Those conversations helped form the Principles of Community, a set of guidelines, not a policy, that reflect the University’s core values and exemplify "what we aspire to be." President Joseph I. Castro presented the final draft to faculty and staff at the Spring Assembly on Jan. 16.

“How we engage in our work to boldly educate and empower student success is powerfully shaped by you,” President Castro said during his speech. “Strong, collaborative working relationships are vital to our individual and collective success.”

Discussions about the campus work environment started in September 2017 after a workplace quality survey of employees identified “how we treat each other” as the area most needing improvement.

The Workplace Quality Task Force was charged with defining the desired behaviors, practices and conditions for success on campus including a document with those principles.

Principles of Community is not unique or new. Other universities like Northwestern; California State University, Bakersfield; CSU San Marcos; University of California, Merced; and Minnesota State University, have similar guidelines. The task force reviewed dozens of examples.

“Over the past three decades, numerous institutions of higher education throughout the United States have adopted a variety of similarly-called ‘Principles of Community,’ and they overwhelmingly, if not unanimously, have been aspirational documents that flesh out the institution’s stated core values, embody the organizational culture, and reflect the ideals sought to be upheld,” said Dr. Matthew Jendian, a task force member, professor and chair of the Department of Sociology.

The task force conducted campus meetings and forums to ask for input. Thirty-one groups met between November 2017 and October 2018. Participants were polled in those meetings about the kinds of behaviors they expected of each other. Nearly 2,500 responses were collected via text polling showing that people desired equity, civility, trust, kindness, respect, empathy, honesty, integrity and more.

Between August and October 2018, another 19 focus groups (656) people took a deeper look at these behaviors and to flesh out what they should look like.

Four principles were identified: respect, kindness, collaboration and accountability.

“The Principles were developed by faculty and staff with about as much consultation with everyone at the University as possible,” said Dr. Tom Holyoke, chair of Academic Senate and professor, Department of Political Science. “Indeed, I really can’t think of what more we could have done to get them in front of faculty and staff for feedback. As such, they go a long way toward showing the world the kind of institution we want Fresno State to be, one where everyone respects each other and where freedom of speech is valued.”

He added, “For anybody who thinks this document curtails their freedom of speech, I remind them that these are guidelines, not policies. It is an aspirational document, not something that can be used to prosecute anyone. They are meant to help, and I hope everyone accepts them in that spirit.”

The goal is to build these principles into the day-to-day practices at Fresno State including at faculty and staff orientations, workshops, lectures, on-campus celebrations and recruiting. The Workplace Quality Task Force is working on how to implement the principles.

“These principles reflect our core values of Discovery, Diversity and Distinction as well as our deep commitment to our mission to boldly educate and empower students for success,” Castro said at the assembly. “Now that we have these agreed-upon principles, embedding them into our workplace climate will be a journey.”

For more information, visit Principles of Community.