Assessment FAQ

Campus climate refers to the attitudes and behaviors of the members of a campus community as well as institutional policies and procedures, which together influence the level of respect for individual needs, abilities and potential. A campus’ climate is shaped through personal experiences, perceptions and institutional efforts.

Research maintains that a positive campus climate generally equates to successful outcomes for community members. Examples of successful outcomes include positive educational experiences and healthy identity development for students, productivity and sense of value for faculty and staff, and overall wellbeing for all.

In introducing this climate assessment to the campus community in February 2023, President Williams wrote: “Since I arrived at RISD last April, I have made it a priority to learn as much as I can about how each of you experiences RISD. From the listening sessions and many other conversations we’ve held across campus in the last year, I have gained an anecdotal sense. But to ensure RISD is a place where everyone can thrive—which I believe is my charge as president to do—we need more nuanced and sophisticated data to better understand what aspects of living, working and learning at RISD are going well and in what areas we can improve.”

The climate assessment will begin with focus groups in the spring, followed by an all-campus survey in the fall.

Rankin Climate, LLC, which has conducted more than 250 campus climate assessment projects over the last 22 years, will lead this effort with input from RISD students, staff and faculty who comprise the Climate Study Working Group.

The Climate Study Working Group is responsible for developing the survey questions with direction and support from Rankin Climate. The group will select survey questions from Rankin Climate’s repository of tested questions and also write RISD-specific questions informed by the focus group results.

An Institutional Review Board (IRB) is an administrative body established to protect the rights and welfare of human research subjects recruited to participate in research activities. It is best practice to submit a climate survey to an IRB for several reasons. First, it assures potential participants that their responses to the survey will remain confidential. Second, going through an IRB review protects the Principal Investigators (PIs) who will be entrusted with analyzing and managing the data, in this case Rankin Climate and RISD’s executive director of accreditation and institutional effectiveness, Jennifer Roberts. The expectation is that the data will not be shared with others, as designated in the data security plan.

Some institutions have their own IRB and those who do not, like RISD, can submit to an IRB at another institution. RISD will submit the climate survey to the University of Rhode Island Institutional Review Board.

The data will be used to develop specific and measurable actions to continue to improve the campus climate at RISD. In her February 2023 email to campus about this assessment, President Williams wrote: “Your input will inform how we go forward together, not only in how we enhance and replicate programs and policies that support our community, but also in how we develop new programs and policies and implement strategies to grow inclusivity in areas where that is needed.”

Rankin Climate and Jennifer Roberts, RISD’s executive director of accreditation and institutional effectiveness, will have access to survey data. Both Rankin Climate and Dr. Roberts will be held to standards outlined in the data security plan offered in the Institutional Review Board (IRB) application.

Data security protocol includes:

• Quantitative data: Rankin Climate and RISD will not report any group data for groups of fewer than five individuals. This is because such “small cell sizes” may be small enough to compromise confidentiality. Instead, we will combine such groups or take other measures to eliminate any potential for demographic information to be identifiable.
• Qualitative data: Any comments submitted in response to the survey will be separated at the time of their submission to Rankin Climate so that they are not attributed to any individual demographic characteristics. Identifiable information submitted within qualitative comments will be redacted.

We hope that every student, faculty member and staff member will participate. Every response matters and is valuable in providing the most beneficial feedback and results.

Yes. Confidentiality is vital to the success of campus climate research, particularly as sensitive and personal topics are discussed. While the survey cannot guarantee complete confidentiality because of the nature of multiple demographic questions, Rankin Climate will take multiple precautionary measures to enhance individual confidentiality and the de-identification of data.

No data already protected through regulation or policy (e.g., Social Security number, campus identification number, medical information) is obtained through the survey. No personally identifiable information will be shared in any publication or presentation resulting from the assessment.

Participation in the survey is completely voluntary, and participants can choose which questions they would like to answer. The survey will be offered digitally and via paper and pencil.

Information in the introductory section of the survey will further describe the manner in which confidentiality will be guaranteed.

Confidentiality is vital to the success of campus climate research, particularly when sensitive and/or personal topics are part of the discussion. While the survey cannot guarantee complete confidentiality given that we are gathering data on multiple demographic questions, Rankin Climate will take multiple precautionary measures to enhance individual confidentiality and the de-identification of data. Among them:

• Data already protected per regulation or policy (e.g., social security number, campus ID number, medical information) will not be obtained through the survey.
• No personally identifiable information will be shared via any publication or presentation emerging from the assessment.

Confidential participation will be maintained to the highest degree permitted by the technology we utilize in the survey. (For instance, IP addresses will not be recorded.) Rankin Climate and RISD will not report any data for groups fewer than five individuals, because such “small cell sizes” may compromise confidentiality. Instead, we will combine data from the groups or take other measures to eliminate any potential for demographic information to be identifiable.

Additionally, any comments submitted in response to the survey will be separated at the time of submission to Rankin Climate so that they are not attributable to any individual demographic characteristics. Identifiable information submitted in qualitative comments will be redacted.

Participation in the survey is completely voluntary. Participants can skip any question they wish. Information in the introductory section of the survey will describe the manner in which confidentiality will be guaranteed. Additional communication to participants will provide expanded information on the nature of confidentiality, possible threats to confidentiality and procedures developed to ensure de-identification of data.

Rankin Climate will partner with the working group to identify if language accommodation is necessary and, if so, in which languages.

This work begins in winter 2023 and concludes in summer 2024. Please see the project timeline for details.

Focus groups let us gather input from community members at the initial phase of the project to then inform the creation of survey questions.

First, the working group defined 15 focus group types, based on shared characteristics (e.g., full-time faculty, international students), to ensure a variety of perspectives on learning, living and working at RISD. Then the working group sent invitations to identified potential participants, who then decided if they would like to take part.

We will compile the results into a report and share within this section of risd.edu.