A survey to help determine the campus climate for diverse groups of students and staff members will begin Monday.

Todd Herriott, program coordinator for ISU Disability Resources and chairman of the climate subcommittee, said the idea for the survey came from a discussion among subcommittee members.

“We realized we needed a way to address certain issues dealing with diversity,” Herriott said. “It is difficult for us to address these issues if we don’t know what the campus climate is like for the students. We are hoping the survey will give us a clear picture of the campus climate.”

The survey project is being coordinated by the climate assessment subcommittee of the President’s Advisory Committee on Diversity.

Carla Espinoza, assistant vice president for human resource services and director of equal opportunity, said the focus of the survey is to assess how welcoming and inclusive the attitudes and experiences of students, faculty and staff are.

Espinoza, co-chairwoman of the president’s advisory council, said she hopes the results of the survey will continue to help build a positive environment at Iowa State.

“When examined and synthesized, I hope the survey helps [decision-makers] understand how our university citizens interpret their experiences here and how we can help make those experiences positive and productive in order to positively influence recruitment and retention and build an inclusive environment,” Espinoza said.

At first, the survey was scheduled to be done in November 2003.

Herriott said the survey was moved to January because every survey given to students and staff members has to be approved by the university. He said by the time the survey was approved, it was close to the end of the semester, so it was decided to wait until the beginning of the new semester to release the survey.

Herriott said the subcommittee hired Susan Rankin, senior research associate for Rankin and Associates, to conduct and analyze the results of the survey.

Approximately 8,300 faculty, staff and students will receive e-mails inviting them to complete the survey online. The surveys are due Feb. 13.

Herriott said Rankin will share the initial results of the survey late in the spring semester. She has until September to develop her final report and recommendations.

Herriott said he hopes students will take advantage of the opportunity to participate in the survey if they are chosen.

“We want to know what is happening on this campus, so that we can make the appropriate changes, but until you tell us, we can’t know what is happening, and if you are asked to participate and choose not to, you really have no reason to complain,” Herriott said.

Herriott said the committee does not anticipate all results of the survey will be negative.

“Also tell us the good things,” he said. “What’s working? Help us to make good decisions. We’ve never had an opportunity like this from a university president before. This is your opportunity to take part in making a change.”