MUNCIE, Ind. (NewsLink) --- With snow on the ground and crisp cold air filling campus, students are rushing to class and the wide sidewalks seem to shorten.
One student rushes into the library, setting up a table with pens, candy, stickers and information. Ready to tell these busy students how they can affect the way their campus changes.
On Feb. 7, the Campus Climate and Culture Survey launched and is available to all affiliated with Ball State.
This survey, the first in many, is aimed to understand the diversity of campus and how, based on a students perspective, can the university make changes towards inclusivity.
Interim Vice President for Inclusive Excellence Melinda Messineo says this survey is part of the strategic plan President Geoffrey Mearns has implemented starting in 2018.
“One of the goals the campus identified in our last strategic plan was inclusive excellence,” Messineo said. “And so this office helped put together the inclusive plan. Our task, among many, are to help the campus define their own inclusive excellence plans and implement those plans.”
From the strategic plan, Ball State has already begun making changes around campus. One of the first being the addition of pronouns into student' banner. This change is one of the ways Ball State is trying to make all students feel included and welcomed.
Now, with the survey just in its first week of launching there is still a long way to go. The survey is open until Feb. 28 but students are not expected to see results until fall of 2022.
This is because the survey is not just comparing data from Ball State but data from across the country.
“Lots of universities do these climate surveys,” Messino said, “We are participating with an organization that helps campus’ administer climate surveys.”
While there is the technical side to the survey, there are other large factors. The most prominent being student engagement.
Graduate student Marissa Lockhart has been at Ball State for over six years now, and she thinks with student engagement this survey is going to lend a voice to all.
“This is an opportunity for us, especially the students of color, students that fit into the diversity umbrella or are of marginalized communities to really get their voice heard,” Lockhart said.
Messineo also added that student engagement will only benefit the university.
“One of the reasons why we really encourage students to participate in this survey is that it will help us focus our efforts and potentially identify where investment of resources will have the biggest impact,” Messineo said.
To learn more about the survey students can look at the campus climate and culture page on bsu.edu or as well visit the Office of Inclusive Excellence in the Applied Technologies building.
Contact Rebecca Rosado with concerns at rrosado@bsu.edu.
