College of Social and Behavioral Science (CSBS)
Equity, Diversity, & Inclusion Committee
Inaugural Climate Survey 2021

Will my answers be traced back to me? --No. Your participation is voluntary and your responses will be confidential. All climate survey suggestions will be read carefully by the EDI Climate Sub-Committee, and non-identifiable trends will be shared with our Dean and the College’s leadership team. Statistical trends in the aggregate (entire college, specific departments and programs) will be compiled into a report and shared on our EDI website. There will be no specific data shared publicly about groups smaller than five people across the college. 

We will redact or otherwise modify qualitative responses to ensure that no individual responses are identifiable. Disclosure of full or even partial demographic information is not required for participation, nor will it be used to identify students, staff, or faculty. The EDI Committee seeks this information in order to determine what, if any, link exists between the survey responses and narrative experiences that people share on this survey and aspects of respondent's group memberships and personal identities, such as race/ethnicity, gender, LGBTQ+, Veteran status, religious affiliation, political affiliation, age, nationality, parental status, citizenship, first-generation status, and persons who identify with one or more disabilities.

Underrepresented members of our college and those who have intersecting minority identities may have particular concerns about being identifiable. We are sensitive to this issue and assure your confidentiality. In sum, it would be very helpful if you would complete all items, including the demographics, but you should feel free to skip any item you prefer not to answer. Please answer all items you feel comfortable answering and submitting a survey will signify consent to participate. We invite your suggestions for improvement with survey implementation in future years.

We request that participants not name individuals in their survey responses, as the committee is looking for patterns of behavior that shape culture within the college. As answers are anonymous, nothing in this survey will be used to investigate specific individuals. Disclosing an incident here is not the same as reporting the incident officially--and will not result in any action, disciplinary or otherwise.

IMPORTANT: sharing your experiences on this survey does not constitute official reporting discrimination or sexual harassment to the university – If you would like to officially report an incident. you may use the University of Utah bias incident reporting system, or contact the Office of Equal Opportunity, via email oeo@utah.edu, or 801-581-8365). A list of other helpful campus and community resources will be provided at the end of the survey and on our CSBS EDI Climate Survey Website. 

Transparency – Major survey outcomes will be reported on a CSBS EDI dashboard with the goal of promoting and tracking improvement. We are motivated to respond quickly to any adverse changes in climate for any members of our campus community. Response rates will also be presented for each group (undergraduate majors, graduate students, postdocs, tenure-track faculty, career-line faculty, adjunct instructors, and staff). 

Accountability – These results, including suggestions for improvement, will be shared with the CSBS Dean and other administrators, including Department Chairs and Program Heads, and we will post actions to be taken to advance equity and inclusion on the EDI Committee website on an annual basis.