Message to Campus Regarding Results of The Lehigh Survey

Dear Members of the Campus Community,

This fall Lehigh students, faculty and staff expressed their views on their experiences as members of our campus community through the Lehigh Survey.  The response rate to the Lehigh Survey was 41.8%.

We want to thank all who participated in the survey. The time you invested is appreciated and will make Lehigh a better university.

The survey was conducted as part of an agreement with the U.S. Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights (OCR) and will provide us a better understanding of our campus climate and where we must focus to create a more diverse and inclusive environment.

We have now received the results of the survey. A preliminary look at the results shows there are areas which together we must address, though we will be doing much more thorough analysis in the weeks ahead.

We wanted you to be aware of the next steps:

• On December 21, Lehigh will provide a report on the survey results to OCR. This is in keeping with the September 2014 Voluntary Resolution Agreement between Lehigh and OCR as a result of an earlier Title VI complaint.
• Survey results will also be delivered to the University’s Council for Equity and Community (CEC), a group of about 35 staff, faculty and students taking a leadership role in cultivating and maintaining a welcoming and inclusive environment here at Lehigh.
• Throughout the month of January, the CEC members will be devoting a significant amount of time developing a series of recommendations based upon the survey results. These action steps will be shared with OCR by January 29.
• We will share the survey results and the CEC recommendations with the campus following submission of both to OCR.
• By March 15, a progress report on implementation of these action steps will be provided to OCR, and will be shared with the campus.
• We will hold a series of open meetings this spring to discuss the survey findings and CEC recommendations, with the goal of implementing the plan of action.

We are hopeful the wealth of information the survey provides will accelerate and amplify our work on the campus climate, and spur more students, faculty and staff to engage in this effort. Many people on campus are already working to make Lehigh a more inclusive and welcoming community, and that important work must continue.

Sincerely,

John D. Simon
President

Patrick V. Farrell
Provost and Vice President, Academic Affairs