Campus climate assessment surveys are designed to help colleges and universities measure and assess their strengths and weaknesses around diversity and inclusion efforts for students, faculty, staff, and administrators. This survey will provide insight into what shapes the experiences and perceptions of individuals on campus to help our institution create an environment where everyone feels they belong, and are safe, valued, and respected.

At EMU, providing an inclusive and belonging campus enviroment is part of our mission. We aim to create a community where everyone feels connected, accepted, valued, and respected. Research maintains that positive personal experiences with campus climate and positive perceptions of campus climate generally equate to successful outcomes. Examples of successful outcomes include positive educational experiences and healthy identity development for students, productivity and a sense of value for faculty and staff, and overall well-being for all.

Goals of this survey include:

1. Providing a baseline and being instructive as we seek to develop and sustain an inclusive, supportive, safe, nondiscriminatory, community of learning and belonging - one grounded on mutual respect and where everyone feels accepted, respected, and valued. 
2. Building on prior work to inform the development of a DEI strategic action plan that is evidence-based. EMU will use the results of the assessment to inform current and ongoing work regarding issues of campus climate for students, faculty and staff.

Viewfinder® is a campus climate survey instrument that measures the extent to which diversity and inclusion play an integral role within the infrastructure of your college campus. The surveys extract why your campus may or may not have a sense of belinging to people from diverse populations; why your institutional policies and processes assist or resist the needs of students, administrators, faculty, and staff; and why admissions and hiring practices that are in place either ensure diversity among students and employees or don’t. 

You will receive an email directly from Viewfinder® Campus Climate Surveys, LCC, inviting you to participate in the survey. 

I need an accommodation or have experienced an accessibility barrier, who do I reach out to?

Please contact Office of Academic Access in Hartzler Library, Third Floor, Office 313, in the Academic Success Center
Off-campus and online students can reach us by email  to cathy.smeltzererb@emu.edu or phone (540) 432-4638.

Viewfinder estimates that the survey will take approximately 15 to 20 minutes to complete.

Viewfinder reduces the number of sections/questions in the survey to only those that apply to each individual by utilizing a tool called Question Logic. Some sections begin with a “yes” or “no” response, and if a respondent selects “no,” the survey skips to the next relevant section. 

Respondents will be able to pause and resume the survey as needed.

• Former EMU President Susan Schultz Huxman announced the survey to faculty, staff, and students on December 2024
• The AdHoc Committee has been working with Viewfinder to customize the survey for EMU since November 2023.
• The survey will be administered February 2025. All current EMU faculty, staff and students are highly encouraged to participate.
• Data analysis and reporting is scheduled to take place from April to July 2025, with an action plan developed by September 2025.

Every voice on campus matters and is important. Our hope is that all of you complete the survey.

Campus Climate Surveys, LLC makes every attempt to ensure the anonymity and confidentiality of the data collected in the following ways:

• Survey data is collected and maintained on a secure server.
• No person except for employees of Campus Climate Surveys, LLC will have access to the online account where data is collected and stored.
• Collected data is only shared with designated employees from your institution as well as any outside consultants contracted by an institution.
• No identifiers are attached to individual survey responses, therefore, the only way for an individual response to not be anonymous is if someone self-identifies (i.e. may be the only person of color in a specific department).
• Survey participants may choose to answer some or all of the questions included in the survey.

Contact the DEI office at dei@emu.edu or by phone (540) 432-4388