University-wide faculty climate survey - FAS results
March 28, 2023
To: All FAS faculty
Cc: FAS Dean’s office, President’s office, Provost’s office, Secretary’s office
Summary: FAS-specific results from the university-wide faculty climate survey conducted in 2021 are now available.
Dear colleagues,
In December, President Salovey announced the results of the University-wide faculty climate survey, conducted in 2021 as part of the Belonging at Yale initiative. FAS-specific data is now available on the climate survey home page. As FAS faculty and staff advance our action plan for diversity, equity, inclusion, and belonging, they will use this data to inform their work.
Response rates from the FAS faculty community are low, leaving us less informed than we might like to be. The data that the university was able to gather confirms that cultivating respect requires a multi-directional approach. That is: the available responses show that relationships and interactions among and across faculty, staff, and students contribute to whether a person experiences an inclusive climate at Yale. Cutting across the university’s many formal and informal hierarchies, our daily, small-scale encounters can alter how safe and supported we feel in our work environment. Interventions into the climate require accounting for how people in all roles act toward one another. Deliberate attention about e-mail messages, in-person requests, and casual conversation is one thing everyone can do to contribute to a community where how we engage each other reflects the highest interpersonal standards.
This is a challenge, one equal to the excellence of our community. I hope that you will engage with your colleagues to think through how you can make our workplace one where every person in it can thrive. Please also consider offering feedback to the leaders of the university-wide Belonging at Yale efforts here.
Thank you to all who responded to the survey for providing forthright feedback.
Very best wishes,
Kathryn
Kathryn Lofton
Acting Dean, Faculty of Arts and Sciences
FAS Dean of Humanities
Lex Hixon Professor of Religious Studies, of American Studies, of History, and of Divinity
PS: The report of the FAS Communications Advisory Committee exemplifies an ethos of respect; I encourage you to read it. As a reminder, FAS committee reports, memos, and other such documents are always available on the Chancery page of the FAS website.