APT & Classified Council
Employee Satisfaction Survey Findings
Survey objectives
Charged with representing staff interests in the institutional governance structure, the APT and Classified Councils hold a
joint retreat at the start of each academic year to set goals and objectives. For AY13, the organizing committee wanted
to pursue a data-driven process, using employee input and priorities to guide the Councils’ activities. Though an
institution-wide and comprehensive employee survey is forthcoming, the most recent employee satisfaction data were
collected in 2003. Thusly, in order to help the Councils to gauge and understand employee needs, the planning
committee administered a brief and informal survey to yield needed information.
Method
Permission to administer the instrument was obtained from UAA’s executive leadership and the survey was certified by
the Office of Research and Graduate Studies as exempt from the IRB process. The instrument contained quantitative
components designed to measure both employee satisfaction and priorities, and free response opportunities solicited
qualitative data which was used to contextualize the quantitative findings.
Participation and response rate
Participation was solicited via e-mail correspondence from the Governance
Office; 353 of the approximately 1300 staff who received the survey
responded, yielding a 27% response rate. The only demographic features
solicited were employee class and years of employment; with the exception
of employees with less than a year of service, all subgroups yielded
adequate numbers of respondents for comparative statistical analysis.
% Distribution
53
40
7
Employee Class
Classified
Exempt
Unspecified
Analysis
Analysis employed basic measures of central tendency to identify employee satisfaction and priorities filtered by
employee class and years of employment. A subsequent analysis employed independent t-tests to identify whether or
not differences in subgroups exhibited statistical significance. Free responses were coded categorically.
Findings
On a 5-point Likert scale (1 =very dissatisfied, 2 = dissatisfied, 3 = neutral, 4 = satisfied, 5 = very satisfied), employees
rated highest levels of satisfaction with the tuition waiver (4.15), safety (3.87), and leave benefits (3.82). Employees
were least satisfied with health care (2.50), followed by parking (2.88), and governance & institutional decision-making
(2.93). Classified employees reported lower satisfaction than exempt employees in all areas except diversity and leave
benefits; however an independent t-test showed statistically significant differences between the two employee classes
in only two areas, parking and compensation (p < .05 and p < .01, respectively).
Satisfaction
5.00
4.00
3.00
2.00
1.00
0.00
All Staff
Classified
Exempt
Of the topics presented in the survey,
respondents were asked to identify their
first, second, and third highest priorities. In
the analysis, votes for each topic were
weighted and totaled; all employees rated
healthcare as the highest priority, followed
by compensation and workplace culture.
Areas of lowest priority were facilities,
diversity, and parking. Though exempt staff
priorities were slightly more distributed
amongst the ranked categories and lowpriority rankings did differ between
employee classes, the top priorities were
aligned for both groups. The variable of
length of employment had no statistically
significant effect on employee satisfaction
or priorities.
Topic
Healthcare
Compensation
Workplace Culture
Communication
Governance & Institutional
Decision-Making
Professional Development
Retirement
Leave Benefits
Tuition Waiver
Safety
Parking
Diversity
Facilities
Priorities
All Staff
600
500
400
300
200
100
0
Satisfaction
Rating
13
10
6
9
11
Priority
Rating
1
2
3
4
5
8
4
3
1
2
12
5
7
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
A comparison of staff satisfaction and
priorities did not reveal a strong correlation;
rather, staff perceptions in these two areas
are independent of one another. Though
health care was the area of highest priority
and lowest satisfaction, parking received
concomitant low satisfaction and low priority
ratings. Compensation received the fourthlowest satisfaction rating, but was rated as the
second-highest employee priority.
Next steps
The two-part rating will help the Councils to consider employee needs from two perspectives – satisfaction and priority
– and the combined qualitative and quantitative data and analysis will help to shape their joint and respective agendas
for the coming academic year. Implications and analysis of this information and actionable items are the focus and
objectives of the upcoming retreat.