While the world puzzles over global warming, universities worry about just the opposite ­ chilly climates.

    York's Institute for Social Research (ISR) says a number of things can contribute to a university's climate. Good or bad relationships between faculty and students are one factor.

    An indicator of "chilly climate" is the extent to which students feel they can get support from faculty members. Campus climates are often chilly, especially for female students, notes ISR's "York Student Experience Study" report.

    ISR examined several aspects of the chilly climate thesis as it applied to York on the basis of information collected from 761 York students. All 761 students entered the faculties of Arts, Pure and Applied Science, Fine Arts, the Schulich School of Business (SSB), Glendon College and Environmental Studies in 1994.

    Students were asked to respond to the statement: If I have a problem, I know there is at least one faculty member to whom I can turn for help. Participants' self-scoring ranged from 1 (strongly disagree) to 5 (strongly agree), or they could respond 'don't know'.

    The same students were asked the question in end-of-year surveys in 1995, 1996 and 1997. Across the three surveys, the average score on the questions measuring faculty support was 3.33. This suggests York offers neither a chilly nor a warm climate, and is likely similar to other universities in this regard, according to ISR.

    However, there were gender differences in responses. Over a three-year period, female students were slightly more likely than male students to feel that if they had a problem there was a faculty member to turn to for help. Interestingly, there were greater differences based on faculty or college affiliation, as opposed to gender. Students at Glendon College (high score of 3.77) were more likely to feel they could obtain support than were SSB grads (low score of 2.90).

    Researchers conclude that the data on at least one climatic indicator suggest York is neither warm, nor chilly, and that the climate appears slightly warmer for females than males, and considerably warmer in some faculties than in others.