Inclusive Campus Support

As part of the Division of Diversity and Community Engagement (DDCE), Inclusive Campus Support provides an online anonymous mechanism for university community members to share their campus climate experiences that are helpful and/or concerning. Peer support is provided through consult without referral (unless required by law such as Title IX) and through sharing university/community resources. Categorized general information regarding submitted experiences is shared with the university community to expand transparency and to inform education and practices for development of a more inclusive campus climate.

Background

Inclusive Campus Support was developed after a process undertaken by the DDCE in seeking alternative ways to foster discourse about campus climate issues, following the discontinuation of the Campus Climate Response Team (CCRT) on December 22, 2020 as a result of a lawsuit settlement agreement. Recommendations were provided after analysis of themes that emerged from survey data and data from focus groups and conversations with students, staff, faculty, and community members. The planning team and working group recognized a gap that resulted from the discontinuation of the CCRT and the prevailing need for the university community to be able to share their campus climate experiences with a university entity, separate from existing employee or student issue-specific offices, as well as the need for educational information about university policies and support resources, transparency in communication about positive and negative campus climate experiences, and focus on providing a system of care without referral (unless required by law such as Title IX, etc.), investigation, adjudication, or discipline.

Campus Climate Experiences and Data Collection

Campus climate experiences can be submitted at any time through an anonymous online form. A “campus climate experience” can be any situation associated with UT-Austin that occurs and impacts a member of the university community – students, staff, faculty, alumni, or visitors. An experience may be something that an individual finds concerning, making the campus climate less inclusive or something that an individual finds helpful, making the campus climate more inclusive. Some examples (but not limited to):

• an interpersonal interaction in a class or program, on campus, or online;
• written communications such as a comment, email, flyer, or graffiti; or
• something that physically or otherwise enables or hinders access to the university.

Experiences may be submitted by various individuals, including (but not limited to): a person directly impacted, an individual who witnesses something experienced by another, or any third party who was informed of something experienced by another but was not present at the time of its occurrence.

A separate online form can be submitted to request counsel/support regarding a campus climate experience. Individuals can provide contact information using this form to be contacted by a staff member from Inclusive Campus Support who can assist with questions regarding campus climate experiences and can provide support including information about university/community resources. Once a request for consult form is submitted online, Inclusive Campus Support staff members will follow intake procedures to contact the individual who submitted the form within two business days. No identifiable information will be shared. Inclusive Campus Support does not refer (unless required by law), investigate, or discipline, but provides consult, peer support, educational materials and information about campus resources.

Inclusive Campus Support publishes a general categorized report based on the experience form submissions, available on its website. No identifiable information is shared. The purpose of this report is to increase transparency and to inform practices for the development of an inclusive campus climate. The data collected on the online experience form is as follows:

1.) What kind of campus climate experience are you sharing?*

Note: A “campus climate experience” can be any situation associated with UT-Austin that occurs and impacts a member of the university community. An experience may be something that an individual finds helpful, making the campus climate more inclusive or something that an individual finds concerning, making the campus climate less inclusive.

• Experience that was helpful
• Experience that was concerning

2.) What is your affiliation with UT-Austin?*

(Select all that apply)

• Alum
• Faculty
• Staff
• Student
• Austin Community
• Other

3.) Please select the option(s) that best describes the type of campus climate experience you are sharing.*

(Select all that apply)

• Written Comment
• Social Media Post/Comment
• Website Post/Comment
• Email Message
• Poster/Flyer
• Vandalism/Graffiti
• Vandalism/Destruction of Property
• Verbal Comment
• Presentation
• Physical Assault
• Accessibility
• Other

4.) From your perspective, if identity is related to your campus climate experience, please select the option(s) for applicable identity categories*

(select all that apply)

• Age
• Citizenship
• Disability
• Gender
• Gender Expression
• Gender Identity
• National Origin
• Race/Ethnicity
• Religion
• Sexual Orientation
• Socioeconomic Class
• Veteran Status
• Political Affiliation
• Viewpoint
• Unsure / Do Not Know
• None
• Other

5.) Location where campus climate experience occurred.*

(select one)

• Off Campus
• On Campus
• Online

6.) Approximate date campus climate experience occurred*

Overview of Submitted Experiences

During the fall 2021semester (October-December), several requests for counsel were submitted via online forms and through email by students, staff, and faculty. Peer-support was provided by individual consult and sharing relevant university information and resources. Inclusive Campus Support also received 21 campus climate experience forms.

• Almost all of the campus climate experience forms were submitted during the month of October 2021, reflecting experiences that occurred mostly in 2021 (71%); in 2020 (15%); and prior to 2020 (14%).
• Most (86%) of the campus climate experiences were “concerning” (vs. “helpful”).
• 67% were submitted by students; 19% by faculty; 19% by staff (note: more than one option can be selected).
• One-third of the experiences involved a verbal comment, one-third related to something “other” than the options provided; 24% involved a written comment; 19% involved a presentation (note: more than one option can be selected).
• Almost half of the experiences were based on race/ethnicity (48%); 38% political affiliation; 29% national origin; 29% viewpoint; 19% gender identity; 14% sexual orientation; 14% disability (note: more than one option can be selected).
• Most (86%) of the campus climate experiences occurred on campus, with 9% occurring off campus and 5% occurring online.

The following table reflects information from campus climate experience forms received by Inclusive Campus Support. This information is shared in an effort to provide transparency regarding campus climate experiences impacting the university community.