Listening sessions will focus on campus climate

How can students, faculty and staff make personal contributions toward improving campus climate at UW–Madison?

The Provost’s Office will address that key question during “Days of Listening and Discovery,” a new campus climate initiative.

Five listening sessions are scheduled for Thursday, May 1, and Friday, May 2. Members of the campus community are encouraged to attend a session. Feedback from these discussions will guide planning for efforts aimed at improving campus climate.

Although there is no single definition, “climate” is generally viewed as the behavior or atmosphere within a workplace or learning environment that influences whether an individual feels personally safe, listened to, valued, and treated fairly and with respect.

Led by Provost Peter Spear and Bernice Durand, associate vice chancellor for diversity and climate, campus climate is a major issue for the entire community. Efforts are geared toward making UW–Madison a more positive and supportive place to work, learn and live.

In the “Days of Listening and Discovery” sessions, participants from different walks of campus life will be asked to share personal positive experiences about climate, their workplace or learning environment, and to discuss what they value most about the university. In addition, each will be asked to list three areas in which improvement is needed.

Unlike other recent sessions, such as the Campus Plan 2008 forum, during which institutional efforts were discussed, these sessions will be focused directly at the personal level, says Durand.

“We wanted to extend the message that climate issues are really about people, and that the community should feel invited to be part of this positive environmental change,” she says. “We hope to see deans, faculty, staff and students talking together and learning from each other. We want to hear about best experiences and ways individuals can help enhance the campus community.”

Organizers will employ an electronic response system consisting of hand-held keypads. Participants will be able to anonymously log their reactions to the discussions to help prioritize the themes, values and ideas that emerge from each session.

All feedback will be collected and posted at http://www.provost.wisc.edu/climate/. The session also will serve as a starting point for future efforts dealing with campuswide changes in climate.

Sessions will be held 3:15-5:15 p.m. and 6-8 p.m., Thursday, May 1. Additional sessions will be held 8:30-10:30 a.m., 11 a.m.-1 p.m. and 1:30-3:30 p.m., Friday, May 2. All sessions will be held at Gordon Commons, 717 W. Johnson St.

Registration is helpful, but not required. For online registration or more information, visit http://www.provost.wisc.edu/climate/ or call the Provost’s Office at (608) 262-5246.