FAQs

 Climate is defined as current attitudes, behaviors and standards of faculty, staff, administrators, and students, as well as Loyola University Maryland’s environment and policies, which influence the level of respect for individual needs, abilities, and potential.

The campus climate at Loyola University Maryland shapes the lives of all of us— students, staff, administrators, and faculty. Understanding deeply the varied experiences of our community is a critical part of continuing to improve how we work towards creating a more inclusive and equitable campus environment.

The climate survey working group (CSWG) is charged with conducting Loyola University Maryland’s climate survey. After a review of potential vendors, the committee selected Rankin Climate LLC to conduct the survey. Rankin Climate LLC reports directly to the working group. Although the working group will regularly update Loyola University Maryland about its progress, the committee—in consultation with Rankin Climate LLC—is solely responsible for the development, implementation and interpretation of the survey and its results.  

In reviewing efforts by other universities to conduct comprehensive research studies, several best practices were identified. One was the need for external expertise in survey administration. The administration of a survey relating to a sensitive subject like campus climate is likely to yield higher response rates and provide more credible findings if led by an independent, outside agency. Members of a college community may feel particularly inhibited to respond honestly to a survey administered by their own institution for fear of retaliation.

Rankin Climate LLC has administered assessments to more than 190 institutions across the nation—including Loyola in 2019—and developed a repository of tested questions. To assist in contextualizing the survey for Loyola University Maryland, and to capitalize on the many assessment efforts already undertaken, a working group was formed. The group of Loyola faculty, staff, administrators, and students is responsible for developing the survey questions. The team reviewed selected survey questions from the consultant’s tested collection and included Loyola University Maryland-specific questions.

It is important for survey participants to “see” themselves in response choices to prevent “othering” an individual or an individual’s characteristics. Some researchers maintain that assigning someone to the status of “other” is a form of marginalization and should be minimized, particularly in this kind of research which has an intended purpose of inclusiveness. Along these lines, survey respondents will see a long list of possible choices for many demographic questions. However, it is reasonably impossible to include every possible choice to every question, but the goal is to reduce the number of respondents who must choose “other.” 

The primary investigator from Loyola University Maryland for the IRB process is Nicole Jacobs, director of institutional research. An IRB application was submitted and approved for the project. 

Although the committee believes the survey process itself is informative, we have sought and received commitment from senior leaders that data will be used to plan for an improved climate at Loyola University Maryland. 

The target participation in the survey is all students, faculty, and staff at Loyola University Maryland. Every response matters and is valuable in providing the most beneficial feedback and results. 

Confidentiality is vital to the success of this research, particularly as sensitive and personal topics are discussed. While the survey cannot guarantee complete confidentiality because of the nature of multiple demographic questions, the consultant will take multiple precautionary measures to enhance individual confidentiality and the de-identification of data. No data already protected through regulation or policy (e.g., Social Security number, campus identification number, medical information) is obtained through the survey. In the event of any publication or presentation resulting from the assessment, no personally identifiable information will be shared. 

Confidentiality in participating will be maintained to the highest degree permitted by the technology used (e.g., IP addresses will be stripped when the survey is submitted). No guarantees can be made regarding the interception of data sent via the Internet by any third parties; however, to avoid interception of data, the survey is run on a firewalled web server with forced 256-bit SSL security. In addition, the consultant and the University will not report any group data for groups of fewer than five individuals, because those “small cell sizes” may be small enough to compromise confidentiality. Instead, the consultant and the University will combine the groups or take other measures to eliminate any potential for demographic information to be identifiable. Additionally, any comments submitted in response to the survey will be separated at the time of submission to the consultant, so they are not attributed to any individual demographic characteristics. Identifiable information submitted in qualitative comments will be redacted and the college will only receive these redacted comments.

Participation in the survey is completely voluntary, and participants do not have to answer any question and can skip any other questions they consider to be uncomfortable. Please note that you can choose to withdraw your responses at any time before you submit your answers. You must be 18 years of age or older to participate. Paper and pencil surveys are also available and will be sent directly to the consultant. 

Information in the introductory section of the survey will describe the manner in which confidentiality will be guaranteed, and additional communication to participants will provide expanded information on the nature of confidentiality, possible threats to confidentiality and procedures developed to ensure de-identification of data. 

The consultant will provide a final report that will include: an executive summary; a report narrative of the findings based on cross tabulations selected by the consultant; frequencies, percentages, means and standard deviations of quantitative data; and content analysis of the textual data. The reports provide high-level summaries of the findings and will identify themes found in the data. Generalizations for populations are limited to those groups or subgroups with response rates of at least 30%. The committee will review draft reports and provide feedback to the consultant prior to public release.

Loyola University Maryland has worked with the consultant to develop a research data security description and protocol, which includes specific information on data encryption, the handling of personally identifiable information, physical security and a protocol for handling unlikely breaches of data security. The data from online participants will be submitted to a secure server hosted by the consultant. The survey is run on a firewalled web server with forced 256-bit SSL security and is stored on a SQL database that can only be accessed locally. The server itself may only be accessed using encrypted SSH connections originating from the local network. Rankin Climate LLC data analysts will have access to the raw data. All Rankin Climate LLC analysts have CITI (Human Subjects) training and approval and have worked on similar projects for other institutions. The web server runs with the SE-Linux security extensions (that were developed by the NSA). The server is also in RAID to highly reduce the chance of any data loss due to hardware failure. The server performs a nightly security audit from data acquired via the system logs and notifies the administrators. The number of system administrators will be limited, and each will have had required background checks.

The consultant has conducted more than 190 institutional surveys and maintains an aggregate merged database. The data from the Loyola University Maryland project will be merged with all other existing data stored indefinitely on the consultant’s secure server. No institutional identifiers are included in the full merged data set held by the consultant. The raw unit-level data with institutional identifiers is kept on the server for six months and then destroyed. The paper and pencil surveys are returned to the consultant directly and kept in a locked file drawer in a locked office. The consultant destroys the paper and pencil responses after they are merged with the online data. The consultant will notify the committee chairs of any breach or suspected breach of data security of the consultant’s server.

The consultant will provide the primary investigator with a data file at the completion of the project. 

 The survey will be administered to all students at Loyola University Maryland. Creating opportunities to maximize participation is important as well as maximizing opportunities to reach minority populations. Along these lines, the consultant has recommended not using random sampling as we may “miss” particular populations where numbers are very small (e.g., Native American students). Since one goal of the project is inclusiveness and allowing invisible “voices” to be heard, this sampling technique is not used. In addition, randomized stratified sampling is not used because we do not have population data on most identities. For example, Loyola University Maryland collects population data on gender and race/ethnicity, but not on disability status or sexual orientation. A sample approach could miss many groups.

The survey will be open February 4 - March 7, 2025.

To thank all members of the Loyola University Maryland community for their participation in this Thriving Spaces survey, survey completers have an opportunity to win an award. 
 
Submitting your contact information for a survey award is optional. No Thriving Spaces survey information is connected to entering your contact information. 
 
To enter for a chance to win – at the end of the Thriving Spaces survey, click on the link for the Loyola raffle drawing survey, then, please enter your contact information. Please submit only one entry per person; duplicate entries will be discarded. A random drawing will be held for the following:

Undergraduate, Graduate Students

By completing this survey, you will be entered into a raffle for  
1st Place – Parking (in a student lot) for the next academic year OR an Apple Watch
2nd and 3rd Place – a Loyola sweatshirt/hoodie

Faculty/Administrator/Staff

By completing this survey, you will be entered into a raffle for 
1st Place – Parking (in the Jenkins lot) for the next academic year OR an Apple Watch
2nd and 3rd Place – a Loyola sweatshirt/hoodie 
 
In providing your contact information in the separate Loyola raffle drawing survey, you are in no way linked or identified with the previous survey information collected. The separation between the Thriving Spaces survey and the Loyola raffle drawing survey ensures your confidentiality.
 
Winners will be notified with details on how to collect their award after the survey closes (~ Mid-March or April). Rewards will be reported in accordance with IRS regulations. Please consult with a tax professional if you have questions.
 
Please direct any questions about the Thriving Spaces Survey or its incentives to the Office of Equity and Inclusion at officeoftheceio@loyola.edu.
 
Please direct any questions about your Loyola raffle drawing survey entry to the Office of Institutional Research (OIR) at survey@loyola.edu.