Help Shape the Future of Chico State

In spring 2024, Chico State partnered with the company ModernThink to survey employees and establish baseline results in order to better understand the day-to-day experience of faculty and staff. After receiving results in summer 2024, the University shared findings and selected key focus areas for improvement. Working groups are assembling in 2025 to determine actions and set improvement goals and success metrics.

Why is Chico State conducting the survey?

Chico State is committed to continuing to improve employees' experience/engagement at work and enhancing their sense of belonging and connection. ModernThink’s data offers valuable context by allowing us to compare Chico State’s faculty and staff experiences to similar institutions. Additionally, our partnership with ModernThink provides access to insights from experts who conduct these surveys at hundreds of colleges and universities nationwide.

Cultivating Change

University-level and divisional working groups will work in the spring 2025 semester to develop plans to improve their areas of focus. The core team will report on the groups’ progress throughout the semester.

Areas of University Focus
The Employee Engagement Core Committee has identified five areas of focus for the next 18 months.
Supervisor/Department Chair Effectiveness
Mission & Pride
Performance Management
Confidence in Senior Leadership
Onboarding
Divisional Areas of Focus
Academic Affairs – Communication, Onboarding, and Professional Management
Business and Finance – Communication, Performance Management, Recognition
Information Technology – Performance Management, Collaboration, Professional Development, Communication, Confidence in Senior Leadership
Student Affairs – Communication, Professional Development, Confidence in Senior Leadership
University Advancement - Onboarding, Recognition, Communication, Mission and Pride

President Steve Perez talks to attendees

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It is critical to have the active participation of the entire community to help create a positive work culture that will allow our students, staff, and faculty to thrive.

President Steve Perez

Outcomes

Holding regular President’s Office Hours, Provost’s Office Hours, and other opportunities for 1:1 engagement and direct access to leadership that are open to the entire campus community.
President’s Office and Provost are offering informal bring-your-own lunches that bring small groups together to share ideas, build relationships, and strengthen community and collaboration.
Holding University and division-level town halls to create opportunities to provide updates and answer questions directly from the campus community while building a shared sense of purpose and maintaining open dialogue.
Launched new budget initiative webpage, held University Budget Forums, and opened University Budget Committee meetings to build budget transparency and campus engagement.
The Provost launched the Academic Affairs Budget Council to increase transparency and consultation for the Academic Affairs budget process.
Inviting Faculty and Staff Associations to Cabinet meetings to strengthen communication and elevate diverse perspectives.
Hosting University Leadership meetings to share key updates and cascade communication.
Introduced division-specific newsletters to highlight successes and share timely updates.
Enhanced focus on Cabinet prioritizing and attending meetings and events across all levels of campus, as well as expanding partnerships with campus and community organizations to enhance belonging.
Cabinet held a retreat focused on Conflict Studies and added Confidence in Senior Leadership as a recurring action item at Cabinet meetings. Have made discussion of workgroups recommendations a regular item in the Cabinet meeting agenda.

Continue to build a stronger sense of school spirit through initiatives including Wildcat Wednesdays (a partnership with downtown businesses), and Spirit Fridays, which encourage the wearing of Chico State apparel on campus and in the greater community in exchange for discounts to enhance visibility and Wildcat pride.
Created more spirit and attendance around Athletics events through Fanatics games and Wildcat Tailgate events to build community and pride.
Launched a new fall welcome reception to kick off each academic year.
Reinforced institutional commitment to equity through efforts toward the Seal of Excelencia and designations including Asian American and Native American Pacific Islander-Serving Institution (AANAPISI).
Student Affairs began new opportunities to build community and connection with its Strides with Pride walking contest, lunchtime Pickleball competition, and serving popcorn outside its office on Wednesdays.
Addressing the campus sense of safety and belonging through:
- Safe Zone trainings
- Immigration resource workshops
- Hillel Campus Climate Initiative

Held conflict resolution trainings at multiple levels across campus.
Increased campuswide training opportunities and launched a performance evaluation dashboard that provides a visual overview of upcoming evaluations.
Updated the MPP evaluation form to better support administrators and reflect the expectations of campus leadership.
Leaders in the Division of Information Technology have partnered with staff to develop individualized plans that identify career aspirations, assess current skills, and establish targeted goals for growth.
Faculty Affairs transitioned faculty retention, tenure, and promotion (RTP) and lecturer evaluations to the Interfolio platform—a comprehensive system that enables faculty to submit evaluation materials, conduct reviews, and receive automated deadline notifications in one centralized location. Twenty training sessions and open labs were offered to provide support for use of this platform.
Faculty Development and Faculty Affairs led an RTP workshop for first-year tenure-track faculty. This workshop was designed to help new faculty thoughtfully plan for upcoming evaluations and reduce stress throughout the review process.
Divisional recognition of work anniversaries and celebrating person/team achievements.
The Division of IT is launching an Emerging Leaders Program where staff are able to participate in customized training provided by EAB that supports career progression and succession planning efforts.

Launched the Foundations and Futures Mentorship Program designed to focus on growth, collaboration, and connection through meaningful staff mentorship relationships.
Implemented a University-wide onboarding modules that include outlining the Chico State Playbook, the structure of the boarder CSU system, and institutional priorities.
Faculty Development launched a summer pre-orientation virtual session for incoming tenure-track faculty to answer questions and share information about campus, community, and life in Chico.
New faculty mentoring program continues to collaborate with college-based mentors to plan events and develop resource guides that enhance mentorship and connection with early career faculty.
In partnership with Lecturers Council, Faculty Affairs and Faculty Development, created a Lecturer Faculty FAQ to provide clear, accessible information on appointments, evaluations, compensation, professional development, and other key topics supporting Chico State’s lecturer faculty.
Developed bilingual forms for benefits enrollment.
Introduced check-in emails at 30-day, 3-month, 6-month, and 1-year marks for new employees.

Expanded MPP training opportunities to include topics like:
- Performance Management
- Classification/Compensation
- Managing Leaves & Accommodations
- Implementing Progressive Discipline
- Supervising in a Union Environment
- New Hire Onboarding
Enhanced campus trainings to include offerings including:
- Basic Conflict Resolution Training for teams
- Conflict Competence: Resolution & Transformation
- Advance Conflict Competence Training for Practitioners
- Principles of Supervision
Student Affairs developed and distributed a new budget worksheet, providing training and templates for director-level employees.
Faculty Development successfully hosted a comprehensive Chair Orientation for new department chairs, designed to strengthen leadership effectiveness across academic departments.

Survey Reports

Following the survey, ModernThink provided the University with the following reports: Executive Summary, Overview of Reports, 10 Dimensions – scorecard, Respondent Profile Report, Expect to Stay and Reasons to Leave Report, and Scorecard by Job Category and Benchmarks.

These reports are only viewable by staff, faculty, and student employees. You need a Chico State login to access the reports.

Access Survey Reports