As you may recall, last spring our campus participated in the UW System’s Campus Climate Survey project. Thanks to the 3,175 of you who took the time to complete the survey. I’m pleased to let you know we have received the results, which will be essential to helping UW Oshkosh develop its Inclusive Excellence Action Plan. The plan will provide a framework for our continuing work on making our campus a more welcoming and inclusive place to work, learn and live.

The UW Oshkosh community has been promoting the need for such campus climate surveys at UW institutions for several years. I am proud that UW Oshkosh and four other UW System institutions – UW-La Crosse, UW-Stevens Point, UW-Milwaukee and UW Colleges – agreed to conduct these surveys so we can continue to create more inclusive, welcoming campuses.

Dr. Sue Rankin, the nationally renowned consultant hired by the UW System to assist us in conducting survey, will be visiting our campus next week to discuss the survey results. We will be holding two campus-wide open forums:

• 10:20 a.m.-noon Nov. 5 in Room 227 of Reeve Memorial Union
• 1:50-3:15 p.m. Nov. 5 in Room 227 of Reeve Memorial Union.
• A student forum will be held at 3:30 p.m. Nov. 5 in Room 227 of Reeve Memorial Union.

I invite the entire campus community to attend and learn more about the results of this important survey.

An executive summary of the survey is now available at www.uwosh.edu/affirm-act/. I encourage you to review the summary prior to attending a forum. The entire survey will be available Nov. 6, after the presentations, in hard copy at the Polk Library and online at www.uwosh.edu/affirm-act/.

On Monday, Nov. 10, I will send the campus community a memo in which I will ask governance groups, departments, programs and units to discuss and provide feedback on the survey results by Jan. 23, 2009. That feedback will be forwarded to the Diversity Leadership Committee, chaired by assistant professor Denise Clark, which will provide recommendations to me and the Diversity Alliance, chaired by Pam Lassiter, director of Equity and Affirmative Action.

The Alliance will use those recommendations, as well as the results of the Equity Scorecard and the Plan 2008 Evaluation, to create a first draft of a UW Oshkosh Inclusive Excellence Action Plan. The plan will integrate, coordinate, assess and create accountability for institution-wide results.

Both campus groups will work with UW System, which is providing an Inclusive Excellence strategic framework for all UW campuses to use as they frame their plans.

The first draft of the plan will be presented to the U-Plan group, which, in partnership with the Diversity Alliance, will circulate and finalize the document and present a final first draft to the campus community. It is our expectation that the University will finalize its draft by Fall 2009, after the campus community has a second opportunity to provide input.

As a campus, we value diversity and inclusion, and we strive to have a campus community that fosters cooperation, collaboration and mutual respect of individuals and ideas. Thanks again for participating in this very important survey. I look forward to seeing you Nov. 5 to discuss the results and begin talking about next steps.

Best wishes,

Chancellor Richard H. Wells
University of Wisconsin Oshkosh

Editor’s note:

The complete results of UW Oshkosh’s recent Campus Climate Survey project is available online. Click here to read the full narrative and the executive summary.