Office of the President

Employee Climate Survey Committee

Executive Memorandum EM 21-017 May 3, 2021

From: Gayle E. Hutchinson, President

Subject: Employee Climate Survey Committee

Upon the recommendation of the Academic Senate and the concurrence of the Provost, I approve the Employee Climate Survey Committee, effective immediately.

Employee Climate Survey Committee

PURPOSE

This policy establishes a permanent committee to oversee university-wide employee climate surveys of faculty, staff, and administrators.

SCOPE

This executive memorandum defines a permanent Employee Climate Survey Committee policy for overseeing the design, administration, and communication of the results of university-wide campus climate surveys of faculty, staff, and administrators. This policy applies to the Employee Climate Survey Committee and to Institutional Research.

MISSION

The objective of conducting university-wide employee climate surveys is to provide the university with quantitative and qualitative data on the views of faculty, staff, and administrators regarding the campus climate at California State University, Chico. Campus climate here is defined to include, but not be limited to: job satisfaction, professional growth opportunities, support for teaching and research, leadership (at all levels), the advancement of university strategic planning priories (e.g. equity, inclusion, diversity, and the teacher/scholar model), as well as the implementation of, or response to, various policies, procedures, and/or campus activities.

CYCLE OF DELIVERY

The Employee Climate Survey Committee shall conduct a university-wide employee climate survey at least once every three years. The Employee Climate Survey Committee may conduct more frequent employee climate surveys in consultation with the President and Academic Senate Executive Committee.

STRUCTURE

Membership

Given the importance of neutrality, objectivity, and reflexivity in the surveys and the conduct of the university-wide Employee Climate Survey Committee, the overall composition of the Employee Climate Survey Committee should reflect the diversity of the campus community with regards to racial/ethnic group membership, first generation status, and gender identity. In addition, the Employee Climate Survey Committee shall be composed of:

  • Two voting faculty members appointed by the Chair of the Academic Senate.
  • Two voting staff members (non-MPP) appointed by the Staff Council.
  • Two voting members appointed by the University Diversity Council.
  • Two voting administrators (MPP) appointed by the President or President’s designee while recognizing the critical need for protecting respondents regardless of the issues being surveyed.
  • One voting student employee member appointed by Student Academic Senate.
  • Up to three non-voting faculty, staff, or administrators to ensure at least three members of Employee Climate Survey Committee have expertise in survey design as well as quantitative and/or qualitative survey methodology. These non-voting members shall be nominated by the President and approved by the Academic Senate Executive Committee with an emphasis on equal representation.

 Terms

Appointed members shall serve three-year staggered terms with the ability to serve consecutive terms. Initial appointments to the committee shall be made with some members receiving shortened terms such that staggering may be accomplished for subsequent terms.

Should any voting member of the Employee Climate Survey Committee withdraw before their term is completed, a replacement shall be appointed by the appointers designated in Membership, to serve out    the remainder of the term; after which they shall either be replaced or reappointed with the ability to serve consecutive terms.

PROCEDURES

The Employee Climate Survey Committee reports to the President and Academic Senate Executive Committee.

The Employee Climate Survey Committee shall meet at least once per semester or more frequently as needed.

The Chair will be annually elected by the voting members of the Employee Climate Survey Committee.

Developing the survey instrument

As with student course evaluations, each university-wide employee climate survey conducted by the Employee Climate Survey Committee shall be comprised of two parts: 1) a set of core quantitative and qualitative questions that do not (or rarely) vary across surveys, and 2) a set of additional quantitative or qualitative questions that are expected to change from survey to survey in order to assess contemporary campus climate issues unaddressed by the core quantitative or qualitative questions.

Understanding the importance of comparability across surveys, upon its formation the Employee Climate Survey Committee shall use, and as necessary, revise the set of questions from the previously administered employee climate survey. The Employee Climate Survey Committee may design and include other questions deemed essential to the survey’s mission. Given the importance of neutrality and objectivity in the conduct of university-wide employee climate surveys, approval of any action to alter the employee climate survey (e.g., inclusion of additional survey items or removal of previously approved questions) shall require affirmative support of a two-thirds majority of the voting members.

The Employee Climate Survey Committee shall consult periodically with the President, Academic Senate Chair, and President’s Chief of Staff to obtain feedback - on the instrument design.

The Employee Climate Survey Committee shall present its final proposed set of questions to the Academic Senate for approval. If rejected, or if revisions are requested, the Employee Climate Survey Committee shall revise its proposal and re-present it to the Academic Senate for approval. Once approved by the Academic Senate, the questions shall then be included in all future university-wide employee climate surveys conducted by the Employee Climate Survey Committee.

Conducting the survey

The target population of the Employee Climate Survey shall be the campus staff, faculty, student employees, and administrators.

The Employee Climate Survey Committee shall collaborate with Institutional Research to deploy university-wide employee climate surveys and to collect responses. Institutional Research shall securely store the response data from all university-wide employee climate surveys conducted by the Employee Climate Survey Committee. 

Institutional Research shall support the Employee Climate Survey Committee with secure access to the qualitative survey responses. Qualitative survey responses shall only be accessible to members of the Employee Climate Survey Committee and required technical staff or administrators at Institutional Research. Qualitative survey response data shall not be stored outside of Institutional Research data management systems.

Analysis of findings

At all times the Employee Climate Survey Committee should be guided by the twin goals of conducting high-quality, useful university-wide employee climate surveys and the neutral and objective reporting of survey results. The Employee Climate Survey Committee should avoid interpretation of survey results that expounds beyond noting general trends or recurrent themes in the data.

Institutional Research shall provide the Employee Climate Survey Committee with summary statistics for the quantitative survey responses: The sample size (number of responses), mean, mode, standard error, and 95% confidence intervals. Template language for reporting shall include a descriptor such as, “There exists a 95% level of confidence that the true score lies somewhere between the upper and lower confidence brackets, as indicated for each question.”

The Employee Climate Survey Committee, in partnership with Institutional Research, shall analyze all qualitative survey responses. Members of the Employee Climate Survey Committee and Institutional Research shall keep qualitative survey responses confidential, discussing them only within their respective units. Following the best practices of de-identifying and reporting qualitative survey responses (see Appendix A), the Employee Climate Survey Committee and Institutional Research shall only report general trends in, or themes of, qualitative survey responses. Qualitative survey results are not to be provided to MPP staff administrators (regardless of whether they are members of the committee) until deidentification of the data has been completed.

The Employee Climate Survey Committee shall consult periodically with the President, Academic Senate Chair, and President’s Chief of Staff to keep them apprised of progress and data trends.

Reporting of findings

Within one academic semester of conducting a university-wide employee climate survey, the Employee Climate Survey Committee shall present and deliver a written report of the campus climate to the Academic Senate and Office of the President. Employee Climate Survey Committee reports shall include summaries of both quantitative and qualitative survey results. Employee Climate Survey Committee reports shall be made available to the broader university community through Institutional Research’s website.

Upon request by academic, staff, or administrative units, Institutional Research shall provide unit-level summary statistics (as specified above) for the quantitative survey responses to recent and/or past employee climate surveys.

Upon request by faculty, staff, or administrative units, the Employee Climate Survey Committee and Institutional Research shall, if possible, provide unit-level summaries of qualitative survey response trends to recent and/or past employee climate surveys following the best practices of de-identifying and reporting qualitative survey responses (see Appendix A).

If it is not possible to provide a unit-level summary of qualitative survey responses, the Employee Climate Survey Committee shall provide an explanation based on best practices of de-identifying and  reporting qualitative survey responses (see Appendix A)

APPENDIX A

https://www.csuchico.edu/ir/assessment/campus-climate.shtml

To view a pdf version of EM 21-017 (PDF).