A critical empirical examination of the construct of campus climate

College students' experiences with their campus environment, and perceptions of discrimination or a negative climate, influence both their learning and developmental outcomes. Also, research indicates that students experience campus climates differently based upon social group membership. Understanding how students from various social groups experience climate should be important to higher education professionals in designing more effective interventions and removing obstacles to the success of all students. The purpose of this study was to contribute to the literature on the measurement of campus climate by offering an instrument empirically tested with scale development methodology. Several researchers have studied the climate in higher education. This study focuses on one assessment tool that has been used for the last ten years. Building upon the work of Daryl Smith, Sylvia Hurtado and her colleagues, and her own work, Susan Rankin developed the Transformational Tapestry Model (TTM). The model approaches the assessment of climate in an inclusive and comprehensive manner. However, it has not been independently tested following Rankin's initial analysis and the instrument continues to be modified over time, thereby calling into question the psychometric strength of the survey. I used hierarchical factor analysis on a dataset constructed based on responses from students at 23 institutions to determine the structure of the latent constructs of climate represented by the instrument. The resulting Perceptions of Climate Instrument (PCI) consists of 14 lower-level factors and three second-level factors (Perceptions of Climate for Members of Underrepresented Groups, Perceptions of an Actively Welcoming Institution, and Perceptions of Visible Leadership). I also provide evidence for the existence of the overarching construct of Perceptions of Climate. I examined the reliability and validity of the resulting scale scores. Full implications are presented, including a discussion of elements of the climate that were eliminated from the analysis and suggestions for how the PCI can be used by institutions to examine their climate and identify areas for improvement, so that students can get the most out of their college education and continue on to be positive and effective citizens in our increasingly complicated and diverse world.