UpDate - Vol. 15, No. 11, Page 1
November 9, 1995
Employee survey shows UD job satisfaction high

     The majority of University of Delaware professional and salaried
staff employees are satisfied with their jobs and the University, like
the kind of work they do and think UD benefits are excellent.
     These are some of the results of last spring's groundbreaking
survey of employee satisfaction, which followed a survey of UD faculty
conducted in spring 1994.
     "The programs and policies in place at the University of Delaware
assist our employees to work better and in a more comfortable
environment. The data from this survey will provide direction for
further improvement in the way we work together to enhance the
University's goals. We are very pleased with the results, and we plan
to survey employees on a regular basis," Maxine Colm, vice president
of employee relations, said.
     The survey, conducted by the Office of Institutional Research and
Planning, indicates that UD employees are most satisfied with overall
benefits, followed by overall satisfaction with their jobs, according
to director Michael Middaugh.
     UD employees are less satisfied in such areas as employee
recognition, efforts to obtain employee opinions and information
received from senior administrators, he said.
     The University broke new ground in higher education with this
employee survey, Middaugh said. The University has participated in the
University of California at Los Angeles Higher Education Research
Institute survey of faculty attitudes and satisfaction, as do other
universities and colleges. However, when Delaware planned to survey
employees other than faculty and sought models from other schools,
none was available, Middaugh said. He asked for assistance from
private industry and adapted their employee surveys to the
University's requirements.
     The response from professionals and salaried staff was
sufficiently high to ensure an accurate sampling, Middaugh said.
However, there was a lower response rate from hourly staff and from
African-Americans employees in all three categories, and the survey
may not accurately reflect the feelings of these groups.
     Following are some survey highlights:

     Response to key questions
        * 82 percent of professionals, 71 percent of salaried staff
          and 63 percent of hourly staff are satisfied with their
          jobs.
        * 75 percent of professionals, 66 percent of salaried staff
          and 59 percent of hourly staff are satisfied with their
          departments.
        * 80 percent of professionals, 71 percent of salaried staff
          and 62    percent of hourly staff are satisfied with the
          University.
        * 95 percent of professionals, 93 percent of salaried staff
          and 82 percent of hourly staff agree that UD benefits are
          excellent.
        * 96 percent of professionals, 89 percent of salaried staff
          and 82 percent of hourly staff like the kind of work they
          do.
        * 85 percent of professionals, 80 percent of salaried staff
          and 71 percent of hourly staff agree that UD is concerned
          about employees' well being.
        * 86 percent of professionals, 79 percent of salaried staff
          and 67 percent of hourly staff agree that they are treated
          fairly by their supervisors.
        * 79 percent of professionals, 68 percent of salaried staff
          and 60 percent of hourly staff agree that they have not
          faced harassment at UD.
     Those who responded
        * 64.9 percent of professionals (602 of 928),
        * 59.0 percent of salaried staff (542 of 919),
        * 22.1 percent of hourly staff (106 of 480),
        * 53.7 percent of the total (1,250 of 2,327).
     Ethnicity of respondents
        * 56.1 percent of whites, or 1,085 of 1,934,
        * 33.4 percent of African Americans, or 109 of 326,
        * 70.1 percent, or 47 of 67 others.
     Gender division and employee unit of respondents:
        * 39.6 percent of males, or 368 of 929,
        * 53.9 percent of females, or 753 of 1,398,
        * 46.8 percent of academic units, or 537 of 1,147,
        * 56.1 percent of administrative units, or 662 of 1,180.
     Location of respondents:
        * 53.3 percent on Newark campus, or 1,163 of 2,180,
        * 60 percent outside Newark, or 88 of 147.

     Other findings indicate that professional employees report the
highest satisfaction overall, with male and female employees having
similar ratings. Employees outside of Newark have higher satisfaction
than Newark campus employees. White employees indicate slightly more
satisfaction overall than African-Americans and other minorities.
     In addition, hundreds of employees included written comments and
suggestions for improvement.
     One outcome of the survey has been workshops for supervisors to
further their interactive and managerial skills. Specifically, the
workshops and training programs are designed to help facilitate
communication and coordination between employees and first-line
supervisors, an area that needed attention based on survey results,
Middaugh said.
                                                   -Sue Swyers Moncure