UMD has released the results of last year’s campus climate surveys. The overall trend shows that the majority of students, staff and faculty feel comfortable at UMD.
The overall response rate was 26 percent, with 3,238 participants. Only surveys that were more than 50 percent completed were factored in the final results.
Seventy-six percent of respondents reported feeling “comfortable” or “very comfortable” at UMD, a number that reflects the national average.
In one area for improvement, 18 percent of respondents reported having personally encountered exclusionary, intimidating or hostile contact. Respondents under this category varied in gender, orientation and ethnicity.
For those who felt harassed, 267 offered comments to elaborate. The general themes were reverse discrimination, challenges in the reporting process and dismissal from professors.
Four percent of students reported having experienced unwanted sexual contact. These issues were rarely reported to the University. Reasons given for not reporting varied from belief that nothing would be done or the possibility of unwanted consequences.
