How to Read the Faculty and Staff Reports

The Emerson360: Community Survey reports were generated from the data collected from Emerson faculty and staff during the survey period of November 3 to November 21, 2017. All survey responses were submitted directly to the survey provider, ModernThink. ModernThink analyzed the data and then provided these reports to Emerson from the data they received.

Response Rate

The response rate for the faculty and staff survey was as follows:

  • Surveys Distributed: 1253
  • Survey Responses: 746
  • Response Rate: 60%

In 2014, 66% of staff and faculty took the survey. While that is a higher percentage than in 2017, the total number of staff and faculty was higher in 2017 (746 vs 721).

Definitions Used in the Survey

  • Institution refers to the entire Emerson College.
  • Department refers to your most immediate workgroup or team.
  • Senior Leadership refers to the most senior members of the institution (e.g. President, Vice Presidents, Deans).
  • Supervisor/Department Chair refers to the individual to whom you directly report.

Percent Positive and Negative

percent positive response is the percentage of staff and faculty who responded with “Strongly Agree” or “Agree.” A percent negative response is the percentage of staff and faculty who responded with “Disagree” or “Strongly Disagree.” Based on ModernThink’s staff and faculty survey benchmarks, the percent positive and negative results can be interpreted to mean the following:

Percent Positive Score Percent Negative Score
65%–75%+ Good <10–14% Good
55%–64% Fair 15%–19% Fair
<54% Poor  20%+ Poor

Dimensions

The ModernThink Higher Education Insight Survey© is comprised of 60 statements in 16 dimensions designed to assess key dynamics and relationships that are influencing Emerson’s culture and performance. Four custom statements relative to Emerson College were included as well. 

In the survey, faculty and staff were asked to respond to each statement using a five-point rating scale (Strongly Agree, Agree, Sometimes Agree/Sometimes Disagree, Disagree, Strongly Disagree). Additionally, there was a “Not Applicable” response option.

The 16 dimensions in the survey are:

  • Job Satisfaction/Support
  • Teaching Environment
  • Professional Development
  • Compensation, Benefits, and Work/Life Balance
  • Facilities
  • Policies, Resources, and Efficiency
  • Shared Governance
  • Pride
  • Supervisors/Department Chairs
  • Senior Leadership
  • Faculty, Administration, and Staff Relations
  • Communication
  • Collaboration
  • Fairness
  • Respect and Appreciation
  • Emerson College Custom Statements

Custom Statements

The following statements are the four custom statements Emerson College added to ModernThink’s standard statements:

  1. Senior leadership values my experience and service to the college.
  2. I have sufficient opportunities and support to participate in civic or community engagement.
  3. Diversity and inclusion are important values to me.
  4. I know what to do if I receive a report of sexual assault, harassment, or interpersonal violence.

Demographics

In addition, faculty and staff were asked to respond to voluntary demographic questions:

  • General Demographics (Gender, Age, Sexual Orientation, Race, Relationship Status, Annual Salary, Job Status, Years at Institution, Supervisory Status)
  • School / Department / Unit
  • Job Category / Job Role / Faculty Tenure Status / Years in Job Role

Added to the 2017 survey were these demographic categories:

  • Veteran Status
  • Disability
  • Union
  • Expect to Stay at Emerson (length of time respondent expects to stay at Emerson)
  • Emerson Alumnus

If you would like additional assistance or have questions regarding the survey reports, please email sjc [at] emerson.edu (sjc[at]emerson[dot]edu).

2014/2017 Comparison Reports

In order to compare results from the 2014 and 2017 Emerson360: Community Surveys, ModernThink has provided the following reports:

  • Year-to-Year ScoreCard: This report compares the 2017 results to the 2014 results.
  • Topline Survey Results by Job Category: This spreadsheet compares responses along the 16 dimensions by job category: Overall (all faculty and staff who responded),
  • Faculty, Executive (president, vice-president, deans), Exempt Staff (Salaried), and Non-exempt Staff (Hourly).
  • Top 10 / Bottom 10: This report displays the survey statements which received the 10 highest-rated scores (the highest positive %s), and the 10 lowest-rated scores (the highest negative %s). “Your Score” is the 2017 results. “Benchmark Score” is Emerson’s 2014 result for that statement.

2017 Response Distribution Report

This report shows the results for all 64 survey statements by: 

  • Overall (all faculty and staff responses)
  • Faculty (full and affiliated/part-time)
  • Executive (President, Vice-Presidents, and Deans)
  • Exempt Staff
  • Non-exempt Staff

A few notes on the Response Distribution Report:

  1. The number in parentheses after each grouping (e.g., Your Overall (746)) indicates the number of people who responded to that statement.
  2. The number following each grouping (e.g., Faculty (236) 3.55) is the average response for that statement.
  3. For a further report by job roles (e.g., Director, Manager, Chair, Professor, Associate Professor) look at the “Job Role” spreadsheet.

VIEW RESPONSE DISTRIBUTION REPORT

2017 Benefit Satisfaction Report

This report shows respondents’ level of satisfaction for 22 items related to the benefits offered to faculty and staff. Ratings for these items ranged from “very satisfied” to “very dissatisfied.”

VIEW BENEFIT SATISFACTION REPORT

2017 Survey Data Spreadsheets

Three Survey Data Spreadsheets are included (click to view):

  1. General Demographics 1 and General Demographics 2 (results by demographic categories)
  2. Job Role (results by job categories such as Director, Chair, Coordinator)
  3. Division/School/Units (results by Divisions, Schools, and Units)

In reading the spreadsheets, results in the first column (“Overall”) reflect Emerson’s average percent positive response for each survey statement. A percent positive response is the percentage of staff and faculty who responded with “Strongly Agree” or “Agree.”

The second column of data on the spreadsheet reflects the average percent negative response (the percentage of faculty and staff who responded with “Disagree” or “Strongly Disagree.”)

While the “Overall” section of the spreadsheet reflects the data for the institution as a whole, the subsequent columns reflect the average percent positive response according to various demographic categories as indicated by the column headers.

To protect the anonymity of survey respondents, ModernThink did not report individual data for demographic categories with fewer than five respondents. If fewer than five people responded, you will see asterisks in that column. For categories with fewer than five respondents their data are reflected in the overall score.

For purposes of comparison, ModernThink provided two benchmark responses as noted in the green and blue columns. The first, the “2017 Honor Roll (3000-9999)” shows the average percent positive response of ten colleges in our enrollment size that took the ModernThink survey in 2017 and were cited most often across all survey categories. The “2017 Carnegie Master’s” benchmark reflects the average percent positive of all institutions in the Carnegie Master’s “L” classification that took the survey in 2017.

2017 Profile of Survey Respondents

This report shows the numbers and percentages of respondents according to the demographic categories from the survey.

VIEW PROFILE OF SURVEY RESPONDENTS