Administration

Final notice: Penn State Values & Culture Survey to close Nov. 22

UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. – Students, faculty and staff who have yet to take the Penn State Values & Culture Survey are urged to let their voices be heard before the survey closes at the end of the day on Friday, Nov. 22. The Ethics Resource Center (ERC), the independent, nonprofit organization that is conducting the survey, said nearly 11,000 individuals have completed the survey as of Nov. 18.

(For more information about the survey, visit the FAQ.)

“I want to thank the students, faculty and staff members who have taken the time to complete the survey. If you haven’t had the opportunity to do so yourself, please set aside about 20 minutes and take the survey before the end of this week,” said Regis Becker, director of University Ethics and Compliance. “It is critical that we hear from as many members of the campus community as possible before the survey closes.”

All members of the campus community should have received at least one email from the Ethics Resource Center containing a link to the survey. Final reminder emails will be distributed this week to those who have yet to take the survey. Those who started the survey previously but did not finish are able to revisit the link at any time and pick up where they left off.

The confidential survey, first launched at the end of October, is designed to help University leaders gain a fuller understanding of the priorities and collective values of the people who learn and work at Penn State every day. Results will be used to develop an inclusive statement of shared values for the university community; they also will contribute to a more concise understanding of the values of students, faculty and staff, which in turn will help University leaders to improve ethics and compliance programs.

The ERC is conducting the survey in a manner that protects the identities of all participants; responses will be aggregated and only summary data will be provided back to Penn State, so that no individual within any unit can be identified.

Individuals who experience technical difficulties as they are taking the survey should contact the ERC by sending an email to ethicssurvey@ethics.org or by calling 800-777-1285. The help desk phone line is open from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. on weekdays.

The ERC will deliver an executive summary of the findings in spring of 2014, and Becker said the document will be published at that time.

Recently an invitation was sent out to all current students, staff and faculty to participate in the Penn State Values & Culture Survey. This survey is designed to help University leadership gain a fuller understanding of the values and experiences of the people who learn and work at Penn State every day. The end result will be an inclusive statement of shared values; a better understanding of the community's awareness of University standards of conduct; and a clearer picture of the culture at Penn State when it comes to community members' actual and perceived ability to report wrongdoing without the threat of retaliation. The results will help University leaders to focus ongoing efforts to ensure that Penn State continues to provide an open, ethical environment for learning and work. 

Last Updated November 25, 2013

Contact