Results of the 2024 Campus Climate Survey, which included feedback from students and Delta College staff, was shown during the Aug. 20 Board of Trustees meeting.
The assessment involved two college surveys sent to students and employees on values such as: wellness and safety, community, inclusion and respect, social justice and equity, inquiry and innovation and student-centered.
Of the population that was surveyed were 2,999 students and 378 employees.
The student survey demographics reported most participants were “62 percent in the age range of 18-25, 48 percent Hispanic/Latinx, 65 percent female, and 72 percent straight/heterosexual.”
The employee demographics reported the majority of demographics involved, “65 percent women, 76 percent straight/heterosexual, 43 percent white, 38 percent over the age of 50, and 43 percent with job classification as classified/confidential.”
The students surveyed, “More than one in four students expressed concerns about access to transportation while one in five students expressed concerns about access to adequate food and housing stability.”
The survey also reported more than 40 percent of students struggle with expressing mental health concerns and a quarter of the students were concerned about access to support services for mental health and wellness. Also, more than half of the students surveyed also reported they don’t feel safe walking around the campus at night.
696 also reported they had experienced some form of discrimination with 14 percent of it in a classroom and 26 percent cited it as “other students as the source of the discrimination,” read the survey.
The assessment also compared the 2023 results to the 2024 results, indicating that most questions resulted in similar sentiments about the campus, or even slightly lower.
Delta College employees also had concerns regarding their overall health and wellness.
Of those surveyed, 37 percent of employees expressed concerns, and non-binary employees were more likely to express concerns regarding their mental health and wellness, and access to support services for mental health than men and women.
Half of the employees surveyed “do not feel safe walking around campus at night while a quarter do not feel safe in the restrooms on campus,” read the survey.
When polled for experiences of discrimination employees polled, “most likely to experience it in a departmental office or conference room.” The survey also reads that 24 percent of staff experienced discrimination were, “likely to cite staff and administration as the source of discrimination.”
The presentation of the climate survey noted safety improvements that have been made since the survey in February 2023 noting, all gender restrooms final plans to be completed in the fall semester, increasing lighting maintenance throughout the campus, grounds maintenances to remove debris for better visibility on campus, and facilities support of IT for Blue Emergency Phones and other projects for safety improvements.
More safety improvements noted in the survey included, “adjusted staffing to increase coverage for evening students and staff, increased community outreach…, resumed quarterly crime statistics release to educate the public…, continued security camera upgrades…, and increased promotion MustangAlert!”
The survey also noted the “tbh Mental Health Support at Delta,” with the service sign-ups at a total of 2,142.
The campus climate survey presentation can be found under board meetings, under the Aug. 20 board Study Session.
