Dear Ithaca College Community:
Ithaca College works tirelessly to shape and prepare students for an ever-changing future, but today, I want to talk about how all of you can help shape the future of Ithaca College. Your voice can help us build a campus community that is more welcoming, more understanding, and indeed more promising for everyone.
To know where we are going, we need to know where we are. Today’s launch of the Campus Climate Survey offers an immediate opportunity for all students, faculty, and staff to share your thoughts and perspectives on how Ithaca College is doing as an inclusive community that strives to be rooted in fairness, openness, and equal access for all. The survey, which is completely confidential, is deeply important in helping us build a better understanding of the most pressing and vital concerns of our community.
The results will help us develop programs and policies that will increase inclusivity in areas where there are opportunities for growth. Likewise, where the results show we are successfully meeting our community’s needs, we can enhance and replicate those programs.
All members of the campus community can visit the dedicated website, www.ithaca.edu/campus-climate, to take the survey and to learn more information. That site includes an overview of the survey process, answers to frequently asked questions and important updates and announcements.
I wish to thank our partners, Rankin Climate, LLC, which has conducted more than 250 campus climate assessment projects, as well as the entire Campus Climate Survey committee, which is led by Belisa Gonzalez, Dean of Faculty Equity, Inclusion, and Belonging; Luca Maurer, Executive Director for Student Equity, Inclusion, and Belonging; and Judith Pena-Shaff, Professor and Chair in the Department of Psychology and the Co-Chair of DEIB Workgroup. Working with them are dozens of other committee members and staff who have made this assessment a possibility.
In 2016, our campus response rate was 46 percent, and I believe with your help (both taking the survey and encouraging others to join you), we can surpass that participation rate this year. If adding your voice to this important project is not enough reason, a number of exciting incentives might help. While all participants will be de-identified to make responses anonymous, participants can win gift cards, IC merchandise, and even dinner for five with me at the president’s residence or a week’s worth of parking in my campus spot. You have four weeks to participate and enter. The survey ends Tuesday, November 14.
Will you help us as we strive to be the college we believe we can be? This is your chance to make a positive, lasting difference and to create a more inclusive campus.
“IC our future! Our Voices. Our Campus. Our Community.”
With Gratitude,
La Jerne Terry Cornish
President