The Irvine Valley College “Employee Satisfaction Survey,” Part I

"Satisfaction," as of April-May, 2009:

Recently, Irvine Valley College faculty were informed that the results of last Spring’s “Employee Satisfaction Survey” are now available in a report. Faculty (and students?) can access the report at the IVC website. (Go to “Information for faculty and staff”; then click on “IVC Intranet (help)”; type in password; then click on “research and planning.” Voila. See three links at bottom of the page.)

I guess the report is not yet available to Jane or Joe Public.

I’ve been around long enough to know that few faculty will actually go to the trouble of finding and reading the report.

And so I’ve decided to make some of it available here!

On page 7, the survey’s “methodology” is explained:

Administered in the spring from April 22 to May 28 [i.e., nearly a YEAR ago] using an on-line survey methodology, the 2009 Employee Satisfaction Survey was sent to all employees via an e-mail invitation. By the end of the field date, 208 IVC employees participated in the survey.

In a way, it’s too bad the survey wasn’t done a year later (its timing accommodated the the accreditation cycle). Much of consequences has occurred in recent months, especially the announcement in January of the resignation (to occur in June) of the hated Chancellor (Raghu P. Mathur) and a significant shift in board leadership away from the group most loyal to him (Fuentes, Lang, Williams). Many of the negative remarks that pop up on the survey (see part II of this post) concern the Chancellor and the board’s support of him.

It is, I think, important to note that the survey received more participation from some groups than others:

Among all employees working during the spring semester, 32 percent participated in the employee satisfaction survey; however, response rates among part-time faculty and staff were significantly lower than the response rates among full-time employees. Nearly 63 percent of IVC full-time employees responded to the survey.

Insofar as one seeks to learn what the campus community is thinking, it is important that a survey achieve good participation, in part because that diminishes the chances of unrepresentativeness (e.g., hearing more from the especially pleased or disgruntled). With that in mind, I think that we can be happy with full-time instructor participation in the report, which was a very healthy 83%.

The response rate for administrators was a mediocre 61%. It was a dismal 50% for (bargaining unit) classified. (See Table 2 below.)

And so I have given more attention (below) to the full-time faculty part of the report.

Naturally, the college also conducted a “student satisfaction survey.” If I have time, I’ll provide information about that as well (not today).

Here are excerpts from the report’s “Executive Summary.” (I tried to edit for length--and for an aversion to tedium.)

Employee Satisfaction and Campus Environment
In 2009, most employee respondents reported that they were satisfied with IVC. About 42 percent of survey respondents indicated that they were “Very satisfied” and another 40 percent reported that they were “Somewhat satisfied.” Looking more closely at overall satisfaction, members of the faculty (46% “Very satisfied”) and college administrators (57% “Very satisfied”) registered slightly more intense levels of satisfaction than the classified staff (35% “Very satisfied”), although total satisfaction levels were similar across all bargaining units. Interestingly, newer employees (five years or less) and long-time employees (21+ years) reported the highest level of overall satisfaction, whereas employees that have worked at IVC from six to twenty years had relatively lower levels of satisfaction.

Survey respondents were most satisfied with their employment benefits, followed by their relationships with their co-workers, their current position, their salaries, and their relationships with their supervisors. …

A plurality of respondents (38.0%) felt that the campus environment for employees was improving, while about a third of respondents (33.2%) believed that the campus environment was staying about the same. Twenty-four percent of employee respondents felt that the campus environment was getting worse. Classified staff members were much less positive than employees from the other groups on campus: only 21 percent of classified staff members indicated that the campus environment was “Getting better,” more than 30 percent less than members of the faculty or administration.

Survey respondents were also asked to assess the campus environment for students. Employees were much more positive about the campus environment for students with 76 percent indicating that the campus environment for students was either “Excellent” (28.8%) or “Good” (47.6%). …

Similarly, approximately 45 percent of employee respondents felt that student programs and services at IVC were “Getting better,” 39 percent believed that programs and services were “Staying about the same,” and only six percent felt that IVC programs and services were “Getting worse.”

In addition, respondents were asked several questions that indirectly measure employees’ perception of their job climate. Among these items, 70 percent of respondents agreed that the regularly receive the information that they need, 66 percent believed that they are treated with respect and dignity, and 64 percent felt that they have the opportunity to participate in the college decision-making process. Majorities of employee respondents agreed that professional development activities are encouraged by the college (61%), and that their work is appreciated (59%). Adjunct faculty members and classified staff members were less likely to agree that they regularly receive the information that they need, have the opportunity to participate in shared governance, are treated with respect, and are encouraged to pursue professional development activities. In addition, classified staff members were less likely to feel that their work is appreciated. Newer employees (< 11 years) were more likely to feel that they are treated with respect, appreciated, and connected to the college community than longer tenured employees (11+ years); however, newer employees were less likely to feel that professional development activities are encouraged and supported…. …[D]ata from the survey show that overall satisfaction is driven by feelings of inclusiveness, appreciation, and respect rather than individual levels of pay, advancement, or benefits.

Instruction
Full-time faculty members were asked a variety of questions about various instructional procedures, aspects of teaching, and other curriculum matters. Large majorities agreed that the faculty determines student competency (91%), instructors are fair and objective (89%) and students are able to enroll in lower level courses (86%). … Only a slight majority of respondents (52%) agreed that IVC has a good procedure for developing new courses and programs. Further analysis showed that newer full-time faculty survey respondents (< 11 years) were more likely than long-term faculty members (11+ years) to agree that IVC has a good procedure for developing new courses (72% vs. 43%) and that faculty are encouraged to develop new courses (85% vs. 67%).

Leadership
In general, perceptions of administrative leadership were more positive for college administrators than for district administrators. For example, 61 percent of employees agreed that “The president communicates regularly with all constituencies” (28.2% “Strongly agree”; 33.1% “Somewhat agree”) and 56 percent agreed that the “IVC administration provides effective leadership” (23.8% “Strongly agree”; 32.6% “Somewhat agree”). Less than a majority of surveyed employees (47%) agreed that “The chancellor communicates regularly with all constituencies” (13.3% “Strongly agree”; 33.7% “Somewhat agree”) and a similar percentage (46%) agreed that the district provides effective leadership (14.4% “Strongly agree”; 31.5% “Somewhat agree”)…. 

Looking at perceptions of college leadership more closely, less than half of the members of the classified staff (47%) agreed that the administration at IVC provides effective leadership in support of the college’s mission, whereas 62% of faculty members held the same opinion.

Campus Facilities
Overall, IVC employees gave positive responses to questions about campus facilities were offered to all employees….

Over 80 percent of faculty members that answered the survey agreed that IVC provides current instructional equipment for lectures (84%) and classroom lighting is good (82%). Significantly fewer (but still over a majority of) respondents indicated that classrooms are clean and well-maintained (55%). While only 52 percent of faculty who responded to the survey indicated that campus lab equipment is up-to-date, a sizable percentage (31%) indicated that they did not have an opinion about this question, ostensibly because these faculty members do not teach courses with labs. Once “Don’t know” opinions are filtered out, 75 percent of respondents believed that the lab equipment is up-to-date.

According to the survey, most IVC employees feel safe while on campus: about 66 percent of respondents indicated that they were “Very safe and secure” and another 26 percent reported that they were “Somewhat safe and secure.”


Survey respondents were equally positive regarding parking on campus….

Technology Infrastructure
Results from the survey provide strong evidence that the campus community feels supported by the college IT staff. Strong majorities (over 80%) indicated that the technology employed at IVC is current and reliable….

Human Resources
Nearly three-fourths of respondents (72.2%) agreed with the statement that “Personnel policies and procedures are easy to obtain and review.” Seven out of ten respondents (69.1%) agreed that “Campus publications clearly and adequately reflect actual practices at the College.” ….

In general, IVC employees who responded to the survey were quite positive when assessing the college’s efforts in promoting a diverse student and employee community….

Levels of Communication
Most employees who responded to the survey indicated that they were at least somewhat informed about campus events (83% “Somewhat” or “Very informed”) as well as what is occurring within their school or department (84% “Somewhat” or “Very informed”)….

When asked to rate the importance of various methods of communication as a source of information about campus issues, respondents overwhelmingly rated electronic media as the most important method of communication (i.e., e-mail, IVC website, and MySite). Many respondents, on the other hand, did not see the college intranet sites or college committee meetings as important sources of information.

College Decision-Making Processes
In order to assess employees’ awareness of changes to the college’s decision-making structures, the survey asked all employees to rate how familiar they were with the new or revised college decision- making processes. The survey revealed that employee respondents were most familiar with the “College mission statement and college goals”, followed by “Strategic planning”, “The Planning and Decision- Making Manual”, “College budget development process”, and “Classified hiring priority list development process”. With the exception of the classified hiring priority list development process, faculty members were more likely to be familiar with college decision-making processes than classified staff members. Employees who have worked at IVC for 11 years or more and employees who are more informed about campus events were more familiar with college decision-making processes than newer and less informed employees. 

A series of questions were also given to full-time faculty members as well as college administrators to rate their familiarity with new or revised instructional processes. Respondents in the survey were most familiar with “Program review” and the “Full-time faculty hiring priority list development process,” followed by the “Institutional Effectiveness Annual Report,” “New program approval policy and procedures (academic programs and career technology education,” “Program discontinuance,” and “Program realignment.” With the exception of the “Institutional Effectiveness Annual Report,” employees with longer service at IVC were more likely to be familiar with instructional policies and procedures than employees with less than 11 years of service.

After assessing their familiarity of new or revised college decision-making processes, employees were given the chance to assess the effectiveness of these processes. The results revealed that employees in the survey rated the “College mission statement and college goals,” “The planning and decision-making manual,” and “Strategic planning” as the most effective. The respondents rated the effectiveness of the “College budget development process” slightly lower and rated the “Classified hiring priority list development process” as least effective of the processes tested in the survey. Indeed, less than half (46%) indicated that the classified hiring priority list development process was effective (“Very effective” 13.0%; “Somewhat effective” 32.5%). Differences between faculty and classified staff members appeared when evaluating the effectiveness of the planning and decision-making manual, strategic planning, and the classified hiring process. The greatest difference in perception of effectiveness occurred when respondents evaluated the classified hiring priority list development process ….

… Similar to the college decision-making processes, familiarity with the various instructional policies and procedures conditioned perceptions of effectiveness. That is, respondents who were “Very familiar” with the processes gave much higher ratings of effectiveness than those who were less familiar with the processes.
. . .