Survey: About half of non-whites feel welcome at CLC
About half of the non-white Central Lakes College students feel students at the college welcome them.
This was one of the findings in a climate survey conducted by CLC. A total of 544 students participated in the 30-question survey last spring.
Wendy Schluender, CLC vice president of student affairs, said the results of the survey were not surprising. However, she was concerned that so many students answered the questions with no opinion one way or the other.
She said this made it difficult for the college to determine the real campus climate. The college will conduct another survey this spring and will not have neutral as an option for a response.
Nine percent of the students of color did not agree that CLC faculty and staff were welcoming to them and 63 percent agreed that they were welcoming. The remaining students were neutral.
About 20 percent of the students surveyed said they have been in a situation where a student or faculty member embarrassed, patronized or treated them negatively because of their race or ethic origin. About 23 percent of the students of color said they would not feel comfortable reporting racial harassment or discrimination to the appropriate authority.
The survey results on whether the college provides adequate programs and services to promote the success of students of color did not surprise Schluender. Students have said the college needs to do more to promote and provide diversity programs and services. Twenty-nine percent of the non-white students did not believe the college provides adequate programs to promote their success.
Only 17 percent of the non-white students felt racism is a problem at the college. Half of the students of color felt safe on campus, 9 percent did not feel safe and the remaining students were neutral.
Six percent of the students of color felt that instructors did not treat students' diverse backgrounds with equal respect, 57 percent thought instructors were equal and the remaining students were neutral.