Northern Michigan University
PA-13: Assessing Employee Satisfaction

Human Resources sent an employee satisfaction healthy minds survey to all employees (1,209) and students in October 2023. 641 employees completed the survey (53%). NMU's survey results were compared to other institutions using the same questions in an employee survey. The survey is part of the Healthy Minds Network project. The survey included questions about 

• Faculty & Staff Wellbeing


• Mental Health Service Utilization, Support, & Help-Seeking


• Supporting Students


• Campus Climate

Preliminary results are consistent with previous reports, but we have not fully compiled the results yet. The summary report is expected in August 2024. We are waiting for some national benchmark data to come in before we draw too many conclusions or determine how to best on what we've learned. The preliminary results do indicate that awareness and use of wellbeing services and programs has increased among NMU employees; more employees report knowing how to support students and where to direct students for proper support; and most importantly perceptions of the campus climate have improved from previous surveys. 

These survey results helped to support adding an eighth core value to the University's mission. In April 2024, we added "Wellbeing" to the official list of Core Values: 

"We bring our whole, authentic selves to everything we do at Northern.  We celebrate the strength we find in each other, and understand that in life, biidaashkaa (Anishinaabemowin - waves come here), for all of us. Together, with care and attention, we persevere, and grow into our full wellbeing."

These results will also be used to inform the development of the University's next strategic plan. 

The most recent survey (in July 2022) addressed several of the post-COVID concerns. Many of the issues raised in that survey were about feeling safe on campus in face-to-face interactions with co-workers, students and visitors. University leadership used the insights from this assessment to develop the protocol for "opening" the campus in the fall of 2020. For example, one of the questions in the survey was about returning to campus (from the pivot to remote work in early 2020). University leadership reviewed these numbers; only 43.5% of respondents agreed or strongly agreed that they felt comfortable returning to work on campus. Thus, more than half of the employees had concerns. In a deeper analysis, the concerns were with employees who interacted with larger groups of people (faculty, student services, dining, etc). So the university put additional safety protocols into place before people could return to campus and created the Passport to Campus program (see: https://nmu.edu/safe-on-campus/passport). This program helped to reduce anxiety about returning and interacting with others face-to-face. The full results of the survey are attached.