Staff climate survey launches next week
Feedback to Equity and Inclusion division will help shape future projects
| 07 November 2008
Gibor BasriBERKELEY — Starting next week, campus staff will have an opportunity to weigh in on what it’s like to work at Berkeley. This week, Chancellor Birgeneau sent Berkeley staff an e-mail inviting them to participate in a survey that will be used to help inform initiatives to improve the work environment, and to ensure an equitable and inclusive workplace on campus.
The Staff Workplace Climate and Career-Life Issues Survey will elicit information on a variety of topics, including job satisfaction; workplace stress; experience with discrimination, if applicable; relationships with managers, supervisors, and co-workers; work-life balance; and recognized career-development opportunities. Conducted by the Division of Equity and Inclusion (E&I) under the direction of Vice Chancellor Gibor Basri, the survey will be carried out in two phases: Phase 1, starting Nov. 12, will seek responses from non-academic staff; Phase 2, slated to launch in the spring semester, will solicit input from faculty and academic staff.
“In my first year I visited with a lot of staff groups, and one message I got repeatedly was the need for this survey,” says Basri. “My promise that E&I would move forward with a staff climate survey was met with excitement and enthusiasm, so I’m very pleased we have been able to fulfill the promise with our campus partners.”
Supervisors have been asked to grant staff half an hour of release time to complete the survey. To ensure that all staff have access to the survey, it will be available both online and on paper. Spanish, Mandarin, Filipino, Lao, and Vietnamese versions will also be offered.
Participation is voluntary. Staff may skip questions they don’t wish to answer, and responses will be kept confidential. “We took great pains to ensure that the answers won’t be attributable to any individual,” says Sidalia Reel, director of Staff Diversity Initiatives in the E&I division.
A staff team comprised of faculty and staff leaders created the survey with input from staff focus groups. The team included Gibor Basri, vice chancellor, Equity & Inclusion; Liz Elliott, director, Center for Organizational & Workforce Effectiveness; Marc Goulden, director, Data Initiatives, Academic Affairs; Liz Halimah, chief of staff, E&I; Steve Lustig, associate vice chancellor, Health & Human Services; Christina Maslach, vice provost, Teaching & Learning; Jeannine Raymond, assistant vice chancellor, Human Resources; Sidalia Reel, director, Staff Diversity Initiatives, E&I; Angie Stacy, associate vice provost, Faculty Equity; and Shelly Zedeck, vice provost, Academic Affairs and Faculty Welfare.
The Office of Student Research will administer the survey. Responses are due Dec. 5; results will be released to the campus in spring 2009.