FAQ

1. WHEN DOES THE SURVEY START?

The survey will begin Wednesday, March 23, and will be available through April 5.

2. HOW WILL THE SURVEY BE ADMINISTERED?

A third-party vendor, ModernThink, will administer the survey by sending a dedicated link to the survey instrument directly to all UA faculty and staff. ModernThink will house and control all survey responses.

3. WHAT IS MODERNTHINK?

ModernThink is a nationally recognized strategic organizational development and management consulting firm with expertise in workplace quality for institutions of higher education. The survey to be used is the ModernThink Higher Education Insight Survey.

4. WILL RESPONSES BE KEPT CONFIDENTIAL?

Yes. The University will not have access to any individual response information. ModernThink will only provide aggregate survey findings to the University. All faculty and staff should feel assured that their individual responses and comments are confidential and protected.

5. HOW WILL I GET ACCESS TO THE SURVEY?

Starting March 23, every faculty and staff member will be able to access the survey at (on March 23rd, the URL will appear here). You will also receive an email from ModernThink with a link to the survey and instructions for completing it. You’ll need your CWID to log in to complete the survey. You may take the survey at any time, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, from work or from home. All staff and faculty should have an opportunity to take the survey during work hours. Internet access and your CWID are required. Employees taking the survey can use the same workstation, as long as each person properly logs on and off the computer.

6. CAN’T MY CWID BE USED TO TRACK MY RESPONSES?

No. The survey will be completed on ModernThink’s confidential website. The CWID is only used to access the survey and to ensure that only one survey is completed per employee. CWIDs are purged from ModernThink’ s system once the survey project has been completed.

7. HOW WILL THE SURVEY DATA BE USED?

ModernThink has administered this survey to a large number of institutions. These data will allow ModernThink to compare the UA findings against some of the University’s peer institutions as well as against other institutions that have been recognized as highly engaged places to work. The University will work with ModernThink to summarize and synthesize key findings, look to identify patterns and/or trends, and provide information to drive strategic change as needed. The survey will help UA officials measure how supportive, inclusive and empowering the campus climate is and evaluate other key experience drivers.

8. WHY IS UA SURVEYING ALL FACULTY AND STAFF?

The University is committed to providing opportunities and resources that promote work-life balance and enhance the recruitment and retention of outstanding faculty and staff. We have made this one of the four main pillars of our strategic plan Advancing the Flagship. This survey provides an opportunity for all UA faculty and staff to CHIME IN with opinions and thoughts about the University’s progress toward this goal and to help guide campus leadership going forward.

9. HAVEN’T WE DONE THIS CHIME-IN SURVEY BEFORE?

Yes, the first CHIME IN survey was conducted in 2018, and you may have noticed some of the work-life balance initiatives that resulted from that effort. This is a continuation of that initial effort to measure change and assess our engagement over these last several years.

10. WHAT DOES THIS SURVEY MEAN TO MY DIVISION OR COLLEGE/SCHOOL?

Survey results provided in aggregate by division or college/school will help leaders of those units understand the thoughts and opinions of employees today and help guide strategic decisions driving progress in support of the goals related to work-life balance at UA.

11. WHY SHOULD I CHIME IN?

As a UA faculty or staff member, your opinion matters. Higher response rates give a more accurate picture of the University and its individual divisions. This is a significant opportunity for you to share your ideas, opinions, and solutions by providing your voice on the topic.

12. IS MY PARTICIPATION IN THIS SURVEY OPTIONAL?

Yes, participation is voluntary. Senior leadership at the University will be encouraging everyone to CHIME IN and will allow an opportunity to do so during working hours. If you have any challenges participating, please contact Travis Railsback at trailsback@fa.ua.edu or 8-0869 or Lorne Kuffel at lkuffel@ua.edu or 8-7204.

13. WHO IS ELIGIBLE TO PARTICIPATE IN THE SURVEY?

All faculty and staff members currently employed by The University of Alabama are invited and encouraged to CHIME IN and participate in the survey.

14. WHY IS NOW THE RIGHT TIME FOR THIS SURVEY?

We need to continue understanding what factors are important to our faculty and staff. UA is committed to our people and our community and needs to hear from our staff and faculty about our work environment. The feedback opportunities provided by the survey will be in the form of a continuous process, not a singular event. This survey will help inform our strategic planning progress.

15. WHAT AREAS WILL THE SURVEY FOCUS ON?

The survey statements solicit feedback on a broad range of topics focused around eleven themes:

16. WHAT IS MEANT BY THESE TERMS?

• Institution – refers to The University of Alabama
• Department – refers to your immediate workgroup
• Senior Leadership – refers to the most senior members of the institution (e.g., President, Vice Presidents, and Deans)
• Supervisor/Department Chair – refers to the individual to whom you most directly report

17. HOW MUCH TIME WILL IT TAKE TO COMPLETE THE SURVEY?

The online survey should take approximately 25 minutes to complete. If you are unable to complete the survey after you begin, you will have the option to save your responses and access them later. The survey consists of statements that employees/faculty respond to using a five-point agreement scale (Strongly Agree, Agree, Sometimes Agree/Sometimes Disagree, Disagree, Strongly Disagree). The survey instrument also includes open-ended questions.

18. HOW CAN I GET ASSISTANCE FOR AN EMPLOYEE OR COWORKER TO TAKE THE SURVEY?

If you are a manager or staff member and you have an employee or colleague who needs help accessing or taking the survey for any reason, please contact Julianna Proctor at jproctor@ua.edu or 8-7207.

19. IF I START THE SURVEY BUT AM INTERRUPTED BEFORE I FINISH, CAN I ACCESS IT AGAIN?

Your answers will be stored each time you select the SAVE & CONTINUE button at the bottom of a survey page. So, if you get interrupted, you can come back to the survey.

20. WHAT IF I HAVE PROBLEMS ACCESSING THE SURVEY SITE?

For technical questions or problems with the survey site please contact ModernThink at (888) 684-4658 or surveys@modernthink.com, M-F 8:00 a.m.-4:00 p.m. CST. After hours, leave a message and your call will be returned as promptly as possible.

21. ONCE ALL THE RESULTS ARE RECEIVED, WHAT’S NEXT?

Campus leaders are committed to gathering feedback, identifying priority areas of action, sharing the findings with you, and developing follow-up plans to address them.

22. WHO CAN I CONTACT WITH ADDITIONAL QUESTIONS?

If you have any questions, concerns or suggestions regarding the survey and/or the survey process, please do not hesitate to contact Lorne Kuffel at 205-348-7204 lkuffel@ua.edu or Liz Flood, UA Project Manager for ModernThink at (888) 684-4658 or lflood@modernthink.com.

23. WHY WAS MODERNTHINK SELECTED TO ADMINISTER THE SURVEY?

ModernThink LLC is a nationally recognized organization specializing in surveys of this kind for higher education. The higher education benchmark data ModernThink will provide will give UA valuable insight into how we compare to other schools across the nation.