Campus culture describes the habits and meanings that manifest in felt realities and everyday experiences of members of our community. To understand campus culture, universities often measure “climate,” which refers to the attitudes, values, perceptions, language and behaviors of students, faculty, staff and administrators, especially as it relates to difference, diversity, equity and inclusion.
Campus culture and climate influence how individuals and groups feel personally safe, heard, valued and treated fairly and respectfully. While often ineffable, campus culture is extraordinarily influential. It communicates as powerfully as institutional mission statements, lists of core values or strategic plans about what matters to the community, as well as expectations for how members of that community treat one another.
Odesma Dalrymple, PhD
The faculty lead of USD’s Engineering Exchange for Social Justice and Associate Professor of Industrial and Systems Engineering, Odesma Dalrympple, PhD wears many hats. Most recently, she was appointed as faculty advisor for the Karen and Tom Mulvaney Center for Community, Awareness and Social Action. She notes that the concept of inclusion is important on campus. “We can come as who we are, and we can bring all the things that make us unique, all the experiences that have shaped us. All those things are accepted and honored and celebrated at USD,” she says.
My colleagues really brought me in and helped me fulfill this mission to make engineering’s identity more inclusive and socially connected. And the fact that I was able to bring my daughter here — literally, from when she was born — into the classroom is amazing. I never felt weird or strange for doing that; colleagues just welcomed her and embraced the notion that we don’t have to be separate from our lives and our families. These things can be integrated, which is a big part of this concept of inclusion.
A sample of initiatives related to Campus Climate and Culture:
- Undergraduate Admissions helps set the expectation of an inclusive campus culture during the application process with essay questions specifically about the importance of diversity and inclusion. For more information, contact the assistant vice president of Enrollment Management.
- Alumni Relations has worked to re-imagine its annual Alumni Honors event nomination process so that the awards nomination yields a more diverse pool of candidates. For more information, contact the senior director of the Alumni Association.
- University Galleries presents diverse exhibitions — both online and in physical spaces — that visibly demonstrate the commitment of the institution to inclusive excellence as well as celebrates the work of BIPOC artists. For more information, contact University Galleries.
- The Changemaker Hub co-creates the My Story event, which provides an opportunity for students, faculty, staff and community members to share meaningful stories about themselves and their communities. The goal of this program is to develop empathy and to create a more inclusive campus environment. For more information, contact the director of the Changemaker Hub.
- As the university enhances access for potential students and current students from all socioeconomic classes to undergraduate, graduate and professional programs, Copley Library will support these students by offering diverse collections, programming and representative art, as well as using examples in instruction that are relevant to underrepresented and underserved populations on campus. For more information, contact the dean of University Libraries.
- Facilities Management (FM) will look for opportunities to celebrate and respect various holidays/customs/traditions within the unit that may have been overlooked in the past. For example, FM occasionally brings in food trucks for staff and may choose to do this on particular dates with particular types of food offered. For more information, contact the assistant vice president of Facilities Management.
- Human Resources supports the Community of Human Resources@USD (CHR@USD) committee whose purpose is to build community on campus with faculty, staff and administrators. This committee plans events that invite all employees to come together to deepen relationships and celebrate each other as human beings aligned in the mission of USD. This committee also serves as an important sounding board when the university is considering policy changes and provides feedback regarding how these changes may impact our employee community. For more information, contact the Human Resources Department.
- The International Center helps the campus community to develop a greater awareness of the cultural diversity that international students bring from different parts of the world and to take the next step to achieve campus internationalization. For example, the center partners with the Center for Educational Excellence to provide programming on best practices for working with international students; provide training to various student mentoring programs across campaigns that are working with international students; and promote and welcome the general campus community to participate in programming such as International Education Week and the International Student Organization’s flagship event, the International Expo and Fashion Show. For more information, contact the associate provost for International Affairs.
- Public Safety (PS) implemented a new diversity, equity and inclusion training for all PS personnel. It also created the Public Safety Student Advisory Board, which works to build stronger communication and resources for all groups on campus. For more information, contact the assistant vice president for Public Safety.
- Student Affairs (SA) created a new student online course requirement, “Diversity, Equity and Inclusion for Students.” Health Promotion works closely with Student Life in distributing and ensuring compliance with this important educational opportunity.
- A Military Allies Program was created to educate faculty and staff on ways to support military-connected students at USD.
- Graduate Life and the School of Law have created many student identity dialogue groups.
- SA has an Administrators and Staff for Racial Justice (ASRJ) group which better prepares and empowers USD staff to dismantle systems of racism and oppression.
- Campus Recreation has revised its hiring practices and language used on student employee job descriptions and in the training manual to include USD's commitment to anti-racism, Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI), community and social justice.
- Ethical Development and Restorative Practices hosts a monthly book or article (related to DEI) and discusses its connection to work at USD.
- During new student orientation, Torero Circles have been added. These are restorative justice-informed circles offered over the summer months to allow new students the opportunity to express themselves, learn about USD’s commitment to DEI and begin to create a community before arriving at USD.
- Orientation includes a Diversity, Inclusion and Social Justice event, a day-long experience during OLÉ! Weekend which allows students experiential opportunities to practice culturally inclusive changemaking and to learn more about diversity initiatives at the university.
- The United Front Multicultural Center offers Safe Space Ally Training for faculty, staff and students to educate members of the community on LGBTQIA+ matters. For more information, contact the vice president of Student Affairs.
- University Marketing and Communications has helped many units and departments across campus complete webpage audits to determine ways in which USD can create more inclusive websites and marketing materials (for example, gender pronouns inclusivity). For more information, contact the associate vice president of University Marketing and Communications.
- University Ministry (UM) offers a retreat titled "Black Lives are Beloved." The retreat invites students to connect their concern for racial justice to their faith.
- UM celebrates Mass in Spanish one day a week. This builds on the long tradition of signature USD events being offered in Spanish, including the Our Lady of Guadalupe Mass and the Farmworker's Mass.
- UM celebrates the All Faith Service, highlighting the religious diversity in the USD community and emphasizing the university’s institutional commitment to diversity and inclusion. For more information, contact the vice president for Mission Integration.
Areas of Focus