University faculty and staff members are getting an opportunity to suggest how to make Penn State a better place to work.
A confidential questionnaire, in both Web and printed versions, will explore attitudes about Penn State, perceptions of workplace practices, and University values that should be rewarded more.
On Jan. 21, all full-time faculty and staff will receive an e-mail from Perseus Development Corp. Research Services requesting their participation in the 2004 Faculty/Staff Survey. The e-mail will contain a message from President Graham B. Spanier regarding the importance of the survey and a URL link to the questionnaire, which can be completed in 20 minutes.
Employees are asked to complete the questionnaire by Jan. 30. Those who do not respond by that date will receive a printed version through campus mail.
"All of us — faculty, staff and administrators — want to build on the level of excellence that Penn State has achieved and make the University an even higher quality institution," Spanier said. "This confidential survey will help us discover what all of Penn State's employees think about the University as a place to work."
Executive Vice President and Provost Rodney Erickson said the purpose of the survey is to identify University practices that might be improved as well as strengths that should be reinforced. He said the survey results will be compared with prior data collected in 1996 and 2000 to monitor progress and to prioritize future efforts to enhance the University and improve our workplace.
The 2004 Faculty/Staff Survey is being administered by Penn State's Survey Research Center in the Social Sciences Research Institute. Commissioned by the Office of the President, it is being coordinated by the Office of Human Resources in collaboration with the Office of Planning and Institutional Assessment.
Billie Willits, associate vice president for Human Resources, said faculty and staff members will be able to access a University-wide summary of the survey results on the Web and in Penn State Intercom in late Spring 2004.