A confidential campus climate survey at Meredith College has cracked open months of simmering frustration, with students, faculty and staff sounding off about housing conditions, staffing and pay. Nearly half of respondents said they had seriously considered leaving the college. The feedback, collected last year by an outside consultant, describes chronic maintenance problems, sagging morale and heavier workloads after staff cuts, and it has helped reignite demonstrations and renewed calls for a clear timeline on repairs and pay adjustments.
How the survey was conducted
Meredith brought in consulting firm Rankin Climate to run a campus engagement and well-being survey last year, according to Meredith College. The college pitched the effort as a confidential way to gather unfiltered feedback and said the results would be used to set priorities for housing upgrades, staffing levels and student support.
What the report found
The Rankin Climate report, which drew responses from nearly 750 students, faculty and staff, pointed to widespread dissatisfaction on campus, with close to half of all respondents saying they had seriously thought about leaving, as reported by ABC11. Three themes kept surfacing in the data: pay that respondents saw as inadequate, feeling overworked and anxiety about the college’s financial health. Among staff, 94 percent said salaries were not competitive, and 59 percent reported that their workloads had grown after colleagues departed.
Student complaints and campus conditions
Students who spoke with reporters shared photos of water damage, cracked walls and pests in residence halls, and said maintenance requests and reports from resident assistants often went unanswered or did not lead to fixes. Those complaints helped fuel a November rally where roughly 100 students, faculty and alumnae gathered to demand transparency from leadership and basic, sanitary housing conditions, as documented by WRAL.
Administration response and planned fixes
President Aimee Sapp told reporters that the college is “building for the future with a clear, long-term plan” and said Meredith has started an effort to renovate and modernize student housing, with national consultants expected to work directly with students this spring. She also pointed to recent recruitment and fundraising numbers as a sign that the school can invest in long-needed upgrades, noting that applications are up nearly 20 percent, enrollment deposits are up 54 percent and year-end giving has climbed more than 25 percent, according to ABC11.
Where this fits in the bigger picture
Higher education observers say deferred maintenance and tight budgets are a familiar one-two punch for tuition-dependent private colleges, where slipping enrollment can trigger cuts that make the student experience even tougher, per reporting from Inside Higher Ed. In Meredith’s case, local coverage has indicated the college was staring down a projected budget gap that led to workforce reductions last summer and a roughly 1.8 million dollar shortfall before restructuring, according to INDY Week.
What’s next for students and the college…