Overall Rating Gold - expired
Overall Score 70.92
Liaison Katie Maynard
Submission Date Aug. 19, 2014
Executive Letter Download

STARS v2.0

University of California, Santa Barbara
PA-10: Assessing Employee Satisfaction

Status Score Responsible Party
Complete 0.30 / 1.00 Mo Lovegreen
Director
Campus Sustainability
"---" indicates that no data was submitted for this field

Has the institution conducted an employee satisfaction and engagement survey or other evaluation that meets the criteria for this credit?:
Yes

The percentage of employees (staff and faculty) assessed, directly or by representative sample:
30

A brief description of the institution’s methodology for evaluating employee satisfaction and engagement:

UC Santa Barbara completed a "Campus Climate Survey" in academic year 2013.

The results for Faculty and Staff - was that they had positive attitudes about work-life issues

•Three-quarters of Faculty, Staff, Post-Doc/Trainee, and Graduate/Professional Student respondents thought UC Santa Barbara demonstrated that it values a diverse faculty (76%, n= 2,938) and staff (80%, n= 2,764).

•More than half of all Faculty, Staff, Post-Docs/Trainees, and Graduate/Professional Students believed that they had colleagues or co-workers (78%, n = 3,024) and supervisors (70%, n= 2,720) at UC Santa Barbara who gave them career advice or guidance when they need it.

•The majority of Faculty, Staff, Post-Docs/Trainees, and Graduate/Professional Student respondents found UC Santa Barbara supportive of taking leave (64%, n = 2,461) and supportive of flexible work schedules (73%, n= 2,827)


A brief description of the mechanism(s) by which the institution addresses issues raised by the evaluation (including examples from the previous three years):

The University of California seeks to create and nurture an ethos of respect and inclusion for all. Only with the constant attention and commitment of the entire UC community will we achieve this goal. The systemwide campus climate study constitutes a starting point, not a finish line, in this ongoing work.

The task ahead is to dig through this data at each locale, identifying what has worked and can be replicated, and determining what deficiencies need to be addressed head-on. Make no mistake: Every UC location has already taken steps to address campus climate issues – we have not been waiting for the survey to be completed before taking action on these important issues.

These efforts already underway include the hiring of dedicated diversity and inclusion staff, programs that address unconscious bias in hiring and promotions, targeted staff and student trainings, and resource centers for particular groups. Overall, the news is good. The survey results show that a large majority (79%) of respondents are satisfied with the overall climate at UC, and three-quarters of respondents said they’re comfortable with the climate for diversity in their work unit, academic area, or clinical setting.

We also know that more remains to be done to ensure that all members of the UC community feel comfortable in their environments. According to Rankin & Associates Consulting, who conducted the survey, “the findings for the University of California are consistent with those found in higher education institutions across the country.” Below are additional highlights of the study results:

A LARGE MAJORITY OF THE UC COMMUNITY IS SATISFIED WITH THE OVERALL CLIMATE AT THE UNIVERSITY
•79% of all survey respondents were comfortable or very comfortable with the campus climate at UC, while 7% were uncomfortable or very uncomfortable.

•75% of all respondents were comfortable or very comfortable with the climate for diversity in their department/work unit/academic unit/college/school/clinical setting, while 10% were uncomfortable or very uncomfortable.

•73% of undergraduate students, 78% of graduate students, and 56% of faculty and post-docs were comfortable or very comfortable with the climate in their classes. Meanwhile, 7% of undergraduates, 5% of graduate students, and 2% of faculty and post-docs were uncomfortable or very uncomfortable.

•More than half of all respondents thought that the overall campus climate was very respectful or respectful of various races/ethnicities at UC, including African American/African/Black, American
Indian/Alaskan Native, Asian/Asian American, Hispanic/Latino, Middle Eastern/South Asian/North
African, Pacific Islander, and white

STUDENTS ARE LARGELY SATISFIED WITH THEIR ACADEMIC EXPERIENCE AT UC

•69% of undergraduate students and 78% of graduate students were satisfied with their academic experience at UC.

•75% of undergraduates, 85% of graduate students,
and 67% of post-docs/trainees felt valued by faculty in the classroom.

STUDENTS GENERALLY FEEL THAT DIVERSE PERSPECTIVES ARE INCORPORATED IN UC
COURSES

•More than half of undergraduate and graduate students reported that UC courses included sufficient materials, perspectives, and/or experiences of people based on a variety of personal characteristics (such as age, ethnicity, gender identity, marital status, race, or sexual orientation).

FACULTY, STAFF, POST-DOCS, AND TRAINEES OVERWHELMINGLY FEEL THAT UC VALUES A DIVERSE STAFF AND FACULTY

•81% of staff, faculty, post-docs, graduate students, and trainees said their campus/location values a diverse staff, and 76% felt that UC values a diverse faculty.

MORE WORK MUST BE DONE TO ADDRESS ISSUES FACED BY CERTAIN GROUPS

•Underrepresented minority respondents and multi-minority respondents were less comfortable with the overall climate and the workplace climate than were white respondents and other people of color. White respondents were more comfortable with the climate in their classes than were other racial groups.

•Undocumented residents were less comfortable with the overall climate, the climate in their classes, and the climate in their work units/departments than were U.S. citizens and non-U.S. citizens.
[Note:President Napolitano has allocated $5 million to support and expand services for undocumented resident students at UC, in addition to financial aid already available to this group. The President has also met privately with undocumented students on several occasions to discuss their concerns and priorities. Some campuses also have dedicated centers for undocumented students.]

•Transgender and genderqueer respondents were less comfortable with the overall climate at their campus/location than were women and men respondents. Genderqueer, transgender, and women respondents were less comfortable in their department/work unit/academic unit/college/school/clinical setting than were men respondents. LGBQ respondents were less comfortable with the overall climate and the climate in their departments and work units, compared with heterosexual respondents.

•A higher percentage of respondents who had not served in the military were very comfortable or comfortable with the overall climate at their institutions and with their department/work unit/academic setting, compared with respondents who had served in the military.
[Note: President Napolitano has already formed a systemwide veterans’ advisory group to address the unique challenges of these students, and has met with the group privately. Each UC campus also already has a dedicated veteran
services coordinator and/or support team that addresses the needs of veterans at UC. Many campuses also already have, or are in the process of establishing, dedicated centers or lounges for student veterans.]

•24% of respondents believed that they had personally experienced exclusionary, intimidating, offensive,and/or hostile conduct at a UC campus/location; 9% of respondents said that this conduct interfered with their ability to work or learn.

•A higher percentage of staff respondents reported experiencing exclusionary, intimidating, offensive, and/or hostile conduct, compared to faculty or students. A higher percentage of racial minorities reported experiencing this conduct, compared to non-minorities.

•3% of respondents believed they had experienced unwanted sexual contact while at a UC campus/location within the last five years. Higher percentages of undergraduate students experienced this type of contact in the past five years, compared to graduate students, staff, faculty, or post-docs/trainees. Higher percentages of genderqueer, transgender, and women respondents experienced this conduct, as compared to men respondents


The year the employee satisfaction and engagement evaluation was last administered:
2,013

The website URL where information about the institution’s employee satisfaction and engagement assessment is available:
Data source(s) and notes about the submission:
---

The information presented here is self-reported. While AASHE staff review portions of all STARS reports and institutions are welcome to seek additional forms of review, the data in STARS reports are not verified by AASHE. If you believe any of this information is erroneous or inconsistent with credit criteria, please review the process for inquiring about the information reported by an institution or simply email your inquiry to stars@aashe.org.