During 2018-19, the College of Earth and Mineral Sciences undertook a vital and relevant assessment of the environment for living, learning, and working - the Assessment of the Living, Learning, and Working Environment (ALLWE) survey. The initiative's goal was to make positive, lasting changes, and to help create a more inclusive campus.
ALLWE Implementation Plan
The results of the survey are being used in the implementation plan to better enable the college to not only develop programs and policies that will increase inclusivity in areas which are shown to be problematic, but also enhance and replicate programs and policies in areas which are shown to be successfully meeting the needs of the community.
This implementation plan represents outcomes of the 2018–19 ALLWE survey results. Findings of the fall 2018 survey were presented in a Town Hall on April 15, 2019. Recommendations were developed during fall 2019 through broadly representative input from throughout the college, and the ALLWE Implementation Steering Committee (ISC) distilled those recommendations into the present implementation plan, finalized and accepted by the Dean and the EMS Executive Council in April 2020.
As the ALLWE ISC discussed priority areas and action items to address the most pervasive concerns, it became apparent that while EMS aspires to be a tight-knit and supportive community for all its constituents, we would benefit from specific attention to better managing relationships at and across all levels within the EMS community, including our World Campus.
In general, people are feeling overworked and overburdened, with more and more to do in less time. This has reached the point that there is not time to do things as well as they could be done, and community is taken for granted. This trend is damaging to morale and ultimately to our shared sense of EMS community.
The following Priority Themes are the areas that the ALLWE ISC believe to be most salient in fostering a more diverse, equitable, and inclusive EMS environment:
- Addressing Harassment and Marginalization
- Supporting Mental Health and Well Being
- Addressing Isolation and Fostering Communities Around Shared Purpose
- Transparency, Communication, and Building Trust in the System 5. Professional Development
ALLWE Implementation Plan Feedback
- Damian Archer, Undergraduate Student, Earth Science and Policy
- Jane Cook, Director, EMS Museum & Art Gallery
- Joshua M. Garber, Post Doc, Department of Geosciences
- Elise Gowan, Earth And Mineral Sciences Librarian
- Ahmed Hamed, Undergraduate Student, Energy Business and Finance
- Bernd Haupt, Associate Research Professor, Earth and Environmental Systems Institute
- Joshua Inwood, Associate Professor of Geography and African Studies, Department of Geography
- Andrew Kleit, Professor of Energy and Environmental Economics, John and Willie Leone Family Department of Energy and Mineral Engineering
- Elizabeth Kupp, Associate Research Professor, Department of Materials Science and Engineering
- JoAnn Lehtihet, Administrative Support Assistant, Department of Geosciences
- Kelly Lombardo, Associate Professor of Meteorology and Atmospheric Science, Department of Meteorology and Atmospheric Science
- Chris Long, Undergraduate Student, Meteorology and Atmospheric Sciences
- Rosie Long, (Tri-Chair) Executive Manager, Office of the Dean
- Jane McCandless, Academic Adviser, Associate Dean for Undergraduate Education
- Kayla McCauley, Undergraduate Student, Meteorology and Atmospheric Sciences
- Heather Moore, Administrative Support Assistant, Associate Dean for Undergraduate Education
- Ray Najjar, (Tri-Chair) Professor of Oceanography, Department of Meteorology and Atmospheric Science
- Shruti Natal, Undergraduate Student, Materials Science and Engineering
- Kelly Rhoades, Administrative Support Coordinator, EMS Energy Institute
- Stevie Rocco, Director of Learning Design, John A. Dutton e-Education Institute
- Victoria Sanchez, (Tri-Chair) Associate Dean for Educational Equity, Office of the Associate Dean of Educational Equity
- Hillary Smith, Graduate Student, Geosciences
- Samantha Staskiewicz, Graduate Student, Meteorology and Atmospheric Science, EMS Graduate Fellow for Science Advocacy and Diversity
- Jane Sutterlin, Lecturer/Learning Designer, John A. Dutton e-Education Institute
- Jasmine Walker, Graduate Student, Geosciences, EMS Graduate Fellow for Science Advocacy and Diversity
Want to get involved with the implementation plan?
Is there an ALLWE implementation initiative that you’d like to get involved with? Email Tri-chairs Victoria Sanchez, Rosie Long, and Ray Najjar to get connected with existing initiatives or talk about your ideas for starting a new initiative.
Background on Survey
To ensure full transparency and to provide a more complete perspective, the college contracted with Rankin & Associates Consulting to help lead this effort. Rankin & Associates has conducted more than 170 campus climate assessment projects during the last 20 years. A team from Rankin & Associates worked with a committee of students, staff, and faculty from the college to develop and implement the assessment. Background information about the survey is below.
Dear College of Earth and Mineral Sciences Community member:
In the College of Earth and Mineral Sciences, we seek to create an environment characterized by openness, fairness, and equal access for all students, staff, and faculty. A welcoming and inclusive campus environment is grounded in mutual respect, nurtured by dialogue, evidenced by a pattern of civil interaction, and is one of the foundations of our educational model. Creating and maintaining a community environment that respects individual needs, abilities, and potential is critically important.
During 2018-19, the College of Earth and Mineral Sciences will undertake a vital and relevant assessment of the environment for living, learning, and working. This is our chance to make a difference in the College of Earth and Mineral Sciences’ future, our opportunity to make positive, lasting changes, and our time to help create a more inclusive campus. To ensure full transparency and to provide a more complete perspective, we have contracted with Rankin & Associates Consulting to help lead this effort. Rankin & Associates has conducted more than 170 campus climate assessment projects during the last 20 years.
A team from Rankin & Associates will be working with a committee of students, staff, and faculty from the College of Earth and Mineral Sciences to develop and implement the assessment. The results will better enable us to not only develop programs and policies that will increase inclusivity in areas which are shown to be problematic, but also enhance and replicate programs and policies in areas which are shown to be successfully meeting the needs of the community.
I hope that you will join me in supporting this important project.
Sincerely,
Dean Lee Kump
ALLWE Survey Results
ALLWE SurveyTownhall to present results was held on Monday, April 15, 2019 from 1 - 2:15 p.m. in the Westgate Cybertorium (W201)
MatSE External Advisory Board Presentation
History of the ALLWE survey
- What: a 20–30 minute confidential survey of EMS students, staff, and faculty
- Why: to give EMS valuable insight into creating a more welcoming and inclusive environment
- When: October 23 to November 30
EMS seeks to be an environment …
- Characterized by openness, fairness, and equal access for all students, staff, and faculty
- Grounded in mutual respect, nurtured by dialogue, and evidenced by a pattern of civil interaction
- That respects individual needs, abilities, and potential
The survey is...
- Confidential
- Designed to provide information about both positive and challenging aspects of the environment in EMS
- An opportunity to share
Survey confidentiality
- Rankin & Associates administer the survey and analyze the data
- Results are reported in group form only
- Individuals are not identifiable (device name, IP address & location removed)
- Participation is voluntary
- Every question need not be answered
- The survey is taken in one sitting
- Raffle prizes are administered separately from the survey to protect anonymity
February - March 2018
- Initial meeting with Climate Study Working Group (CSWG)
- Plan Focus Groups
April - May 2018
- Conduct Focus Groups
- Begin survey development
June - August 2018
- Complete survey
- Develop Marketing/ Communication Plan
- IRB application/ approval
October 2018
- Survey starts - October 23, 2018
November – December 2018
- Survey ends - November 30, 2018
January-April 2019
- Data analysis
- Report Development
March - April 2019
- Results Presentation
May - July
- Development of Actions
- Counseling and Psychological Services (CAPS)
501 Student Health Center
814-863-0395- CAPS- Crisis Services (24/7): Penn State Crisis Line
Telephone: 1-877-229-6400
Text Line: “LIONS” to 741741
- CAPS- Crisis Services (24/7): Penn State Crisis Line
- Victim & Survivor Support & Advocacy
204 Boucke Building
814-863-2027 - Vice Provost for Educational Equity (EE)
304 Old Main
814-865-5906 - EMS Human Resources
116 Deike Building - Affirmative Action Office
328 Boucke - 814-863-0471
- Health Advocate Employee Assistance Program
866-799-2728 - Gender Equity Center
204 Boucke Building
814-863-2027 - Office of Sexual Misconduct Prevention & Response
222 Boucke Building
814-867-0099 - LGBTQA Student Resource Center
101 Boucke Building
814-863-1248 - University Health Services
Student Health Center
814-863-0774 - Paul Robertson Cultural Center
21 HUB-Robeson Center
814-865-3776 - Centre County Women’s Resource Center
140 W Nittany Ave, State College, PA 16801
877-234-5050
- Rachel Conaway, Alumni Relations and Stewardship Officer, John and Willie Leone Family Department of Energy and Mineral Engineering
- Patricia Craig, Director of Marketing and Communications, Office of the Dean
- Liam Cummings, Undergraduate student, Energy Engineering
- Chris Forest, Professor of Climate Dynamics, Department of Meteorology and Atmospheric Science
- Chris Fowler, Associate Professor of Geography, Department of Geography
- Michael Gordon, Academic Adviser, Ryan Family Student Center, Office of the Associate Dean for Undergraduate Education
- Liz Hajek, Associate Professor of Geosciences, Department of Geosciences
- Bernd Haupt, Associate Research Professor, Earth and Environmental Systems Institute
- Carolynne Hultquist, Ph.D. student, Geography
- Brandi Kamermans, Postdoctoral Scholar, Department of Geosciences
- JoAnn Lehtihet, Administrative Supoprt Assistant, Department of Geosciences
- Rosie Long, Executive Manager, Office of the Dean
- John Mauro, Professor of Materials Science and Engineering, Department of Materials Science and Engineering
- Joel Morrison, Senior Research Associate, EMS Energy Institute
- Ray Najjar, Professor of Oceanography, Department of Meteorology and Atmospheric Science
- Vivian Rennie, Undergraduate student, Meteorology and Atmospheric Science
- Kelly Rhoades, Administrative Support Coordinator, EMS Energy Institute
- Victoria Sanchez, Associate Dean for Educational Equity, Office of the Associate Dean of Educational Equity
- Jamesa Stokes, Ph.D. student, Department of Materials Science and Engineering
- Jane Sutterlin, Lecturer/Learning Designer, John A. Dutton e-Education Institute