Creating Community
The Burnett School of Medicine has contracted with Rankin & Associates to examine the climate for learning, living and working at the medical school. A team from Rankin & Associates will visit campus on February 10, to speak with small groups of SOM faculty, staff and students about how they experience the environment. These small group conversations will better enable us to develop programs and policies that will increase inclusivity in areas which are shown to be problematic and enhance and replicate programs and policies in areas which are shown to be successfully meeting the needs of the community. The results of the conversations were presented to the SOM community in September 2020.
Campus Climate Study Timeline 2020
Jan 13, 2020
Meeting with CSWG, Senior Staff, Marketing & Communications, & Townhall with Students
Jan 21, 2020
Formal letter of invitation will be sent to prospective participants
Jan 28, 2020
Huddle with Faculty and Staff with presentation from Rankin & Associates
Feb 10, 2020
Conduct Focus Groups
7:00am-8:30pmSept 10 & 11, 2020
Townhall Meeting to present findings to community
Working Committee
Lisa McBride, Ph.D., Assistant Dean for Diversty and Inclusion
Jennifer Allie, Ph.D., Senior Associate Dean for Faculty Affairs and Development
Judy Bernas, Associate Dean and Senior Officer for Communications and Strategy
Mitzi Glover, Ph.D., Associate Professor
Kitty Momburg, Program Manager
Dilan Shan, MS-1, Inclusion Excellence Senator for School of Medicine Student Senate
Jerome Wilcox, Director for Diversity and Inclusion
What is Campus Climate?
Pennsylvania State University professor Susan Rankin, the lead consultant on our Campus Climate Study Team, defines campus climate as “the current attitudes, behaviors and standards of faculty, staff, administrators and students concerning the level of respect for individual needs, abilities and potential.”
Respect is one of the most critical words in this description. It’s not just the experience of individuals and groups on a campus; it’s also the quality and extent of the interaction between those various groups and individuals that determines a healthy campus climate.
About the Consultant
Professor Susan Rankin – Rankin & Associates Consulting
Rankin is a faculty member in education policy studies and college student affairs at Pennsylvania State University and a senior research associate at the Center for the Study of Higher Education. She has extensive experience in institutional climate assessment and institutional climate transformation based on data-driven action and strategic planning. Rankin has conducted multi-location institutional climate studies at other university systems across the country.