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CU-Boulder 1998 Community Survey

Comfort, Fitting in, and Belonging on the CU-Boulder Campus

Feelings experienced at CU-Boulder: Survey recipients were asked to indicate how often, during the current semester, they have felt a variety of positive and negative feelings, such as "comfortable," "valued," "depressed," or "unwelcome at CU-Boulder." On average, respondents report feeling positive about their UCB experiences fairly often and feeling negative much less often.

Respondents from all racial/ethnic groups give very similar ratings, with the exception of African American students. These students are more likely to feel negative and less likely to feel positive than are students from other groups. For example, 57% of African Americans say they "often" or "very often" feel overwhelmed with financial worry compared with 25-31% of students from other groups. Also, 29% of African Americans say they "often" or "very often" feel unwelcome at UCB compared with 3-11% of students from other groups. On positive feeling items, 36% of African Americans say they "often" or "very often" feel accepted compared with 71-80% of students from other groups, and 31% of African Americans say they "often" or "very often" feel welcome compared with 49-70% of students from other groups.

The one other notable group difference involves finances. Among Hispanic respondents, 61% say that they are "often" or "very often" concerned with their family's financial burden, compared with 42-50% of students from other groups.

Note: For graph display, A=Asian-American, B=Black/African Amer, H=Hispanic, N=Native American, W=White

To see results in tabular form, click here. (table 5-I)

Changes over time: Responses in 1998 are very similar to those in 1994. Two groups, however, show some improvements in feelings at CU-Boulder. In general, Asian-American respondents in 1998 are less likely than their 1994 counterparts to feel that they have too many academic demands. Similarly, Native American respondents in 1998 are less likely than in 1994 to report feeling overwhelmed with financial worry. Despite any appearances of different scores between 1994 and 1998, no other responses are significantly different between the two years. To see results in tabular form, click here. (table 5-II)

Availability of people "like me": Students were asked to indicate the extent to which they feel that CU-Boulder has enough people "like me" and the extent to which they know how to find such people. In general, respondents agree that there are "somewhat" or "pretty much" people like them at CU-Boulder. On average, African American respondents are less likely than students from other groups to say they feel there are enough people like them: 13% of African Americans say this is "pretty much" or "very much" the case, versus 32-55% of other groups.

Although Native American students make up a very small proportion of students on campus (0.8% of students are Native American), 55% of Native American respondents say that there are "pretty much" or "very much" enough people like them on campus. It is possible that this very positive result stems from the efforts of groups such as the Cultural Unity Student Center, Oyate, and others (including outreach individuals in the CU administration). This seems especially likely given that 62% of Native American respondents report that they "pretty much" or "very much" know how to find people like them on campus. Alternately, it is possible that this result is affected by the more than 50% of Native American respondents who report their race as "white" in addition to "Native American."

There are no significant differences among the groups on knowing "how to find people like you at CU-Boulder." All respondent groups generally report that they "somewhat" or "pretty much" know how to find like people on campus. To see results in tabular form, click here. (table 5-III) Because this question was not asked in the 1994 survey, we cannot evaluate changes over time on this item.

Comfort: Respondents were asked to rate how comfortable they would feel in various settings and activities on the CU-Boulder campus or in the Boulder community. Most responses indicate that students feel somewhat comfortable in the majority of settings addressed.

African American respondents are less comfortable, on average, than students in the other racial/ethnic groups. African Americans are particularly less comfortable than other group members where Boulder community activities are concerned. For example, 26% of African American respondents say they're comfortable in looking for a job off campus compared with 65-70% of other group members. On four separate items - hanging out on the Hill, looking for an off-campus job, looking for a place to rent, and interacting with Boulder police - African American students are below the midpoint on comfort. They also report lower comfort than members of other groups on the remaining three items - eating at restaurants, shopping, and hanging out on the Pearl Street Mall.

In most campus activities, African Americans report feeling as comfortable as do members of other groups, except that they feel less comfortable hanging out in outdoors areas (43% comfortable vs. 65-72% for other groups) and hanging out at the UMC (49% vs. 61-69% for other groups). They are also less comfortable than the other groups in academic activities; for example, 44% of black respondents say they're comfortable getting course advising, compared with 58-74% of other group members. To see results in tabular form, click here. (table 5-IV)

Results over time: The comparison of 1994 and 1998 responses echoes the results reported above for questions about feelings: 1998 results are very similar to 1994 results. One group, however, reports improved comfort in one area: Native American respondents in 1998 are more comfortable looking for a job off campus.

The one decline in comfort between the two survey periods is that white students report being less comfortable in 1998 than in 1994 in hanging out at UMC. To see results in tabular form, click here. (table 5-V)

How can CU make people feel more welcome? The survey included an open-ended question inviting students' comments on what they "think the university should do to accomplish its goal of making all students, of all racial/ethnic backgrounds, succeed and feel welcome at CU-Boulder." Of the 251 survey respondents, 194 provided comments.

Results of this item reveal three distinct approaches. The first and most common is to take direct action under a multicultural model of diversity, by increasing numbers or retention of minorities on campus, better supporting minority clubs and services, conducting diversity training, or cracking down on overt discrimination. This approach was recommended by 39%, and was most likely to be recommended by African-American students.

The second recommended approach is to do nothing about diversity. The 28% of question respondents who listed this item either said that the diversity situation at UCB is currently fine, that institutional efforts cannot make any difference, or that there is already too much emphasis on race and ethnicity. White and Native American students were most likely, and black students least likely, to recommend this approach.

Finally, 23% of respondents to this question recommended a somewhat more passive and colorblind approach to making students feel welcome. These students advocated treating all students equally, fostering inter-ethnic interactions, and broadening the definition of "diversity" to encompass more than race and ethnicity. Respondents from all five racial/ethnic groups were equally likely to recommend this approach.

To see all comments about how UCB can make students feel more welcome, click here.

Table of Contents for 1998 Community Survey

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hm - last updated 5/17/2000

Last revision 07/23/02