Dear Fellow Community Members,

We have taken great strides to ensure that we are actively seeking out opportunities to hear from and listen to all members of our One Illinois Tech Community. This approach is driven by our firm belief that our success as a university is made possible by a diverse and representative collection of community voices leading the way. From the listening tours that have taken place last fall and this winter to the cultural climate surveys done in partnership with the Nova Collective, we continue to seek a broad range of community input, including the critical voices of our students, faculty, and staff.

The faculty survey was revised last year by an interdisciplinary group of faculty members from across campus. This year I have asked the Center for Research and Service to assist Hilary Hudson Hosek, the associate vice president of human resources, and me in revising our staff survey as well. In the past these surveys dealt with both university-wide elements and college- or function-specific questions. The new surveys will focus more on broader university-wide issues to help us gain a better contextual understanding of the issues our faculty and staff are facing. The Student Voices format will remain the same.

The surveys will be conducted anonymously. Minimal demographic information will be requested to assist us in knowing how widely spread an issue may be or how we should take the next steps to address the concerns. Demographic information will not be required, but it is greatly appreciated and respected. Only group data for groups of 10 or more will be examined.

You should be receiving your surveys via email in mid-February. The center will summarize everyone’s input and produce executive summaries of the Student Voices, Faculty Voices, and Staff Voices surveys by mid-April. This will give us the summer to begin planning how to address the issues raised across the campus.

I truly appreciate all of your hard work to ensure the continued success of our university. These surveys will give us additional information to use in furthering our pursuit of excellence, while improving the campus experience for students, faculty, and staff. I want to encourage each of you to participate in the surveys, and thank you in advance for your input.

Sincerely,

Peter Kilpatrick
Provost and Senior Vice President for Academic Affairs
Illinois Institute of Technology