Frequently Asked Questions
Last updated: Feb-01-2021
The Transforming our World Strategic Plan includes a focus on promoting a welcoming and inclusive campus climate, along with values around engagement, shared governance, leadership, inclusion and well-being. In response to these goals/values, we hired ModernThink in 2018 to conduct a customized Faculty/Staff Engagement Survey and a Student Engagement Survey for UTRGV. Over the last 2 years, departments worked hard to develop action plans and measure their progress towards their goals. We are committed to continue this important process and are partnering with ModernThink again for a second survey that will be launched February 8, 2021. This second survey will assess our progress in these areas and will allow us to develop a plan to strengthen our campus climate further.
Faculty and staff across the Division of Health Affairs will have an opportunity to participate in a separate StandPoint™ Survey, administered by AAMC, starting February 9, 2021. The feedback will help understand the unique needs and identify ways of improving collaboration and overall satisfaction among Health Affairs faculty and staff. The Division of Health Affairs will inform you on the progress on a number of initiatives that have been implemented based on the feedback you provided in the last survey, and share with you how they plan to roll out the new surveys. For further questions on the StandPoint Engagement Surveys for the Division of Health Affairs, please contact Dr. SJ Sethi at sj.sethi@utrgv.edu or for more information about this survey tool visit the AAMC site here.
All full-time faculty and full-time staff employed by January 4, 2021, and all students enrolled by January 27, 2021 will be surveyed.
Employees under the Division of Health Affairs will participate in a StandPoint™ Engagement Survey administered by AAMC.
Yes, participation is completely voluntary. However, your participation in this survey is important as it will significantly influence the University – and the greater UTRGV community – for years to come.
As a UTRGV faculty, staff, and/or student, your voice matters. Higher response rates give a more accurate picture of the university and its individual departments. This is a significant opportunity for you to share your ideas, opinions, and solutions by participating in both the survey and the action planning that will follow.
Monday, February 8, 2021 – Monday, February 22, 2021. You will receive an email from ModernThink with your survey invite link on February 8, 2021.
The survey for the Division of Health Affairs will be administered from February 9th to March 12th.
The survey will be administered online and will be available in English and Spanish. Expect a survey invite link to be sent to your UTRGV email address on Monday, February 8, 2021.
Yes. The survey is mobile-friendly and can be completed on a PC/laptop, tablet, or smart phone, and even at home or a public computer.
Completing this Campus Climate Survey is an important business function of UTRGV. Time spent completing the survey may be considered work time. No UTRGV faculty or staff member will be charged personal time for completing the survey. You can take the survey anytime in the 2-week timeframe from February 8 – February 22, 2021.
Faculty, staff, or students who don't have access to a computer may use the computers located in the Office of Human Resources at Edinburg: EMASS 2.126 or Brownsville: BVAQ2 1.200. The survey is also mobile friendly and can be completed on a mobile device.
ModernThink, founded in 2003, a nationally recognized organizational development firm with expertise in higher education surveying, will administer the survey. ModernThink developed the survey based on ongoing research of organizations that have been successful in building workplace cultures that enhance performance. UTRGV was given the opportunity to add additional questions based on feedback from a Steering Committee comprised of representatives from UTRGV Faculty, Staff Senate, Student Government Association, Human Resources, Campus Connect, UMC, and Student Life.
The ModernThink Higher Education Insight Survey© is an employee engagement survey derived in part from the ModernThink Insight Survey©, an assessment tool that has been used in over 50 “Best Places to Work” programs with more than 4,000 organizations. In 2008, ModernThink convened a blue-ribbon panel of experts and professionals from across higher education to solicit input regarding the customization of the ModernThink Higher Education Insight Survey© so that it would best reflect the dynamics, systems, and demographics unique to higher education. ModernThink has surveyed universities across the country and have accumulated an unparalleled database of higher education benchmarking statistics and best practices using their ModernThink Higher Education Insight Survey©.
The ModernThink Higher Education Student Experience Survey© is designed to complement the ModernThink faculty/staff survey and create a 360 degree view of a campus culture. Student survey results will be used to strengthen and improve relationships on campus, build a connection to the university’s mission and goals, surface risk management issues, highlight what in the UTRGV culture gives students a sense of belonging, and in doing so, enhance students’ likelihood of academic success. Staff interaction is, in most cases, the first experience students have on campus, so gathering student perceptions of staff, as well as faculty, is important.
The StandPoint Engagement Surveys for the Division of Health Affairs will be administered by the AAMC. A team from the AAMC will provide external support through the delivery of the StandPoint Engagement Surveys, which will benchmark faculty and staff engagement levels with peer institutions, providing actionable data to evaluate. For further questions on the StandPoint Engagement Surveys for the Division of Health Affairs, please contact Dr. SJ Sethi at sj.sethi@utrgv.edu or for more information about this survey tool visit the AAMC site here.
This survey is specifically designed to assess our progress in faculty/staff engagement and student engagement. The initial baseline survey allowed us to set meaningful goals, prioritize resources and influence outcomes. This second survey will allow us to measure progress and show in which areas we were able to move the needle in the right direction and will also show our current areas of opportunity.
All full-time faculty, full-time staff, and registered students will be surveyed. If you are both a student and a faculty or staff member, you will receive both the student survey and the faculty/staff survey. Please complete them both. Your perspective as a student and as a faculty/staff member is important.
Your answers will be stored each time you select the SAVE & CONTINUE button at the bottom of a survey page. If you get interrupted, you can come back to the survey. You will need to log on to the ModernThink survey site to re-access the survey. To protect your confidentiality, you will not be able to access the survey after you click the SUBMIT button on the last page of the survey.
Updated: Feb-01-2021
Everyone who completes the survey is making an investment in improving the climate at UTRGV. To thank students for participating, ModernThink will randomly select up to 100 students who complete the survey by February 22, 2021 to win $25 of VBucks. Winners will be notified by email.
Updated: Feb-01-2021
Everyone who completes the survey is making an investment in improving the climate at UTRGV. To thank employees for participating, ModernThink will randomly select up to 100 employees who complete the survey to win surprise UTRGV swag. Winners will be notified by email.
For technical questions or problems with the survey site please contact ModernThink at (888) 684-4658 or surveys@modernthink.com, M-F 9:00 a.m. - 5:00 p.m. EST. After hours, leave a message and your call will be returned as promptly as possible.
Yes. The purpose of the survey is to get honest feedback which is why UTRGV is using an external partner (ModernThink) to administer the survey. It is web-based and automated with a secure internet connection.
Each student, faculty, and staff member will receive an email invitation from ModernThink to participate in the survey. Once you click on the survey link, you will go directly to ModernThink’s website. UTRGV has no access to this website.
Your responses will be sent directly to, and processed by, ModernThink LLC, an independent research and consulting firm that specializes in workplace excellence. No individual or office at UTRGV will ever have access to the responses; ModernThink will conduct all analyses. UTRGV will not be given any information that would enable the university to trace answers back to a specific person - even if you are part of a small demographic group. Results from demographic categories containing fewer than five respondents will not be reported. The survey is completed on ModernThink’s confidential website. Your email address is only used to access the survey and to ensure that only one survey per employee is completed. Emails are purged from ModernThink’s system once the survey project has been completed.
The faculty/staff survey will have 60 standard survey statements and 3 open-ended questions which measure 15 dimensions reflecting all the employees' experience. 19 questions have been added to the faculty/staff survey by the steering committee touching on experiences that are unique to UTRGV. A few questions are very Faculty or Staff specific and will only been shown to the corresponding target audience. There are 7 demographic questions and 21 benefits questions. ModernThink reports that the average respondent spends approximately 20 minutes completing the survey.
The student survey follows a similar format but includes 36 standard survey statements, 3 open-ended questions, and 8 questions have been added to the student survey by the steering committee touching on experiences that are unique to UTRGV. 14 questions also ask about demographic characteristics. Most students take less than 20 minutes to complete this survey.
ModernThink will provide UTRGV a summary of all responses to all optional, open-ended questions at the end of the survey. The report will list all responses to those questions in alphabetical order by the first letter of the response to ensure confidentiality in reporting. In order to preserve your anonymity, please do not include your name or other identifying remarks in your responses.
The belief statements address key dimensions of employee and student engagement, including job satisfaction, institutional pride, communication, and fairness. Examples of belief statements are “My job makes good use of my skills and abilities,” “I am provided sufficient support and resources from this institution to succeed academically,” “Faculty care about me as an individual,” and “I understand how my job contributes to this institution's mission.” Respondents will answer how strongly they agree or disagree on a five-point scale, or they can select ‘not applicable.’ The benefits questions gauge employee satisfaction on a five-point satisfaction scale with a variety of benefits programs provided by the UT System/UTRGV.
The demographic information helps ModernThink better understand the patterns and themes in the survey data. As the confidentiality of your responses is critical, ModernThink will not report your individual demographic data. Group demographic data will only be reported when there are five or more respondents in a particular group.
Although “morale” is not itself easily measurable, this survey is intended to cover many issues to which students and employees typically refer when speaking of “morale”. These dimensions include job satisfaction and support, collaboration, respect and appreciation, pride, and fairness.
The President, Executive Leadership Team and Steering Committee are committed to working closely with the Faculty Senate, Staff Senate, and Student Government Association to share the findings, gather feedback, identify priority areas of action, and develop action plans to address them.
This is our second survey, after the initial baseline survey in 2018. UTRGV is committed to continuing investing in our campus climate. We will continue to measure our progress on a regular basis.
If you have any questions, concerns or suggestions regarding the survey and/or the survey process, please do not hesitate to contact Human Resources at (956) 665-2451 or hr@utrgv.edu, or Liz Flood, Project Manager at ModernThink, at (888) 684-4658 or lflood@modernthink.com.
For further questions on the StandPoint Engagement Surveys for the Division of Health Affairs, please contact Dr. SJ Sethi at sj.sethi@utrgv.edu or for more information about this survey tool visit the AAMC site here.