Campus Culture Surveys
The purpose of the University of Colorado Boulder Campus Culture Surveys is to gather actionable information from students, staff and faculty about their classroom, workplace and, for undergraduates, campus residential environments. CU Boulder periodically administers population-specific versions of the Campus Culture Survey to undergraduate students, graduate students, faculty, staff, members of research institutes and members of academic units undergoing academic program reviews.
Survey items address a range of topics, including sense of belonging, workplace support and respect, incivility and protected-class harassment and discrimination. Along with other resources and insights, the survey findings will assist campus leadership in the development and implementation of policies and practices to address inequities that impede our ability to create and maintain a respectful and inclusive campus environment for all members of our campus communities. Survey findings may also be used, for example, by the leadership of a research institute or academic unit to identify and maintain the positive aspects of the unit environment and identify areas where improvements can be made.
2021 Campus Culture Survey
CU Boulder administered the Campus Culture Survey in fall 2021 to gather insights from students, faculty and staff about their experiences in classrooms, workplaces and, for undergraduate students, their campus residential environments.
Along with other resources and insights, the survey results will guide campus leaders in action planning, which includes the development and implementation of policies and practices to address inequities that impede our ability to create and maintain an inclusive campus environment for all members of our community.
All four CU campuses and the CU system office in Denver administered the survey at the request of the CU Board of Regents. The university intends to administer the survey every four years to assess progress toward creating communities on all four CU campuses that enable all students, faculty and staff to thrive and succeed academically and professionally.
The survey included measures to assess sense of belonging, respect and support, and identity-based discrimination and harassment, including sexual harassment. Questions inquired about incivility and whether survey participants would attribute those experiences to aspects of their identity and, if so, which identity or identities.
The survey also asked participants about the consequences of identity-based negative treatment and covered a range of identity-based harms that may occur in workplaces and classrooms.
Nearly 18,000 CU Boulder community members participated in the survey in fall 2021. Response rates were very strong, with 73% of staff, 59% of faculty, 48% of graduate students, and 30% of undergraduate students responding to the survey.
Undergraduate and graduate students, faculty and staff responded to questions about sense of belonging, connection and community, feeling valued and respected, and about experiences with discrimination, hostile treatment and protected-class harassment, including sexual harassment.
The survey was part of a broader initiative led by the CU System at the request of the CU Board of Regents. The university will administer the Campus Culture Survey every four years to renew its understanding of the experiences of students, faculty and staff in various campus environments.
Campus survey administrators from the CU Boulder Office of Institutional Equity and Compliance and the Office of Data Analytics used these demographic indicators to compare reported classroom, workplace and undergraduate residential experiences across groups.
Their intent was to identify and illuminate variation in the experiences of people across diverse identities. Such information is essential to the development of institutional policies and practices that meet the needs of all members of the campus community.
Previous campus surveys have included student climate surveys and pilot administrations of the Campus Culture Survey to faculty and staff. All of these assessments revealed concerns that apply, in many cases, to most survey participants.
However, the responses have also consistently shown that threats to inclusion and sense of belonging have had a disproportionate impact on people who identify as women or LGBTQ+ and people from marginalized racial and ethnic groups.
CU Boulder is committed to creating an inclusive environment where all members of the community are and feel respected, supported and valued.
To achieve these goals, academic and administrative unit leaders will develop action plans informed by the survey responses and other resources during the 2022–23 academic year to identify strengths and areas of concern, especially as they relate to issues that have a greater impact on community members from marginalized groups.
For more information, view the Survey Report.
2023 Institutes Culture Survey
CU Boulder administered the Institutes Culture Survey in October 2023 to collect insights from employees about their workplace experiences at CU Boulder’s research institutes. The survey assessed the sense of belonging, workplace norms, supportiveness and inclusiveness of the environment, and experiences of incivility and discrimination.
This survey represents a joint effort among the Office of the Senior Vice Chancellor for Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion, the Office of Information Technology’s data and analytics division, and the university’s research institutes. The results from the survey will guide institute leaders in strategic action planning to strengthen our commitment to cultivating and upholding an inclusive atmosphere for every member of the institutes’ communities.
Out of approximately 3,420 potential participants, 1,309 employees responded to the survey, yielding an overall response rate of 38%. Participation varied across employee types: professional employees had the highest response rate at 47%, postdoctoral employees followed with 42%, and graduate employees participated at a rate of 29%. Undergraduate employees had the lowest response rate at 19%. Detailed response rates by institute are available on the dashboard.
Please click the button below to view the results from the 2023 Institutes Culture Survey. Refer to the field definitions and the dashboard manual for more information about the dashboard content and how to use the dashboard.