San Jose State surveyed students, faculty and staff about issues related to race, sexual harassment and intimidation, but received a low response rate.
The SJSU Campus Climate and Belonging Committee collaborated with the consulting firm Rankin & Associates to conduct the survey during Spring semester about what the campus climate was like over the past year for different groups. The campus climate survey has been conducted intermittently over the past 14 years and the research firm’s ideal response rate is at least 30% of the campus community. Researchers believe the lack of responses this year was because of the pandemic.
The results were shared in a Town Hall Zoom meeting Friday hosted by the committee and a member from the consulting firm.
The survey was originally supposed to be conducted from Feb. 25 to March 20 but was extended to May 8 because response rates slowed because of the coronavirus pandemic.
Dan Merson, executive associate and senior research associate for the consulting firm, said the researchers were committed to protecting the confidentiality of those who submitted responses.
Data was not directly reported from individuals who could be identified by race or gender; instead, the survey combined data from small groups to eliminate the possibility of identifying individuals.
The Campus Climate survey had an overall 12% response rate, with 4,298 total surveys submitted.
Merson said that while the consulting firm hoped this number would be higher, it’s still important to listen to the feedback that was recorded.
“People were motivated to click the link and answer questions,” Merson said. “It's important to honor those stories and perceptions and it’s valuable all by itself.”
Chief Diversity Officer Kathleen Wong(Lau) shared her thoughts on the climate change survey.
“These concerns are registering loud and clear,” said Wong(Lau). “The survey is a good basic start but we may want to use methods that are more amenable to getting student feedback.”
SJSU President Mary Papazian said during Friday’s Town Hall that she was proud of what the university has done so far regarding inclusivity, but there was still work to be done.
“The results of the survey are important to both present and future San Jose State and I truly appreciate the members of the Campus Climate and Belonging Committee,” Papazian said. “We are committed to making an environment that provides openness, fairness and equal access to all students and faculty.”
She said future Town Hall meetings will focus on responding to the results of the survey in order to ensure that all students, faculty members and staff feel comfortable in the SJSU community.
The Campus Climate and Belonging Committee set multiple variables to analyze how certain groups felt about attending SJSU. Some of the groups included gender, racial identity, hierarchy or position status, sexual identity, housing status, citizenship status and first-generation/low-income status.
A majority of respondents were women, which Merson said is common with survey respondents.
According to the survey results, 71% of respondents felt comfortable with the overall climate at SJSU.
The survey indicated that 18% of respondents, 762 people, said that they had experienced intimidating, offensive or hostile conduct at SJSU within the past year.
When looking at this group of 762 individuals by racial identity, researchers found 23.8% of respondents were Black/African/African American, 20.1% white, 15% Latinx/Chicanx and 12.2% Asian/South Asian.
When it came to reporting the incidents, 40% of respondents told a friend, 34% avoided the person or venue, 32% told a family member and 29% did nothing.
Wong(Lau) said the number of respondents for this year’s survey and the 2015 survey is about the same, and the amount of hostile conduct experienced is lower based on 2020 survey responses.
The survey also examined individuals who experienced sexual harassment or misconduct.
“[The issue of sexual harassment] is an important conversation to have and we are having it more and more on college campuses nationally,” Merson said.
A total of 420 respondents, about 10%, said they experienced some form of sexual harassment at SJSU.
The four forms of sexual harassment include relationship violence, gender-based stalking, unwanted sexual interaction and unwanted sexual contact.
Wong(Lau) commented on the survey’s importance during a remote semester.
She said that with online classes, the university is actively looking for ways to help students, faculty members and staff to maintain a sense of community in any way possible.
“People have expressed a yearning to connect like they used to on campus and we are trying to put together online Zoom rooms for students, faculty and staff to connect so we can feel that sense of belonging,” Wong(Lau) said. “It is on our radar and we welcome any feedback and suggestions.”
