Faculty, staff survey

UND President Mark Kennedy has repeatedly expressed his interest in listening to the needs of the campus community as he begins his president, and a UND employee survey released early last week provided him and the rest of the UND administration better insight into the concerns of UND faculty and staff.

 

The survey consisted of 60 statements and asked  the 310 respondents to mark whether they strongly agreed, agreed, disagreed, strongly disagreed, or were neutral to particular statements.

In perhaps the statement that best encapsulated employee morale, 54 percent of the respondents answered affirmatively to the statement “All things considered, this is a great place to work,” compared to 19 percent who responded negatively. The administration and staff were much more optimistic with this answer, while the faculty were split 37/35 percent in their responses.

 

This trend was noticeable throughout the survey questions; for many of the answers, the administration responses were more positive than those of the faculty. A summary of the survey responses can be viewed here: http://und.edu/finance-operations/human-resources-payroll/human-resources/chronicle-survey/2016-und-response-distribution-report.pdf.

 

In a campus wide email, Kennedy acknowledged that the survey took place during a year that saw a change of leadership in the university – including a president and two vice presidents – and budget cuts.

 

Former UND President Robert Kelley retired last December after eight years as president, and former Governor Ed Schafer served as interim president from January to June. Shortly into Schafer’s tenure it was announced that the state would be reducing appropriations to the university because of a budget shortfall, which subsequently resulted in budget cuts at the university.

 

The survey also included written comments about UND employee’s views on several facets of university policy.

 

“Several of the verbatim comments expressed a desire to define a strategic plan with clear metrics. I could not agree more,” Kennedy said in a campus-wide email. “Clear leadership begins with reaching consensus on where we are heading. That is why I launched a broad-based planning effort last month.”

 

Kennedy has stressed collaborative governance during his time as UND president, and in the email to campus, indicated that he plans on addressing many of the issues raised in the survey and what he has heard when interacting with campus community.

“It is clear from the survey that status quo is not acceptable. The required changes will need to begin at the top, but will demand each and every one of us to require excellence of ourselves,” he said.

”If we all remain open to the changes this survey demands of each of us, we can truly be the premier flagship university in the Northern Plains.”

Sean Cleary is a copy editor for The Dakota Student. He can be reached at [email protected]