Dear Colleagues,
I wanted to share with you an overview of action taken to date in response to information
learned from last year’s Employee Satisfaction Survey.
You may recall that there were a number of dimensions that were explored in the survey.
The bullet points below are organized around some of those dimensions and detail what
we have accomplished thus far.
Collaboration and Transparency
• Associated with transparency, based on questions and concerns that came from Staff
Conference regarding enrollment, Eduardo Prieto and I spent the majority of one of
the Staff Conference meetings to answer specific questions and provide information
regarding the challenges facing college/university recruitment and admissions.
• We invited faculty and staff from across campus in a variety of positions to participate
in focus group discussions regarding information learned from the Employee Satisfaction
Survey and to inform the development of a compensation philosophy as part of the Classification
and Compensation Study (we also continue to update this section of the website as
appropriate).
• We have changed the budget process, which now allows for more input during the budget
building process and involves more employees at different levels in the budget request
process. We are also providing quarterly budget reports to areas to provide the most
current information and to allow people more information to help them manage the budgets
in their respective areas. We hope these changes will address concerns that led to
a lower rating on the survey regarding the level at which budget decisions are made.
• We are establishing a campus-wide committee to address the development and maintenance
of various calendars that affect all Winthrop employees (such as the academic calendar,
5-year calendar, holiday calendar, etc.)
• We are currently reconstituting the university marketing team into a Marketing Advisory
Council representing all areas of campus. This group will engage in high-level, university-wide
marketing strategy discussion, heavily informed by current recruitment initiatives
and goals.
• A cross-section of faculty and academic administrators met with all colleges and
the library to solicit recommendations on ways to improve tenure and promotion processes.
Action items related to the processes have been presented to Faculty Conference for
review and subsequent vote.
Professional Development and Training
• We are using the budget request process to evaluate the distribution of professional
development and training funding across campus.
• We developed and recently opened the Center for Professional Excellence, which will
provide better coordination and promotion of learning and development opportunities
for Winthrop’s faculty, staff, administrators, and—as appropriate—student workers.
Pay and Benefits
• We continue work with our partner, Sibson, on the Classification and Compensation
Study. At its conclusion, employees can expect a better understanding of how their
individual pay and compensation compares to market data; how pay-related decisions
are made at Winthrop; and how a multi-year plan will address pay inequities at Winthrop.
• Information was shared earlier on our new Employee Assistance Program that will
provide employees with resources to address personal issues and work-related distractions
that may interfere with well-being and work performance.
I hope you find this update regarding our follow up efforts to the Employee Satisfaction
Survey helpful. We are by no means finished with our work and are currently working
on several other items, but wanted to report on what has been done. Thanks to all
involved for working on these varied and important initiatives.
Sincerely,
Dan
