2025 Inclusive Climate Survey FAQs
2025 Inclusive Climate Survey FAQs
Why am I being encouraged to complete the UW Medicine Inclusive Climate Survey?
The results of this survey will be used to guide the work of the OHCE and the work of individual teams, including administrative, clinical, and academic units across UW Medicine as we strive to become a more inclusive organization. To improve, we need to better understand our current environment. Your participation will help provide a more complete picture of how our system is performing in areas that matter to the experiences and needs of everyone in our community.
Check out the Dashboard from 2023. More complete data equals more concrete data to help create change. We often fail to hear from traditionally marginalized individuals whose voices are critical as an organization strives to become more inclusive. Equity is a key part of our work at UW Medicine.
Is the survey required?
No.
Who is invited to take this survey?
All UW Medicine employees hired prior to March 2nd 2025, including faculty, staff, and trainees, will be invited to complete the survey. This includes all employees in the School of Medicine, and across the UW Medicine hospitals and clinics.
When will this survey be available?
The survey will be administered online from June 2nd through June 30th, 2025.
Survey Length and Time
The survey takes 10-15 minutes to complete. You will be able to start and stop the survey if you do not have time to finish in one session. You can choose to skip any questions you do not wish to answer.
What is included in the UW Medicine Inclusive Climate Survey?
The survey is meant to capture UW Medicine’s climate by measuring different aspects of your work experiences and environments. The 2025 survey is the second survey, meaning we will be able to compare our 2025 results to our 2023 inaugural survey results. The survey will focus on how various personal identities shape employee experience while at UW Medicine. It includes questions about leadership, teamwork, professional development opportunities, well-being, and experiences of appreciation and harms. Reviewing the results of this survey will help the Office of Healthcare Equity provide actionable data to entities, departments, and teams to help prioritize areas for improvement.
Why was this survey created? And why now?
At UW Medicine, we are committed to creating a workplace where everyone feels valued, respected, and supported. Your feedback is crucial in helping us achieve this goal. The inaugural survey in 2023 was the first step in a robust improvement cycle involving all UW Medicine employees located at all entities across the system. Your responses helped us take data-driven actions to improve our environment and help guide system-level improvements. Your participation in the 2025 survey will help us continue the journey and allow us to compare results year to year. This survey is just as important now as it was in 2023, if not more.
How will the survey be administered?
The survey will be administered using RedCap, an online survey administration, database and reporting tool by a third-party administrator. The RedCap survey tool is a cloud-based tool for creating and administering online surveys. Data from completed surveys will be stored using the resources of Microsoft’s Access database on a password-protected, encrypted computer system that has limited access and is in a locked office in a controlled facility. Your personally identifiable data associated with the UW Medicine Inclusive Climate Survey will be accessible only to limited ITHS personnel appointed to manage the data during the survey administration period only. After this period ends, all links between the individuals completing the survey and individuals’ identifying information will be destroyed by our 3rd party honest broker.
Are my responses confidential?
Yes, identifiable personal data will not be shared with UW Medicine for any reason. Data released for any approved purpose will always be de-identified by removing any personal identifying information including combinations of demographic, department, or academic rank and aggregated to groups no smaller than ten.
How will we protect confidentiality of the data?
We take your privacy concerns seriously and want you to feel comfortable responding honestly. To create separation between the Office for Healthcare Equity and the raw survey response data, the survey will be administered by the Institute for Translational Health Sciences under a third-party honest broker agreement. The honest broker agreement specified that the ITHS will maintain the confidentiality of participant identifiers and will not release the information to the Office for Healthcare Equity under any circumstances.
In addition, individual-level data will not be shared with anyone. All reports and data on the dashboard will be managed to protect survey participant’s privacy. Specifically, results will only be presented in summary (aggregate) form so that no individual can be identified by an individual’s personal characteristics – we only share results for groups with 5 or more respondents. For groups with 5 or fewer respondents, the responses are suppressed. At no point will Individual-level survey responses be made available.
How to take the Survey
An email invitation from Drs. Tim Dellit and Paula Houston using the email address OHCE@uw.edu will be sent to all eligible individuals on June 2nd, 2025, with a personal link to the online survey. Everyone in the organization will be provided a unique link for the survey via their UW email as well as have access to the QR survey. Periodic email reminders, containing the same personal email link, will be sent to those who have not responded until June 30th, 2025, when the survey closes. The survey can be completed in one session or in multiple sessions using the same link or the QR code provided on survey materials (digital or printed) posted around UW Medicine.
I have a disability that makes it difficult to access the information on this site. Will the survey results be accessible in a different format?
UW Medicine is committed to providing an online environment that is accessible to everyone, including individuals with disabilities. If you cannot access this content or use any features on this site, please email callieh@uw.edu to obtain an alternate format.
Can someone help me complete this survey?
Yes.
Can I take the survey on my smartphone or mobile device?
Yes.
Whom should I contact with questions and concerns?
Please reach out to our Project Manager, Callie Hunter (callieh@uw.edu) with questions.
