Share: mail

The Associated Students aired its concerns Wednesday about student workers being barred from participating in the Campus Climate Survey distributed by the administration.

Last week Student Trustee Simon Fraser raised the question of why students are not included in the campus climate survey that assesses the campus work environment and conditions for employees. The answer that they got left some members somewhat unsatisfied and also shed some light on what they described as a lack of protection afforded to student workers.

“Faculty working conditions are student learning conditions,” said Sarah Belknap, the AS vice president of sustainability.

Dustin Tamashiro, a senior research and planning analyst for institutional effectiveness, provided the board members with some background about the survey and explained that the reason students are not included has to do with other surveys that focus more on student needs.

Random sample sections on campus are given an annual Fall Student Survey that has questions on student perception of the campus, learning environment etc. Students are also provided with a bi-annual Community College Survey of Student Engagement (CCSSE) that helps the school set a benchmark against other schools.

Simon Fraser said that the Campus Climate Survey is advertised as something bigger than the standard survey and needs to include students as they are constantly being pulling into different disputes. He also voiced his concern over the lack of representation for student workers should they find themselves in troubling situations.

“The climate between faculty association and the administration does directly affect the learning environment,” Fraser stated.

Belknap echoed Fraser’s sentiments and felt that in order to get a better idea of what is going on in campus with the faculty and administration, the school needs to survey students because if there are any issues, the students will be affected in the classroom. She also stated that the tools in existence like the Fall Student Survey are only being utilized once or twice a year.

“Anytime were not being consulted or their not collecting data, that just always them to say that nothing was wrong,” she said.

She also stated that by not including students not being part of the survey, they’re voices are not being heard.

“They also work here… they are also part of the campus climate, they are also people trying to provide for their families and for themselves,” she said.

Auriana Duffy, vice president for cultural diversity, also felt that not having students in the survey is an issue. As a campus, she feels that we need to be innovative in the way they serve students and faculty and that regardless of whether or not students are part of the survey, we should be doing something to fix the problems now.

Follow: rssyoutubeinstagrammail

2 Replies to “Associated Students argue no student input in campus surveys”

  1. The students missed the point with these- they are about the workplace.
    If it makes them feel any better, neither staff nor faculty were given the oppoetunity for input in the modern think campus climate survey.

    On a related note, The AS wants more committee participation. But the students that are on the important committees are often flaky. I would want to include students but only with their regular attendance and active participation- otherwise they will be booted from the committee. Let’s see if students can handle the committee positions they currently have and only then consider opening it up to students on all committees.

    1. Committee attendance by students has been far better in recent years, but it still remains difficult for students when committees won’t schedule around their just as demanding schedules. It’s also worth remembering that students don’t get release time for committee work and, in fact, need to maintain a higher workload of classes just to be allowed to participate. It’s also not the role of any other campus constituent to judge student participation; participatory governance is a right under California law and not an optional luxury extended to students after they “prove themselves.” Finally, students are also campus workers.

Leave a Reply

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.