Climate and Culture Survey

Why is TFI conducting a climate assessment?

• The climate at TFI shapes the lives of all of us – clinicians, faculty, staff and students. Understanding deeply the varied experiences of our community is a critical part of continuing to improve how we work towards creating a more inclusive and equitable environment. That is the goal of the TFI Climate & Culture Assessment.  

What happens as a part of the assessment?

• Early this year, we will develop the survey and submit our IRB proposal.
• In April and May 2025, we will administer the survey. 
• This summer, Rankin Climate will conduct data analysis and together we will develop the report.
• Results will be presented in the fall and that will be the start of our action planning so that the lessons we learn throughout the process can be acted upon.

How are the questions developed?

• Rankin Climate, our consultant, developed a repository of tested questions from administering climate assessments at more than 250 organizations across the nation. To assist in contextualizing the survey for TFI, and to capitalize on the many assessment efforts already undertaken, the Climate Study Working Group was formed. The committee is responsible for developing the survey questions. The team will review selected survey questions from the consultant’s tested collection and will also include TFI-specific questions. 

What will be included in the final summary reports? 

• The consultant, Rankin Climate, will provide a final report that will include: an executive summary; a report narrative of the findings based on cross tabulations selected by the consultant; frequencies, percentages, means and standard deviations of quantitative data; and content analysis of the textual data. The reports provide high-level summaries of the findings and will identify themes found in the data. Generalizations for populations are limited to those groups or subgroups with response rates of at least 30%. The committee will review draft reports and provide feedback to the consultant prior to public release. 

What will be done with data from the results? 

• The purpose of conducting the survey is to assess clinicians, faculty, staff and students sense of belonging and culture at The Family Institute at Northwestern University and to identify successes and opportunities for improvement.  
• The findings will serve as a guide when creating the action plan that accounts for the identified opportunities for improvement.  
• Although the committee believes the survey process itself is informative, we have sought and received commitment from the senior leaders that data will be used to plan for an improved climate at TFI.

What is the Institutional Review Board (IRB) process for this study?

• Submitting the survey to the University's Institutional Review Board (IRB) is an important step of the climate and culture study project. There are several benefits to going through this process, even if the survey is considered to be "exempt" or "not human subjects research." Firstly, it provides some assurance to potential participants that their responses to the survey will remain confidential. People who have participated in social science research may recognize and expect that the process has been reviewed by IRB. They may feel more comfortable sharing their confidential information and personal stories. Secondly, going through an IRB review provides some protections to the Principal Investigators (PIs) who will be entrusted with analyzing and managing the data, including both Rankin Climate and the institutional PIs. The expectation is that the data will not be shared with others, as designated in the data security plan. Lastly, an IRB review provides some cache to the study in the eyes of those who conduct research professionally, such as faculty members and scientists.  These individuals understand what an IRB review requires and the protections for the data to which research professionals commit.   

How is a respondent’s confidentiality protected? 

• Confidentiality is vital to the success of campus climate research; particularly as sensitive and personal topics are discussed. While the survey cannot guarantee complete confidentiality because of the nature of multiple demographic questions, the consultant will take multiple precautionary measures to enhance individual confidentiality and the de-identification of data. No data already protected through regulation or policy (e.g., Social Security number, campus identification number, medical information) is obtained through the survey. In the event of any publication or presentation resulting from the assessment, no personally identifiable information will be shared. 
• Confidentiality in participating will be maintained to the highest degree permitted by the technology used (e.g., IP addresses will be stripped when the survey is submitted). The survey is run by RC via Qualtrics, whose servers are protected by high-end firewall systems and scans are performed regularly to ensure that any vulnerabilities are quickly found and patched. Qualtrics uses Transport Layer Security (TLS) encryption (also known as HTTPS) to protect transmitted data. Access to RC surveys is restricted and audited for compliance. In addition, the external consultant (RC) will not report any group data for groups of fewer than five individuals, which may be small enough to compromise confidentiality. Instead, RC will combine the groups to eliminate any potential identifiable demographic information. Additionally, any comments submitted in response to the survey will be separated at the time of submission to the consultant so they are not attributed to any individual demographic characteristics. Identifiable information submitted in qualitative comments will be redacted and the organization will only receive these redacted comments. 

• Information in the introductory section of the survey will describe the manner in which confidentiality will be guaranteed, and additional communication to participants will provide expanded information on the nature of confidentiality, possible threats to confidentiality and procedures developed to ensure de-identification of data. 

What is the response rate goal? 

• The target participation in the survey is all clinicians, faculty, staff, and students at The Family Institute. Every response matters and is valuable in providing the most beneficial feedback and results. 

What is “climate” and why is it important?  

• Climate is defined as current attitudes, behaviors and standards of faculty, staff, administrators, and students, as well as TFI’s environment and policies, which influence the level of respect for individual needs, abilities, and potential.  

Why do some demographic questions contain a very large number of response options?

• It is important in climate research for survey participants to “see” themselves in response choices to prevent “othering” an individual or an individual’s characteristics. Some researchers maintain that assigning someone to the status of “other” is a form of marginalization and should be minimized, particularly in organizational climate research which has an intended purpose of inclusiveness. Along these lines, survey respondents will see a long list of possible choices for many demographic questions. However, it is reasonably impossible to include every possible choice to every question, but the goal is to reduce the number of respondents who must choose “other.” 

Why is this a population survey and not a sample survey?

• The survey will be administered to all clinicians, faculty, staff, and students at The Family Institute at Northwestern University. Climate exists in micro-climates, so creating opportunities to maximize participation is important as well as maximizing opportunities to reach minority populations. Along these lines, the consultant has recommended not using random sampling as we may “miss” particular populations where numbers are very small (e.g., Native American students). Since one goal of the project is inclusiveness and allowing invisible “voices” to be heard, this sampling technique is not used. In addition, randomized stratified sampling is not used because we do not have population data on most identities. For example, TFI collects population data on gender identity and racial identity, but not on disability status or sexual identity. A sample approach could miss many groups. 

What protections are in place for storage of sensitive data, including for future secondary use? 

• Rankin Climate uses a research data security description and protocol, which includes specific information on data encryption, the handling of personally identifiable information, physical security and a protocol for handling unlikely breaches of data security. The data from online participants will be submitted to a secure server hosted by the consultant. All Rankin Climate analysts have CITI (Human Subjects) training and approval and have worked on similar projects for other institutions. 
• The consultant has conducted more than 250 organizational surveys and maintains an aggregate merged database. The data from The Family Institute project will be merged with all other existing climate data stored indefinitely on the consultant’s secure server. No institutional identifiers are included in the full merged data set held by the consultant. The raw unit-level data with institutional identifiers is kept on the server for six months and then destroyed. The consultant will notify the committee chairs of any breach or suspected breach of data security of the consultant’s server. 

Why was an outside consultant used for this project? 

• In reviewing efforts by other organizations to conduct comprehensive culture climate studies, several best practices were identified. One was the need for external expertise in survey administration. The administration of a survey relating to a very sensitive subject like culture and climate is likely to yield higher response rates and provide more credible findings if led by an independent, outside agency. Members of an organization may feel particularly inhibited from responding honestly to a survey administered by their own institution for fear of identification. 

Why did the committee select Rankin Climate as their outside consultant?  

• After a review of potential vendors, the organizational leadership selected Rankin Climate, LLC.  
• Rankin Climate, LLC has been working with universities and organizations for over 20 years and has conducted similar assessments on more than 250 organizations nationwide.  
• Rankin Climate developed and utilizes the Transformational Tapestry model as a research design for climate studies. The model is a “comprehensive, five-phase strategic model of assessment, planning and intervention. The model is designed to assist communities in conducting inclusive assessments of their organizational climate to better understand the challenges facing their respective communities” (Rankin & Reason, 2008). 
• Their process is highly confidential and transparent. No protected data is used in the project.  

Do I have to take the survey?  

• Participation in the survey is completely voluntary. Additionally, participants do not have to answer every question and can skip any questions they consider to be uncomfortable.

How can I get involved?

• When we launch the survey on April 15, 2025, please fill out the survey and encourage your community to do the same! 
• Spread the word and help us ensure that our community is involved in this entire process. 
• Ensuring inclusive and equitable experiences for all members of the community requires us to deeply listen and understand these often disparate experiences. You can help us gather voices!

Who’s on the committee? 

The committee is lead by:  

• Dr. Sara Furr, Vice President of Inclusive Strategies  
  • sfurr@family-institute.org
• Julie Erdmann, HR Project Manager & Analyst 
  • jerdmann@family-institute.org

If you have any questions or would like to learn more, please feel free to reach out directly to Sara or Julie.