2004 Employee Survey
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
July 2004

The organizational climate of the college is the product of the interactions and relationships among SPC employees who work together to accomplish our institutional mission and fulfill our vision of improving each student’s life. The 2004 Employee Survey was redesigned by the Institutional Effectiveness Committee to serve as a better measure of employee satisfaction with the overall work environment of the college. The survey was conducted completely as an online process this year. A total of 333 employees responded to the survey, a 10.7% decrease from the record number of participants (373) for the 2002 survey.

The results of the 2004 Employee Survey indicate that the current organizational climate is supportive of the college’s seven areas of commitment that form the college’s system of organizational values. Commitment to students, educational excellence and access and diversity remain the most positive factors about South Plains College as seen by employees. As in previous Employee Surveys, the college’s dedication to students emerged as the number one thing employees do not want to see changed. The college’s friendly work environment that is characterized by supportive and cooperative co-workers and a sense of family was also identified as highly valued factors in working at SPC. These findings do not deviate from those of previous surveys.

The attached analysis also includes new data that describes the degree of employee agreement with the 53 statements that comprise the survey. Employees had high level of agreement (greater than 70%) for 38 of the statements. These data indicates that subscale factors pertaining to student focus, learning focus, employee empowerment, supervisory management, internal employee relations, physical environment, community focus and leadership are viewed positively by employees.

The survey also identifies areas that employees feel are in need of improvement. These include, in order of importance: better salaries, better or improved facilities, better internal communications, better parking, technology improvement, better budget resources, better intradepartmental cooperation, and expanded professional development. The data would also suggest that employees desire to be more informed about and involved in planning and effectiveness and budget decisions. The issue of salaries was identified by 114 respondents in the survey compared to 90 respondents in the 2002 survey. Only 57 respondents cited better and improved facilities as a concern, down from the 72 comments made in the 2002 survey. More care to students, the number three concern in 2002 with 48 responses, dropped to number 20 with this survey.

As in past years, those employees identifying themselves as administration continue to be more positive in their responses. Professional non-faculty respondents were also generally more positive in their responses than classified personnel and faculty. While a number of new statements were added to the survey and others omitted, 27 statements from the previous surveys were retained. Means for these statements from the 2002 survey are provided in this report as a point of comparison (Attachment B). Were comparisons are available, subscale means that declined from the 2002 survey include employee empowerment, cooperation and teamwork, and rewards and recognition.

In summary, SPC employees see South Plains College as a great place to work. Overwhelmingly, survey respondents believe they are contributing to the success of the college and indicate they are proud to work at SPC. It’s clear SPC employees are committed to working together to continue to make SPC a quality educational institution, while tackling the challenges that come with unprecedented growth.

The following report provides a fairly comprehensive analysis of the survey data and identifies possible action items for planning purposes.

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