Equity & Diversity
Submitted by Tom Demke, Chair, SSEC E&D Committee
On Wednesday, 23 February, Don Schutt from the Office of Human Resources Development presented the results of the Climate Survey commissioned by SSEC’s Equity & Diversity committee.
Don Schutt from the Office of Human Resources Development
Mr. Schutt had previously discussed the results with the Directors of SSEC, and then with the Equity & Diversity committee. Finally, an all-hands meeting was called to present the results to SSEC as a whole. After Mr. Schutt’s presention, Hank Revercomb followed up with his own comments and suggestions.
Overall the results of the survey were very positive.
However, that being said, there are some areas on which we can improve. Two persons (of ~100 respondents) stated they have received unwanted sexual advances in the last 6 months and 17 respondents said they would not know where to go for support or help.
Sexual harassment is a zero tolerance issue at SSEC as well. UW-Madison (please see John Roberts e-mail dated 2/23/11). Between 2-9 people stated that the workplace was not welcoming for various populations of staff (gender, color, sexual orientation, etc.) and similarly 2-8 people responded that they have heard disparaging comments of people within these same populations within the last 6 months.
Approximately 20% of the respondents were not sure where to look for professional development, did not feel encouraged to attend workshops, and had not discussed professional development with their supervisor within the last 6 months. Many responses regarding supervisors were very positive (> 90%). However, there appear to be some concerns regarding promptness for dealing with issues and providing meaningful feedback.
The Directors and E&D Committee have met to develop a plan for addressing the issues noted by the Climate Survey. As part of our response, we may want to solicit inputs on how to effectively meet the needs of SSEC staff.
Hank Revercomb comments on the survey.
We also plan on implementing a Suggestion Box monitored by the E&D Committee. We are still sorting out the details of this, but this may take the form of a physical box, a virtual box or both. In the meantime, if you have suggestions for addressing any of these issues (or any other climate issues of which you may be concerned), please contact one of the SSEC E&D Committee members.
Although we do have issues that need to be addressed, the Climate Survey indicated what, I think, many of us already suspected, which is that SSEC appears to have a very positive work environment.
The Report, Results, and Hank’s Response from the SSEC Climate Survey (for Equity & Diversity) have been posted on the SSEC Equity & Diversity web page.
