The purpose of the Campus Climate Initiative (CCI) is to improve the university’s preparation for and consistency in addressing major events and incidents while maintaining our campuses as safe, respectful and inclusive spaces.
The Initiative delivers a systemwide framework that reflects common standards for enforcing institutional policies and federal and state laws and individual campus climate action plans that reflect efforts to ensure consistent enforcement.
The CCI has three components:
- A systemwide framework built on existing and enhanced UC policies that enables campuses to assess their current strengths and weaknesses and develop plans based on common standards. The framework enables campuses to assess their current processes, policies and roles/responsibilities in the following domains:
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- Major Events and Policy: Policy and Governance, Safety and Codes of Conduct (students, faculty, staff), Communication and Engagement
- Big Picture Climate and Inclusion Capability: Campus Climate Assessment and Community Building, DEI (diversity, equity and inclusion) Learning, Affirming Diverse Groups
The framework takes the form of a self-assessment tool that allows campuses to assess their current compliance with institutional policies and state and federal law and to identify those who are responsible for implementing campus actions and fostering positive campus climate. Campuses will receive feedback from national experts on their assessments in the form of reports, and will then work to design campus plans, including roles/responsibilities, that reflect the standards of the systemwide framework.
- Support for campuses to develop campus climate action plans that are based on the systemwide framework, are consistent across campuses, and are validated by national experts. These plans detail how campuses will manage major events and incidents while fostering free expression and maintaining safe, respectful and inclusive campus communities.
- Strategy sessions and coaching throughout the academic year to ensure plans are operational, to address challenges that emerge from on-the-ground situations, and to identify best practices for implementation.
For the 2024-25 academic year, UCOP has partnered with the Center for Strategic Diversity Initiatives and Social Innovation to develop the framework, provide feedback, support and coaching to campuses, and help campuses implement their plans. Beyond 2024-25, UCOP will ask campuses to report annually on the effectiveness of their plans in managing major events and incidents and fostering positive campus climate.
The Initiative responds to SB 108, which requires UC to “develop a systemwide framework to provide for consistency with campus implementation and enforcement…and to report on any and all efforts to ensure consistent enforcement of institutional policies, and state and federal law, that protect safety and access to educational opportunities and campus spaces and buildings.” The deliverables of the Campus Climate Initiative – a systemwide framework and campus climate action plans – respond to these requirements of SB 108.
