De Anza College’s most recent campus climate survey results show that 28% of employee respondents feel that the college makes decisions transparently and 38% of employee respondents feel they can freely criticize the college without retaliation.

For faculty, those figures dip to 19% and 32% respectively.

The 59-question survey voluntary survey, which the college conducted last spring quarter, covered both students and employees. This was the first climate survey the college had conducted since 2014. 

The De Anza Academic Senate announced the survey’s results at its Oct. 20 meeting, where Academic Senate President Erik Woodbury called the survey’s results below %25 “beyond a failing grade.”

“This can be a useful tool for where we want to effect change to make ourselves happier with our campus climate,” Woodbury said. “When I see something below 25% is how a particular group feels, I’m like, ‘Okay, how do we definitely make that better?’”

Director of Institutional Research, Planning and Accreditation Mallory Newell said over 900 employees worked for De Anza last spring quarter. Less than one in four employees took the survey –similar to 2014 results, where around 20% of more than 1,000 employees responded to the survey. 

Newell said the college will conduct its next climate survey in 2027.

The numbers still raised concerns from employees, including one classified professional from Admissions and Records who asked not to be identified  for fear of retaliation.

“If someone (from administration) promises me something, I don’t take it,” the classified professional said. “I don’t trust that they’re going to keep their word.”

The classified professional also said they feel De Anza has a culture of favoritism and that promotions are based on workplace politics, not merit or job knowledge. 

“If I were the president, I would start with my supervisors and my deans,” the classified professional said. “‘What do they know about their program?’ That’s the first thing I want to know.”

A full-time faculty member from the Biological, Health and Environmental Sciences Division, who also asked to remain anonymous, agreed with the classified professional.

“I’ve seen relationships turn sour because of feedback which makes our job more difficult,” the full-time faculty member said.

They went on to say that the hiring process for part-time faculty and budgeting matters are also decisions that need more transparency.

“We’ve (them and their coworkers) seen faculty feel unsafe in their work environment and when it was reported, the situation was not handled carefully,” they said.

However, part-time communications professor Patrick McDonnell expressed skepticism that the survey results accurately represent the whole campus climate as only a minority of employees took the survey. 

McDonnell also criticized the survey for being too broad in its questioning, saying it relied too heavily on perception, rather than reality.

“Asking people how they feel or asking people how they perceive something is just a very ambiguous and abstract concept,” McDonnell said. “It’s just not going to give you rich, detailed information.”

Vice President of Instruction Ram Subramaniam, who took the position in spring quarter, said the results laid the groundwork for changes to be made. 

“We need to create inclusive spaces and we need to also really listen to all the constituents and make sure that decisions that are being made are clear,” Subramaniam said. “There should be really no surprise in sort of any decision that gets rolled out.”

Of the survey’s 347 student respondents, 91% their instructor respects them, and 83% said they feel respected by other students.

“I am optimistic about the new executive team we’ve assembled at the college,” President Omar Torres wrote in an emailed statement to La Voz  “I am committed to ensuring that we engage in transparent, inclusive dialogue to elevate the voices of our students, faculty, staff, and administrators as we plan for the future of our college.”

Chancellor Lee Lambert told La Voz he could only meet and comment after the publication of this article. 

“I’m a big believer that we can always do something better,” Subramaniam said.