Special Section
Surveying
Emerson’s
Climate
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College releases results of first climate survey
By Joshua Warrener / Beacon Correspondent
The survey, developed by Emerson’s Office of Diversity and Inclusion and the survey firm ModernThink, polled students chiefly on sexual assault awareness and prevention at the college, but also included questions about diversity, faculty and administration participation, and general well-being.
Editorial: Climate survey underscores need for diversity education
By The Editorial Board
The onus is clear: Emerson must spend significantly more resources on cultural competency training for students, professors, and staff alike.
Sexual assault prevention programs improving, but sense of belonging mixed
By Laura King / Beacon Staff
The student component shows that greatest sources of dissatisfaction are the college’s sexual assault and harassment education programs and a sense of belonging among students of various races.
Faculty and staff criticize salaries, say staffing is often inadequate
By David A. Bumpus / Beacon Staff
Faculty and staff reported notable dissatisfaction on questions about fair pay and adequate personnel.
Survey demographics
Overall, students who took the survey are fairly representative of the college overall, in terms of class year and race.
Diversity important to students
Students nearly unanimously said diversity and inclusion were important values, but faulted the college for having an insufficiently diverse staff.
Students feel sexual assault prevention training is lacking
Among undergraduates, each older class felt less satisfied with the sexual harrassment and assault prevention training that Emerson provided.
More than any other undergraduate class, freshmen were satisfied with their understanding of Emerson’s policies dealing with sexual assault, and believed their training would actually be effective.
Across the college, 50 percent or fewer of students believed that Emerson would support their peers who file sexual assault reports, take corrective action against offenders, and administer policies fairly.
Among students, racial divides in sense of belonging
Students identifying as black or African-American consistently reported having less of a sense of belonging than students of other racial and ethnic groups.
High marks for academic support
Students said they felt their professors were fair, and that Emerson provided adequate support to succeed academically.
Diversity important to faculty and staff
Like students, faculty and staff consistently said diversity and inclusion were important personal values. However, they were more satisfied than students about the diversity of Emerson’s employees.
Faculty and staff say they aren’t paid fairly
Fewer than half of employees said they felt they were paid fairly for their work. Professors gave notably lower responses about the college’s benefits compared to staff and administrators.
Professors fault resources
Few employees were satisifed with staffing levels, but professors were particularly unhappy with their facilities.
