February 18, 2010
Q Center seeks opinions on sexual orientation issues campuswide
Have you ever felt physically or emotionally threatened at the UW because of your sexual orientation or gender status? It’s the sort of thing the Q Center is looking to learn with a new campuswide survey.
The Q Center, opened in 2005 and located at 450 Schmitz, is the UW’s resource for the campus gay, lesbian, bisexual, two-spirit, trans, intersex and questioning community, and their allies. The center is now trying to get its survey out to as many people on campus as possible.
“A lot of the questions are about physical safety on campus — how physically safe people feel, especially regarding perceived or out sexual orientations and gender experience,” said Jennifer Self, the center’s interim director.
The survey, which takes five to 10 minutes to complete, was designed by Sile Grace, a graduate student who is earning her master’s degree in social work and who volunteers at the Q Center.
Grace said that while the center is popular with students, she noticed that “the numbers of faculty and staff coming in were low. I started thinking about what services might be helpful for the Q Center to provide to engage the faculty and staff in the social change work that happens at the center.
“First, I needed to know what queer faculty and staff are experiencing on campus, in their jobs, in their departments. I wanted to know what homo/transphobia looks like at the University for those employed here.”
The survey is located online here.
The survey was just begun last week and will run for about a month.
For more information about the Q Center, its programs and resources for faculty, staff and students, visit online here.
