey at the request of the CU Board of Regents. The university plans to administer the survey every four years to assess progress on all four campuses toward creating communities that enable all students, faculty and staff to thrive and succeed academically and professionally.

The survey included measures to assess sense of belonging, respect and support, and identity-based discrimination and harassment, including sexual harassment. Questions inquired about incivility and whether survey participants would attribute those experiences to aspects of their identity and, if so, which identity or identities. The survey also asked participants about the consequences of identity-based negative treatment and covered a range of identity-based harms that may occur in workplaces and classrooms.

Campus survey administrators from the Office of Institutional Equity and Compliance and the Office of Data Analytics used these demographic indicators to compare reported classroom, workplace and undergraduate residential experiences across groups. Their intent was to identify and illuminate variation in the experiences of people across diverse identities. Such information is essential to the development of institutional policies and practices that meet the needs of all members of the campus community.

Previous campus surveys have included student climate surveys and pilot administrations of the Campus Culture Survey to faculty and staff. All of these assessments revealed concerns that apply, in many cases, to most survey participants.

However, the responses have also consistently shown that threats to inclusion and sense of belonging have had a disproportionate impact on people who identify as women or LGBTQ+, and people from marginalized racial and ethnic groups.

CU Boulder is committed to creating an inclusive environment where all members of the community are and feel respected, supported and valued. To achieve these goals, academic and administrative unit leaders will use the survey responses during the 2022–23 academic year to identify strengths and areas of concern, especially as they relate to issues that have a greater impact on community members from marginalized groups.

Learn more about the university’s next steps to create a more just and inclusive campus community.