Dear Ithaca College Community:
How many times a day are we greeted with an almost automatic “How are you?” Realizing this is typically just a greeting and not a genuine question, the answer is a quick but polite “Good. How are you?”
But really...
I ask in earnest: How are you? I want you to know—if you do not already—that we genuinely want to understand how you are and how we are, as a community; ideally rooted in openness, fairness, and equal access for all students, staff, and faculty. Ithaca College strives to create a welcoming and inclusive campus climate grounded in honest, civil dialogue and mutual respect for every individual’s needs, abilities, and potential.
How are we doing?
As I promised last spring, Ithaca College will undertake a fully confidential and transparent Campus Climate Survey, which will help give us a better understanding of the most pressing and vital concerns of our community. Our last climate assessment was conducted in 2016, and much has happened since then. Ordinarily, we would have conducted our next survey by 2020, but due to COVID, that survey was delayed until this fall. In the spring, we will report and discuss the results of the survey with the campus community.
This is your chance to make a difference in IC’s future, your opportunity to make positive, lasting changes and to help create a more inclusive campus. To ensure full transparency and confidentiality and to provide a more complete perspective, we have contracted with Rankin Climate, LLC to help lead this effort. Rankin Climate has conducted more than 250 campus climate assessment projects over the last 22 years.
A team from Rankin Climate has been working with a committee of students, staff, and faculty from Ithaca College to develop and implement the survey. The results will better enable us to 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.
Today's announcement will be followed in two weeks by an important online survey. A dedicated website, www.ithaca.edu/campus-climate, will provide important announcements about the process and key details such as timelines, frequently asked questions, and an overview of the survey process. In the spring, the results will also be posted there and we will discuss the results of the survey with the campus community.
I hope that you will join me and my cabinet in supporting this important project. In 2016, our campus response rate was 46 percent. It is my fervent wish that we meet or exceed that rate this year.
Will you help us top this important milestone? As we strive to be the college we believe we can be, we need everyone’s voice. Thank you!
Sincerely,
La Jerne Terry Cornish
President