The Pulse Survey for undergraduate students has been extended until April 15 to provide students more time to share their experiences on campus with the Office of Diversity and Inclusion.
The survey began the week students returned from spring break, and the Office of Diversity and Inclusion has already started to see a good response. However, the office is attempting to get as many voices as possible to have the most informed understanding of what the social climate is on campus.
"This is a very unique opportunity for every student to voice their concerns, to talk to us through this survey so that we understand how they experience the University of South Carolina," Chief Diversity Officer and Director of Community Engagement John Dozier said, "In doing that, it helps us as a university administration, faculty and staff to create a university that is meaningful for every individual, that helps every individual feel valued."
Dozier said the data that has been received so far is now starting to be analyzed. The Office of Diversity and Inclusion is investing many hours into compiling the data students input knowing that the only way to have a truly comprehensive survey of the social climate on campus is to have as many students input as possible.
Development of the survey began almost a year ago. Dozier, who is relatively new to his position at USC, felt that he was working in a "data vacuum" where students didn't have a formal avenue to communicate with faculty how they experience life at the university. The idea for the survey stemmed from questions surrounding how USC's students feel about life on campus.
Staff worked to make the survey as comprehensive as possible for students. Dozier said the desire wasn't to make it a survey just on experiences as they related to diversity and inclusion, but what students’ experiences were like in relation to interactions with faculty and staff and to student life.
"We thought the more information we gathered from our students, the better we can be at responding to our students’ real needs," Dozier said.
Once the data has been analyzed, the Office of Diversity and Inclusion will release the data to the public, giving students a transparent view of the social climate on campus according to the survey. They also plan to hold another Inclusion Forum during the upcoming Fall semester to share their findings.
"It's important for us to kind of hold the mirror up to ourselves, so we can start to see who we are, not who we think we are, but who we really are," Dozier said.
To access the Pulse Survey, use this link: http://studentvoice.com/p/?uuid=0e9e5e441772429db8f3483874c565c3.