Pulse Survey
In spring 2026, the University of Delaware administered a pulse survey to faculty and staff in partnership with The Thriving Project. The survey responses are used to compute a thriving quotient that measures the degree to which respondents are thriving in their work across multiple dimensions including engagement, well-being, relationships and purpose. The Thriving Quotient is available for students, faculty, and staff, and has been administered at over 300 institutions. The survey also included a curated set of questions designed in collaboration with the UD ADVANCE team, the Staff Council, and the Campus Culture and Engagement Executive Committee.
Responses were collected confidentially and UD only received de-identified data.
The results from this year’s pulse survey offer a snapshot of thriving from May 2026, and will serve as our baseline for subsequent administrations of the survey in May 2027 and May 2028. These data will inform our strategic planning process and help us identify priorities at the university.
As we administer the survey in future years, we will add those results here so we can monitor our progress over time.
Thank you to all who participated, your voice helps us understand and improve the experience of those working and learning at UD.
Survey Results
The panels below take you through the pulse survey results in an organized fashion. Response rate was tremendous. For staff, there were 2157 respondents (41.2% of all staff). For faculty, there were 787 respondents (38.9% of all faculty).
All questions are on a 6-point scale, categorized as follows:
Responses 5-6 favorable/thriving;
Responses 3-4 somewhat favorable/somewhat thriving;
Responses 1-2 unfavorable/not thriving
Click on the PLUS (+) icon in the accordions to explore each element.
These data show the self-reported thriving score, determined on the basis of a single question on the survey that provided a definition of thriving as positive engagement in meaningful work, connection to others, and feeling supported and valued in their faculty or staff role, and then asked to what extent the faculty or staff member was "thriving" at UD using that definition. Single-item scores are often influenced by how a respondent is feeling in the current moment; thus, there are also reliable and valid scales on the instrument that measure levels of thriving.
Separate response distributions are provided for staff and faculty.
These displays are dynamic; be sure to hover over elements to get additional information.
These data show response distributions for each of the subscales that measure what it means to thrive, as well as an overall index, computed across these scales (listed in the title of each data dashboard). This index is a more reliable measure than the answers to the single self-reported thriving question. View more information about the Thriving Quotient and its subscales for the faculty instrument and staff instrument.
Hovering on the name of the subscale provides a description of what it assesses.
Clicking on the subscale brings up the individual questions that make up the scale, along with their response distributions for each question. These distributions are good places to start for identifying collective action steps.
These data show response distributions for each of the subscales that measure what it takes to thrive, defined as the statistically significant predictors of thriving at UD. These data show response distributions for each of the subscales that measure what it takes to thrive.
Hovering on the name of the subscale provides a description of what it assesses.
Clicking on the subscale brings up the individual questions that make up the scale, along with their response distributions for each question. These distributions are good places to start for identifying collective action steps.
This dashboard shows the UD responses on the subscales for what it means to thrive and what it takes to thrive in comparison to a combined set of 7 institutions of comparable type and size who have administered the thriving survey.
Meaningful differences are indicated in red, based on tests of effect size.
This dashboard captures the qualitative responses to this question. The responses were coded into higher order themes (first column), and elements that make up the themes (second column). The responses are categorized as a function of the thriving quotient response, such that these distributions give a sense of the degree to which these elements are present for individuals who are thriving or not thriving and give another starting point for discussions about what to do next.
This dashboard captures the qualitative responses to this question. The responses were coded into higher order themes (first column), and elements that make up the themes (second column). The responses are categorized as a function of the thriving quotient response, such that these distributions give a sense of the degree to which these elements are present for individuals who are thriving or not thriving and give another starting point for discussions about what to do next.
This dashboard captures the qualitative responses to this question. The responses were coded into higher order themes (first column), and elements that make up the themes (second column). The responses are categorized as a function of the thriving quotient response, such that these distributions give a sense of the degree to which these elements are present for individuals who are thriving or not thriving and give another starting point for discussions about what to do next.
View question data for Staff (Note: This question was not asked to Faculty).
The appendix provides the mean response to each question on the survey, organized by the subscales for what it means to thrive and what it takes to thrive.
Looking at the individual questions may also be a starting point for identifying where thriving is strong and where thriving can be strengthened, and is another starting point for discussions about what to do next.
Presentation of the Data
Dr. Laurie Schreiner from the Thriving Project joined us on campus to share more about what it means to thrive, how the Thriving Quotient instrument works, and present a comprehensive summary of our Faculty and Staff survey results. If you haven’t seen it already, we encourage you to watch the presentation before exploring the dashboards — it provides helpful context for understanding and interpreting the data.
Watch: Faculty and Staff Pulse Survey Results: https://capture.udel.edu/media/1_d21utlpu/