Project Surveys
Engagement in this project is critical to guiding the best possible outcomes for employees and students at the University of Alaska. One avenue for collecting feedback is the use of surveys. The questions gather information for use by the project teams to better gauge the interest in remote work opportunities, understand what student services were impacted by remote work as well as those that were improved through digitalization and online expansion, understand the expectations employees may have regarding equipment and remote worksite support, assess the challenges and successes of remote work arrangements, and address reservations and concerns of employees, students and supervisors.
- The Employee Experience Survey was sent to 7,460 employees on April 21, and closed on Friday, May 7 with 1,461 responses.
- A Student Survey was finalized and sent out to 23,000 students on Friday, April 30. The survey closed
Friday, May 14 with 855 responses.
- The Supervisor Experience survey was distributed June 2 and closed July 9 with 379 responses.
Student Experience Survey
View visualized survey results (coming soon)
Student Survey Preliminary Results Summary - Download PDF
Distribution of survey
The student experience survey was developed by the Transition Monitoring Team with feedback from the Project Team. A communication, with the link to the survey, was sent to 23,093 students on Friday, April 30, 2021. The survey was open until 5pm on Friday, May 14, 2021.
Demographics of respondents
鈼 731 students responded to the survey, which equates to a 3.17% response rate. Of these, 53.62% are affiliated with 绿奴天花板A, 38.30% with 绿奴天花板F, and 8.07% with 绿奴天花板S.
鈼 In aggregate, 53.90% of all respondents are seeking a Bachelor鈥檚 degree, 15.46% are seeking a graduate degree, and 15.87% are seeking an Associate鈥檚 degree or certificate, and 14.77% are non-degree seeking or other.
鈼 Of all respondents, 9.30% were located on campus, 62.52% were located within commuting distance of their primary campus and 19.97% were located in Alaska, but not within commuting distance of their primary campus. The rest were located in another state or outside the United States.
Key initial findings
Here are some key initial findings that are of interest for the aggregate population.
鈼 50.82% of the total respondents preferred to have online synchronous (11.23%), online asynchronous (22.05%) or hybrid (17.53%) classes. In-person classes were preferred by 26.30% and 21.37% of students said it would depend on the class.
鈼 82.76% of the respondents stated they have adequate internet connection where they are living or they are able to upgrade their internet. 7.25% said they do not have adequate internet where they are living. 5.33% said they had to move in order to get better connection or they accessed the internet through hotspots or some other location outside their home.
鈼 83.31% of respondents felt they have the equipment, internet access and workspace needed to effectively perform their studies. The main items that were missing included a better computer, reliable internet, and an adequate workspace.
鈼 The top five items that universities have done to support students over the past year included the ability to watch recorded lectures, flexible class schedules, flexibility in assignments or ways to show competency, improved access to course materials, and availability of student services through online tools.
鈼 The top five items that interfered with the students鈥 ability to be successful included
COVID related anxiety, difficulty focusing, or other well-being issues; difficulty
establishing boundaries/balancing remote course and personal responsibilities; difficulty
in communicating with professors and/or tutors; distraction from personal technology
devices; and multiple people needing internet access at the same time.
Supervisor Experience Survey
View visualized survey results (coming soon)
Supervisor Survey Preliminary Results Summary - Download PDF
Distribution of survey
The supervisor experience survey was developed by the Transition Monitoring Team with feedback from the Project Team. A communication, with the link to the survey, was sent to supervisors on Wednesday, June 2, 2021. The survey was open until 5pm on Friday, July 9, 2021.
Demographics of respondents
鈼 379 supervisors responded to the survey. Of these, 35.62% are affiliated with 绿奴天花板A, 46.70% with 绿奴天花板F, 7.12% with 绿奴天花板S and 10.55% with Statewide.
鈼 89.18% of respondents supervise staff, 14.51% supervise faculty, and 40.37% supervise students (38.26% supervise more than one type of employee)
鈼 Of all respondents, 68.34% of respondents are 1st line supervisors, 15.04% are 2nd line supervisors and 16.62% are executive or Senior Administrators.
鈼 47.76% of respondents have been a supervisor for five years or less, 22.69% have been a supervisor for 6-10 years and 29.55% have been a supervisor for more than 10 years.
Key initial findings
Here are some key initial findings that are of interest for the aggregate population.
鈼 Supervisors stated that the most predominant work situation for those they supervised over the past year was hybrid, with most of the time spent remote (38.26%). The next most frequent work situation was full time remote work (30.08%).
鈼 64.00% of the respondents stated that the availability of long-term remote work would definitely or probably make it easier to hire and retain employees. 20.00% said it might or might not.
鈼 The top two items that supervisors stated are critical or essential in assessing a position to determine if remote work is possible is the business needs of the department and the face-to-face interaction requirements with those the position serves.
鈼 72.88% of respondents felt they definitely or probably had the capacity, training and support to effectively supervise employees who are working remotely and/or have a flexible work schedule.
鈼 The top five challenges supervisors anticipate with long-term remote or hybrid work arrangements are difficulty with effectively onboarding new team members, proper equipment for team members working remotely, decreased collaboration, building and maintaining employee and team morale, productivity and accountability.
鈼 The top five positive outcomes anticipated with long-term or hybrid work arrangements include ability to offer flexible schedules, support employee work/life balance, improved employee and team morale, better and/or widespread utilization of digital work processes, and decreased department costs.
Employee Experience Survey
View visualized survey results
Employee Survey Preliminary Results Summary - Download PDF
Distribution of survey
The employee experience survey was developed by the Transition Monitoring Team with feedback from the Project Team. A communication, with the link to the survey, was sent to 7,460 employees on Wednesday, April 21, 2021. The survey was open until 7pm on Friday, May 7, 2021.
Demographics of respondents
- 1,461 employees responded to the survey, which equates to a 19.58% response rate. Of these, 47.07% are affiliated with 绿奴天花板A, 42.17% with 绿奴天花板F, 5.81% with 绿奴天花板S and 7.94% with Statewide.
- In aggregate, 70.98% of all respondents are staff members, 25.12% are faculty and 3.90% are student employees.
- Of all respondents, 5.75% of employees worked 100% of the time in the office over the past year. The rest worked, to some degree, from a remote location, of which 54.76% were working remotely 100% of the time.
Key initial findings
Here are some key initial findings that are of interest for the aggregate population.
- 92.27% of the total respondents preferred to have some degree of remote work in the post-pandemic environment of which 17.93% of the respondents would prefer working remotely 100% of the time.
- 18.55% of the respondents stated they would definitely look for another position, if they were unable to have long-term remote work arrangements. 36.76% said the lack of long-term remote work might cause them to look for another position.
- When asked about the importance of having flexible work hours, 42.57% of the respondents said it is necessary in order to maintain work/life balance. 46.48% stated that flexible work hours would be greatly beneficial.
- 59.82% of the respondents stated that it is necessary or would be greatly beneficial to have flexible work hours in order to provide better service to their customers.
- Respondents were asked how much time they need to be in the office based on self-evaluation of their job duties. The majority, 55.37%, said they need to be in the office only 0%-25% of the time.
- The top five challenges people had while working remotely over the past year are problems with internet connectivity, social isolation, problems with their physical remote workspace and maintaining a work/life balance.
- The top five benefits people experienced while working remotely over the past year are more flexibility with work schedules, positive financial impacts, improved work/life balance, and improved ability to be engaged with work, to be productive and/or to meet job expectations.
Analysis of written responses
This analysis is underway and will be made available when finalized.