Campus Climate Assessment
This is our chance to make a difference in the future of our Beloved Berea
The Spring 2023 Assessment of Campus Climate for Learning, Living, and Working was meant to foster a community that is open, fair and provides equal access for all students, staff, and faculty, reflective of Berea’s historic mission. The assessment seeks to create and maintain a welcoming community nurtured by open communication and that respects individual needs, abilities, and potential.
All aspects of campus stakeholders—students, faculty, staff, administration, and trustees—have received data and plans as a result of the assessment.
The following is a list of the main requests for action from each of the three groups surveyed: students, staff, and faculty.
Students
Action Items
Updates
Action Item: Training & Awareness
Status: Continuous, 2024-2025
Update: In August trainings were identified to provide to the campus community. In September a letter went out campus-wide describing the planning.
Description: Require implicit bias training for the entire Public Safety staff, Residence Hall staff, Counseling Services staff, and other campus partners.
Action Item: Food Insecurity Initiatives
Status: Continuous, 2024-2025
Update: Created “Grab-and-Go” options at the Dining Hall, reduced the lines at Dining Hall, and continue to plan long-term solutions. Creating a new Food Insecurity Team; provide Non-traditional students with kitchen supplies and food. Plan to pilot new approaches to cultural food needs, such as halal and kosher food. Offering hot meals and meal kit options for Non-traditional students. In January 2025, the College opened the B-Mart—a new resource space in the Non-traditional Student Center in the Ecovillage. B-Mart provides access to free food and essential products, including fresh produce from our farm, cooking supplies, laundry detergent, personal care items, children’s clothing, and more.
Description: Expand food service options.
Division(s): Student Life
Associated Links: Students FIRST Initiatives
Action Item: Student Center
Status: Continuous, 2024-2025
Update: Plans are being made for the new Student Center using input from students, staff and faculty. Outdoor gathering spaces have been provided with student design group direction.
Description: Provide a Student Center and outdoor spaces.
Division(s): Student Life
Action Item: Student Engagement
Status: Continuous, 2024-2025
Update: Created new Student Engagement funding for Registered Student Organizations. Expanded on-campus Student Engagement activities for students. Hired an Assistant Director of Specialized Services to provide oversight of the Male Leadership Initiative, which includes mentoring, advising, and programming for students.
Description: Create new Student Engagement funding for Registered Student Organizations.
Division(s): Student Life
Action Item: Counseling Services
Status: Continuous, 2024-2025
Update: Launched new Tele-Health Counseling Services (859-985-3212). Expanded Counselor options via Welltrack Connect, allowing more student choice. Hired a Case Manager to promote holistic student wellness. Created same-day appointment structure, removing wait times, and allowing for 24/7 access.
Description: Provide Tele-Health Counseling Services. Hire a Case Manager in Counseling Services to promote holistic student wellness programs.
Division(s): Student Life Associated
Links: Students FIRST Initiatives
Action Item: Health Insurance
Status: Continuous, 2024-2025
Update: Increased the maximum amount of coverage (from $10,000 to $12,500); Increased disbursements for diagnostic testing (from $500-$2,000) and chiropractic treatment (from $500 to $1,000). Expanded coverage for emergency testing and treatment. Expanded coverage for psychiatric and mental health treatment. Added coverage for substance abuse treatment and rehabilitation. Added coverage for childhood vaccinations; vaccinations for travel abroad; allergy testing/treatment. Added coverage for family and children of Non-traditional students. Providing new educational workshops for students to understand health care options.
Description: Improve health care plan working with current provider Aspirant to expand coverage. Provide educational workshops to students to highlight options available for health care.
Division(s): Student Life
Associated Links: Students FIRST Initiatives
Action Item: Car Policy
Status: Completed 2023
Update: Implemented new Car Policy.
Description: Continue the implementation of the New Car Policy
Division(s): Student Life
Associated Link: Students FIRST Initiatives
Action Item: Housing
Status: Continuous, 2024-2025
Update: Increased access to Gender Inclusive Housing (GIH) to further develop a residential climate that is positive, respectful, and inclusive for all residents. Approximately 17% of our students live in Gender Inclusive Housing.
Description: Increase access to Gender Inclusive Housing (GIH) to further develop a positive, respectful and inclusive residential climate.
Division(s): Student Life
Associated Link: Students FIRST Initiatives
Staff
Action Items
Updates
Action Item: Salary Transparency
Status: Continuous 2024-2025
Update: Staff salary ranges are now posted on myBerea under Staff Salary Ranges.
Description: Create a mechanism for improved salary transparency and understanding across campus of salary grades and total compensation
Division(s): Human Resources Associated
Link: Staff Salary Ranges
Action Item: Training for Supervisors
Status: Continuous 2024-2025
Update: Supervisor Training Series listed under employee resources on Human Resources web page. Description: Implement increased training opportunities, both mandatory and voluntary, for supervisors on campus to encourage campus culture and work/life boundaries are respected and maintained.
Division(s): Human Resources
Associated Link: Supervisor Trainings
Action Item: Centralized location for policies and procedures
Status: Continuous 2024-2025
Update: Three handbooks will be added to the Berea.edu main search page.
Description: Create a “one-stop shop” for finding policies and procedures on myBerea.
Division(s): Human Resources, Marketing & Communications
Action Item: Additional Trainings
Status: Continuous, 2024-2025
Update: In August the College chose trainings to provide to campus. In September a letter went out campus wide explaining these trainings and providing an Action Plan for implementation. On October first the trainings will be provided to the pilot group.
Description: Encourage more participation and engagement with trainings: e.g., Title IX
Division(s): Human Resources
Faculty
Action Items
Updates
Action Item: Service Work
Status: Continuous 2024-2025
Update: Plan to build information collected from faculty FARs about service work into Banner to allow individual faculty and their chairs to review their service work.
Description: Understand the full context of service work at the college.
Division(s): Academic Affairs
Action Item: Sharing Important Information with the Campus Community
Status: Continuous 2024-2025
Update: Working on adding to the Faculty Module in Banner. Smartsheet and Banner interface and this could be used to create dashboards.
Description: Rethink how important information is shared with the campus community.
Division(s): Academic Affairs
Action Item: Budget Transparency
Status: Continuous 2024-2025
Update: The elected members of the Budget Committee will receive additional orientation and training on the budget process in advance of the start of meetings.
Description: Clarify how the college budget is created and how faculty might have more voice in the process.
Division(s): Academic Affairs
Action Item: Benchmarking
Status: Continuous 2024-2025
Update: The major Faculty Compensation Benchmarking and Philosophy work will begin Fall 2024, led by an outside consulting firm that specializes in this work.
Description: Evaluate faculty salaries and work life balance data through benchmarking.
Division(s): Academic Affairs
The Administrative Committee will continue to identify, review, and respond to these action items. To remain transparent and accountable to our campus community, tracking progress on these items will continue well beyond Fall 2024 semester. Progress on each action item will initially be shared with the AC, and then regularly shared with the campus community through various forms of communication (for example, President Nixon’s Updates, General Assembly, Administrative Leadership Council, Staff Forum, and the Climate Assessment website under the “Action Item” tab).
While keenly aware of the need to address ongoing concerns, we are comforted in knowing that our campus community is committed to working intentionally to realize our guiding values, as expressed in our motto, “God has made of one blood all peoples of the earth” and the Eight Great Commitments. We acknowledge this assessment is one of several tools to achieve our vision through action plans and the cultivation of a community that continues our founder John G. Fee’s practice of impartial love. We thank the President and AC for their ongoing support of this work and assistance with moving these action items forward.
Respectfully,
The Campus Climate Advisory Committee