The Project Team of the Campus Climate Assessment is nearing completion of a survey instrument to be fielded to all PUC faculty and staff members this spring. Based in large part on themes and issues that arose during the faculty-staff focus groups, the survey instrument will try to provide a snapshot of perceptions of the worklife environment of Purdue University Calumet.

A comprehensive summary of the study’s findings will be presented in public venues following the collating of focus group and survey responses. The Campus Climate Assessment study is being conducted by the ISPR Survey Research Center under the auspices of the PUC Multi-Cultural Campus Council (MCCC).

The Institute for Social and Policy Research was recently awarded a $7,500 grant to support the development of a Support Center for Educational Mentoring as part of a Legacy Foundation funded initiative called the Indiana Expanding Access and Success in Education (EASE).  The purpose of this three-year project is to engage and/or build on current efforts to better understand the barriers faced by disconnected local youth in accessing and completing post-secondary education, and to take steps to improve access and success for these young people.  The target population for this project is young people, between the ages of 14 to 24, who are or have been homeless, in foster care, and/or court-involved. Faculty from Purdue University Calumet, Indiana University Northwest, Ivy Tech Community College, and Calumet College are currently developing a training program for educational mentors. 

Initial piloting of the curriculum will take place in March of 2008 with resources for the support center being procured during that same time period.  The training program will incorporate distance learning technologies that include discussion boards, chat rooms, and other forms of media that have proven effective in training a variety of individuals.

As part of the ongoing Campus Climate Assessment study process, the Institute for Social and Policy Research presented the findings of the Campus Climate Assessment Focus Groups at two meetings convened on December 6, 2007. The presentation of the focus group report represents the completion of the first phase of the year-long assessment process.

Focus group findings will subsequently be used in the design of a campus-wide faculty and staff survey instrument to be fielded during the Spring of 2008.

The Campus Climate Assessment Focus Group summary is now available. Click to download the complete Focus Group Report.

Prevent Child Abuse America (PCA America), National Indian Child Welfare Association (NICWA), and Purdue University Calumet have formed a partnership to improve the understanding of tribal youth victimization and its impact on future juvenile delinquency in order to reduce these experiences in American Indian/Alaska Native communities. It is estimated that 20% of Native children will be at risk for a life of victimization beginning at birth.The Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention (OJJDP) has awarded a $1.5 million grant over three years for these three organizations to make this research possible.  Read the rest of this entry »

With the completion of the final focus group last Thursday, the members of the Campus Climate Assessment project team hunkered down to the task of sifting through hours of taped conversations and reams of handwritten notes. Fifty-odd PUC staff and faculty members from various areas of the university community offered their views during a four-week stint of focus groups which represented the major activity of the first phase of the campus climate study. Read the rest of this entry »