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CU-Boulder Campus Climate Survey, Fall 2006

Method

In fall 2006 we conducted a survey of the CU-Boulder campus climate. We asked a random sample of students to tell us about:

• their level of comfort on the Boulder campus and in the community
• the extent to which they feel they fit in and are welcome at CU-Boulder
• their experiences with stereotyping based on an important group identification
• how often they hear negative remarks or see negative behaviors targeted at others based on group membership.

Web-based questionnaires were completed by 404 undergraduates and 166 graduate students, a total of 570 students, or 29% of those surveyed.

Contacting Students

Population, Sample, and Respondents

The population included all degree-seeking undergraduate and graduate students enrolled in fall 2006 who had an email address and who had not requested that their personal directory information be kept private. A stratified random sample of 1,581 undergraduate and 415 graduate students was selected. The sample was stratified by race/ethnicity. Undergraduates, graduate students, males, and females were proportionally represented within each of the strata. Students of color and international students were oversampled to allow us to report results for these groups separately. The two tables below show numbers and percentages of students in the population and sample, numbers of respondents, and response rates. These statistics are provided by class level (i.e., undergraduate or graduate), gender, and race/ethnicity.
 

	Population		Sample		Respondents
	N	Percent	N	Percent	N	Response rate
Undergraduate
Male	12,815	45%	837	42%	186	22%
Female	11,342	40%	744	37%	218	29%
Graduate
Male	2,445	9%	235	12%	94	40%
Female	2,031	7%	180	9%	72	40%
Total	28,633	100%	1,996	100%	570	29%

 

	Population		Sample		Respondents
	N	Percent	N	Percent	N	Response rate
Undergraduate
Asian-American	1,507	5%	223	11%	48	22%
African-American	363	1%	217	11%	44	20%
Hispanic	1,539	5%	219	11%	54	25%
Native-American	200	1%	200	10%	49	25%
Unknown	1,263	4%	200	10%	69	35%
White	18, 928	66%	431	22%	118	27%
International	357	1%	91	5%	22	24%
Graduate
Asian-American	186	1%	27	1%	14	52%
African-American	56	0%	33	2%	13	39%
Hispanic	215	1%	31	2%	12	39%
Native-American	46	0%	46	2%	17	37%
Unknown	315	1%	50	3%	18	36%
White	3,028	11%	69	3%	27	39%
International	630	2%	159	8%	65	41%
Total	28,633	100%	1,996	100%	570	29%

In 2001, the overall response rate for the Campus Climate Survey was 49%. The response rate in 2006 was considerably lower, at 29%. There has been a trend toward lower response rates observed on the campus over the past several years, and this finding may simply reflect that trend. On the other hand, the lower response rate for 2006 might be related to relatively low incentives for Climate Survey participation offered in that year ($1,300), compared to 2001 incentives which totaled $3,500. The amount of participation incentives for all regular surveys administered through Planning, Budget, and Analysis were reduced in 2002 due to reductions in the university budget occurring that year.

Response rates varied over student level, with graduates responding at a higher rate than undergraduates. Response rates also varied over racial/ethnic groups, with Asian and African-American undergraduates responding at a relatively lower rate. At the graduate level, however, Asian-American students had a notably higher response rate (52%) than did students of other racial/ethnic groups. The percentage of African-American graduate students responding to the survey was equal to or higher than those of Hispanic, Native-American, and White graduate students.

See a copy of the questionnaire

The 2006 Campus Climate Survey parallels the 2001 climate survey, which was modeled after the 1998 campus community survey. Items assessing comfort, fit, experiences with stereotyping, and the extent to which different campus/community groups value diversity were similar across the surveys, with the exception that the 1998 survey focused exclusively on race/ethnicity. Both the 2001 and 2006 surveys were administered via the web, whereas the 1998 survey was a paper instrument.

Several new items were added in 2006. They collect information on: 1) specific places or groups, both off and on campus, where students feel especially welcome and comfortable; and 2) students' school environments prior to CU-Boulder, with respect to diversity and family income levels.

Campus Climate Survey 2006 Table of Contents

Last revision 03/25/10