University of Denver
PA-13: Assessing Employee Satisfaction

Over two weeks in May 2018, 1,650 employees — 54 percent — of faculty, staff and administration completed the University’s first comprehensive employee engagement survey. This level of participation is comparable to pilot-year surveys across higher education, and ensures a healthy baseline for the data. In the years to come, we will seek to improve both the scores and the participation rate — until we excel in every category and every voice is heard.

Working with our survey partner ModernThink, LLC, the survey included 60 statements across 17 specific "dimensions" of employment at the University.

Many of the questions were standardized, to enable comparison with other institutions of higher education. Others were unique to DU, to allow us to address specific standards we have set. An additional set of 28 questions assessed satisfaction with the benefits DU offers to employees.Team Manager Diagnosis process involves interviewing staff/faculty in specific units to help teams and leadership function more effectively. A summary report of findings with recommendations is delivered to leadership in the Unit. Secondly, we have the Climate Assessment Survey tool. It contains 25 items with 4 open ended questions. Dimensions measured include: Autonomy/Control, Development/Well-being, Team Effectiveness and Leadership.

In May 2019, the University launched a new Community and Values Initiative, to help facilitate a stronger and wider sense of community on campus — or “Community with a capital C” as Chancellor Emeritus Rebecca Chopp called it. While the initiative grows out of the OneDU initiative of DU IMPACT 2025, it also is a proactive response to the survey findings, which showed the need to improve overall communication, collaboration, and relationships among faculty, staff and administration.

In addition, Human Resources and Inclusive Community (HRIC) has responded to the survey with a host of new initiatives and programs. For example, in response to concerns about transparency in the performance-review process, they have expanded onboarding and training for new managers. They also are rolling out a new performance-management system that will streamline the review process and increase transparency with analytics that will help managers and others make data-driven decisions.

In response to concerns around compensation, DU has initiated a pay equity study to determine whether there are systemic inequities impacting our non-union benefited faculty and staff salaries, based on gender or other underrepresented minority status. The study, along with a compensation road map to explain DU’s compensation strategy, is being done in coordination with Faculty Senate and the Staff Advisory Council (SAC).

Also, to learn more about faculty sentiment specifically, the Provost’s Office and Faculty Senate recently collaborated to conduct DU’s first COACHE Survey — through the Harvard-based Collaborative on Academic Careers in Higher Education. These results focus on the work lives of faculty and provide actionable data to support academic administrators.

HRIC also has introduced a new Equity in Action Project to support new families. The project includes a new mothers/parents group, lactation refrigerators that an employee can borrow for her office, a map of private spaces on campus for nursing, and a new paid benefit from Milk Stork, which ships breast milk anywhere in the world for faculty and staff who are traveling for business.

Finally, in another important step to be more responsive to employees, Shared Services now offers a “pop up” service center every Friday in the Anderson Academic Commons. To improve customer service and increase face time with employees, staff members offer assistance (in English and Spanish) on timecards, expense reports, benefits, P-Cards and other day-to-day needs of DU employees. The Shared Services website navigation has been re-organized by customer type — including employees, business officers, job seekers and vendors — and a more specific search function makes it easier for people to find what they need.