2021 Campus Culture Survey FAQs

  • The university is committed to creating an inclusive environment where all members of our community feel respected, supported, and valued. The purpose of the Campus Culture Survey is to gather information from CU ºù«ÍÞÊÓƵ students, staff, and faculty about their classroom, workplace, and for undergraduates, residential environments.
  • We will use the results from this survey to better understand our existing culture and to identify both strengths and areas of concern in order to make recommendations for creating and sustaining a just, equitable, and inclusive culture at CU ºù«ÍÞÊÓƵ.
  • In Fall 2021, students, staff, and faculty will be invited to participate in the campus-wide administration. Going forward from 2021, the survey will be administered every four years, with targeted, smaller-scale administrations designed to evaluate progress towards improvement in the intervening years.
  • The will administer the survey. ODA administers most of the large-scale surveys that occur at CU ºù«ÍÞÊÓƵ and follows best practices in survey and data security standards.
  • We know that individuals must have assurance that their responses are confidential and secure if we are to receive accurate and candid feedback. Survey participants' privacy is of utmost importance to us, and strict internal safeguards are in place to ensure that privacy.
  • No one outside of the Office of Data Analytics (ODA)¡ªno faculty members, supervisors, or administrators¡ªhas access to survey respondents¡¯ identities or to files that may connect names or email addresses with answers to survey questions.
  • Members of the ODA survey team will manage the survey email distribution list, wherein it is recorded who has and has not completed the survey.
  • Once a participant submits their survey, the identifying information that permitted the database manager to keep track of who did and did not respond to the survey is automatically deleted. In other words, each case in the final data file is an anonymous case. In addition, the data file is encrypted and stored in a secure, encrypted drive which only ODA staff can access.
  • Survey responses will be aggregated for statistical analysis and reporting. We will aggregate the data to groups of 10 or more responses in order to maintain the anonymity of survey participants. If any demographic group or combination of group characteristics has fewer than 10 individuals, those data will not be reported. The ODA survey team and OIEC Assessment will not provide any findings that would risk making someone identifiable due to the uniqueness of their demographic characteristics, years at CU, faculty rank, job category, department, major, or a combination of those factors. Your anonymity is our first duty of care and will be protected in all reports resulting from this survey. We are committed to ensuring that individuals can provide candid feedback with confidence. Anything else is counter-productive to the effort.
  • Please email CampusCultureSurvey@colorado.edu for more information regarding steps taken to ensure anonymity and confidentiality.
  • The CU ºù«ÍÞÊÓƵ Office of Data Analytics (ODA) currently safeguards any sensitive employment and student data it accesses by using state-of-the-art data security protocols. The survey platform, Qualtrics, meets (VSAQ) data standards. Data are encrypted in transit and at rest. . Once the survey has closed, data will also be encrypted in transit to ODA. The full database of anonymized responses will then be held by ODA in encrypted form on their secure server. The de-identified data will be stored to allow investigation of trends by comparison with future surveys.
  • Please email CampusCultureSurvey@colorado.edu for more information about data security.
  • The Culture Survey is used for making program improvements and is not intended for research use. Survey responses¡ªeven though anonymized¡ªwill never be shared at the individual level or for groups of less than 10 responses, even for the purposes of conducting research. See this Letter from the Chancellor for more information about this policy.
  • The Office of Institutional Equity and Compliance (OIEC) and the Office of Data Analytics (ODA), along with many campus partners worked together to develop and refine the survey; over 3000 CU ºù«ÍÞÊÓƵ students, staff, and faculty participated in the three-year pilot testing phase of development.
  • The CCS builds on CU ºù«ÍÞÊÓƵ¡¯s 2014 undergraduate and graduate student social climate surveys. These student-focused questions were adapted to create comparable questions for faculty and staff so that we will have a more complete picture of our campus culture.
  • In addition, the survey includes questions that are drawn from surveys used at other colleges, universities, and scientific institutes. We also developed new questions to assess our campus community environments, for instance items asking about experiences of behaviors that negatively impact the workplace, classroom, and living environments. Please email CampusCultureSurvey@colorado.edu for more information about survey development and content.
  • The Campus Culture Survey is designed to consolidate our campus ¡°climate¡± surveying efforts in order to support programs, departments, colleges, divisions, institutes, and the campus at-large in comprehensively measuring our campus culture at all levels and among all constituents.
  • The Campus Culture Survey will replace the undergraduate and graduate student Social Climate Surveys that were last administered in 2014. Many questions asked in the 2014 Social Climate Surveys have been carried forward into the Campus Culture Survey so we can continue to track our progress in creating and sustaining an inclusive environment for undergraduate and graduate students. This survey will also provide the data to comprehensively benchmark and track staff and faculty experiences on the CU ºù«ÍÞÊÓƵ campus over time.
  • The Campus Culture Survey will serve as a tool to support the CU ºù«ÍÞÊÓƵ Inclusion, Diversity, and Excellence in Academics (IDEA) Plan by providing benchmark data for all campus populations and, going forward, evidence of progress towards meeting the goals of creating a more inclusive campus community.
  • In Fall 2019, the CCS replaced the previous survey used in the (ARPac) process that each academic program undergoes every seven years to identify program strengths and weakness.
  • A unique survey link will be sent to your CU ºù«ÍÞÊÓƵ email address. The link will take you to the online survey in Qualtrics, a state-of-the-art survey platform used by the campus.
  • There are different versions of the survey and each one has been tailored to the needs and experiences of each constituent group. Faculty, staff, graduate students, and undergraduates will receive different, but comparable versions of the survey.
  • The survey will take about 10-20 minutes¡ªthe time needed to complete the survey varies due to certain answers to some questions prompting follow-up. Those who have more to share may take a little longer. If you need to leave the survey before completing your answers, Qualtrics will save your place, and you can pick up where you left off by clicking the same link that came with the email that invited you to participate in the survey.
  • Yes, it is. The survey will be administered through Qualtrics, an online survey platform. CU¡¯s Office of Information Technology (OIT) has tested Qualtrics¡¯ compatibility with screen readers extensively. Only question types that have been tested and shown to be accessible are used in the Campus Culture Survey. Learn more about .
  • Every effort will be made to ensure that it is possible to take the survey on a mobile platform. However, it is more difficult to review and complete the survey on a smartphone. It is highly recommended that you complete the survey on a computer.
  • The questions address the culture of the workplace, classroom, and living environment (undergraduates only), as well as experiences of negative treatment and protected-class discrimination and harassment, including sexual harassment.
  • Undergraduate and graduate students also receive additional questions pertaining to sexual misconduct which covers sexual assault and exploitation, intimate partner abuse, and stalking.
  • The majority of questions are asked on a 6-point disagree-agree rating scale.
  • There are also demographic questions at the end of the survey because we know that members of different groups may be having different experiences inside and outside the classroom and in the workplace. Demographic questions have been developed in collaboration with campus experts to be both sensitive and useful. Results for demographic groups will not be shared if there are fewer than 10 members in the group. We will not present data that is broken out in a way that could inadvertently identify individuals.
  • We will not be asking any open-ended questions on this survey. From past experience, we know that some people will report behaviors that will make it necessary to break the confidentiality agreement because of the seriousness and specificity of what they disclose. Examples from the past include survey respondents telling us about illegal behavior like sexual assault or research/fiscal misconduct committed by someone in their department and this has triggered an investigation. Throughout the survey, there is information on how to officially report problematic behavior or reach confidential resources, along with links that can take people directly to those offices.
  • In our testing to date, the response rates across units has ranged from 60-100%. We hope to replicate this robust response in order to make the most of the survey findings.
  • Due to the strict confidentiality of survey responses, the results of this survey will not benefit anyone personally. However, we hope that students, staff, and faculty will benefit as recommendations arising from the results are adopted by the campus and at the college, department, institute, program, or unit levels.
  • Ultimately, this work will direct CU ºù«ÍÞÊÓƵ¡¯s efforts to create more equitable and inclusive environments for all students and employees¡ªspecifically, environments that attract more diverse and talented people to join our community and that increase student and employee retention. This survey is also intended to benefit the wider community by providing the data needed to take steps to improve the classroom and workplace cultures on our campus and to measure our progress going forward.
  • Staff members in ODA will close the survey and send the de-identified (i.e., anonymized) data set to the OIEC Assessment unit. OIEC Assessment will perform both descriptive and in-depth analyses and will generate a report in Tableau with findings and recommendations for amplifying areas of strength and addressing problems and concerns.
  • OIEC Assessment will work with units to develop an action plan to address concerns and to create accountability.
  • The information you disclose in this survey will not initiate a formal process of investigation into situations involving protected-class discrimination or harassment, as it does not constitute an official report to the university.
  • The university is committed to providing an inclusive environment where all individuals can achieve their academic and professional aspirations free from discrimination and harassment based upon protected-class identities. Identities that are covered by CU policy are race, color, national origin, sex, pregnancy, age, disability, creed, religion, sexual orientation, gender, gender identity, gender expression, veteran status, political affiliation, and political philosophy.
  • To formally report an incident of protected-class discrimination or harassment, please call the Office of Institutional Equity and Compliance (OIEC) at 303-492-2127; email cureport@colorado.edu; or use the . If you are reporting about something that happened directly to you, there is the option to report anonymously using the online reporting form. However, responsible employees reporting for someone else may not report anonymously.
  • Anonymous reports related to concerns about campus academic, research, or business integrity or environmental health and safety can be submitted at the CU ºù«ÍÞÊÓƵ .
  • You do not need to make a formal report to the university in order to receive confidential support.
  • The Ombuds Office assists all members of the CU ºù«ÍÞÊÓƵ campus to informally and impartially resolve complaints or disputes with other individuals, offices, or departments within the university. They are independent of any department or office (visit their website for more information or call 303-492-5077).
  • The Office of Victim Assistance (OVA) is a confidential resource available for members of the CU ºù«ÍÞÊÓƵ community who have had disruptive or traumatic experiences related to sexual misconduct, discrimination, or harassment ( for more information or call 303-492-8855).
  • The Faculty & Staff Assistance Program (FSAP) offers counseling and programs for university faculty and staff. All FSAP staff are trained as generalist counselors and are equipped to deal with a wide range of personal and work-related issues (visit their website for more information or call 303-492-3020).