Diversity on campus was among the major topics at the annual Faculty Spring Conference this weekend.

ISU faculty met Friday and Saturday to discuss issues to help the ISU community with dealing with diversity, developing a well-balanced relationship between life and work and improving the work environment.

During the conference, a panel discussion was held on Friday regarding campus climate to assess different ways to achieve an accepting culture and environment for diversity at Iowa State.

The Campus Climate Study Implementation Committee met in December 2004 and put together a list of goals for Iowa State regarding diversity and a welcoming environment for students and staff.

The goals highlighted the idea of creating a just environment on campus where everyone feels welcome, respected and safe, and developing a curriculum that guides critical thinking about social justice issues and provides faculty with the tools to teach inclusively, according to a committee statement.

Carolyn Heising, professor of industrial and manufacturing systems engineering, said the campus climate discussion was the first step in trying to improve the climate at Iowa State. She said in the future, the goal will be to implement some of the goals laid out in the survey.

“It appears that some issues are bullying and intimidation. These ranked high by respondents [who took the survey],” Heising said. ” We also talked about minority faculty issues and the climate for [minority] students, since Iowa has few minorities relative to other states.”

Along with discussing the campus climate implementation study, faculty also talked about work and family balance issues for women faculty. A report was passed at the University of Iowa that describes flexible tenure arrangements that might influence women faculty with young children, Heising said.

“President [Gregory] Geoffroy is supposed to make a decision regarding the campus climate study by the end of this month, after the Campus Climate Study Implementation Committee finishes the report on April 15,” Heising said. “They will then begin the next step – the implementation phase.”

The main topic on Saturday focused on the issue of betterment, an assessment based on revitalization, phased retirement, soaring health care costs and maintaining work-life balance.

David Holger, associate provost, said it is important for the university to treat its faulty as well as possible.

“I think the focus was more on mechanisms by which faculty career development and the environment of the workplace could be improved,” Holger said.

Some ISU faculty members believe the university could learn from industries and businesses regarding how they treat their employees.

“We need to realize that flexibility [in the workplace] is an important aspect,” Holger said.