Next spring, all faculty and staff will have the opportunity to participate in the College’s most comprehensive survey since 1997 on what it’s like to work at Metro State.

Metro State has secured ModernThink, a national consulting firm, to develop and implement an online survey to all faculty and staff Feb. 1-15, 2010. The ModernThink Higher Education Insight Survey© is designed to provide a comprehensive overview of the College’s faculty/employees’ workplace experience. It comprises 60 core survey statements, a benefit satisfaction component, four open-ended questions, and a series of demographic questions. While some questions are general, up to 20 of the questions will be specific to Metro State. Concurrently, ModernThink will conduct a student experience survey of 3,600 students.

To assist with this survey, the Campus Climate Survey Committee has been established and tasked with designating relevant benchmarks for the College, developing survey questions unique to the College, and creating strategic communications before, during and after the survey.

“The survey in 1997 had 39 percent participation. We hope to exceed that number, as it will benefit the College as a whole as we work to meet the College’s mission and initiatives in the coming years,” says Interim Associate to the President for Diversity Myron Anderson, who chairs the committee.

The survey will allow the College to make key comparisons with peer institutions across the country, according to Anderson. In addition, as the survey is expected to be conducted every two to three years, it will serve as a way for the College to benchmark its own progress. Many colleges use the results of such surveys to support accreditation, strategic planning efforts and internal branding.

Information about the survey and its results will be announced in @Metro and posted on the President’s Web site.

A broad range of faculty and staff is represented on the committee:

Joshua Anderson, Acting Co-Director, Alumni Relations & Alumni Association
Ellie Baldwin, Chair of Elementary, Linguistically Diverse, K-12 and Secondary Education
Judi Diaz Bonacquisti, Associate VP for Enrollment Services Student Services and co-chair of HSI Steering Committee
Wilton Flemon, Professor of Chemistry and Faculty Senate member
Ed Garton, Director of GLBT Student Services
Maurice Hamington, Director of the Institute for Women’s Studies and Services and Faculty Senate member
Tony Ledesma, Associate Professor of Human Services and Faculty Senate member
Gwendolyn Mami, Executive Director of the Office of Sponsored Research and Programs
Mary Mack, Statistical Analyst in the Office of Institutional Research
Kathy MacKay, Vice President for Student Services
George Middlemist, Associate VP of Administration and Finance
Julie Sharer-Price, Administrative Support to Committee
Ranea Taylor, Assistant Director of Human Resources
Kay Tennant, Executive Assistant in the Department of Information Technology
Micah Wheeler, Director of Academic Affairs with Student Government Assembly
Pat Yarrow, President of Classified Staff Council and Program Assistant in the Art Department