Olivia Medovich
Staff writer
The annual MSU Staff Perspective Survey is currently available for all full-time employees to make recommendations for improvements to University policies.
The staff regent and Staff Congress work together to organize all results into a report, Gina Winchester, staff congress president, said. The report is given to the Board of Regents and upper administrators for review.
Winchester started the survey in 2006 when she served as the staff representative for the Board of Regents.
She said the results from the survey are valued and utilized to improve the University.
“It is always good to have a feedback mechanism for an institution like this,” she said. “The people who are here working day-in and day-out are the most important.”
She said Staff Congress worked to update the questions for the 2011 staff survey sent via email to all full-time employees.
“This year we felt, since it had been five years of using the same survey we needed to go back and add some information so it doesn’t look like the same exact survey every year,” Winchester said.
She said the survey has helped make changes to some University policies.
From the 2010 survey report a staff member suggested any full-time employee who has worked at the University for 20 years or more should receive a free parking pass in an effort to increase the benefit package, she said. The suggestion went on to be approved by administration and the Board of Regents.
She said the 2011 surveys were sent out the beginning of September and Staff Congress hopes to have them all in by the end of November.
Phil Schooley, staff regent, said out of the 1,206 surveys sent so far 543 have been filled out.
Schooley said being able to send the surveys via email has helped increase participation.
Staff Congress began sending the surveys via email in 2009.
“We started out getting only 40 percent participation,” Schooley said. “The last two years we have received over 50 percent.”
He said staff congress generally receives positive feedback from the survey results.
“People are really appreciative of Murray State and we get good solid responses from people,” he said.
It benefits the University in many aspects, Schooley said. Over the years it has improved over all employment at the University.
“It makes me feel good that we are trying to accomplish something and get something done,” Schooley said. “What we do does help.”
Several employees have commented on the survey and said they like having an opportunity to voice their opinion, Schooley said.
According to survey results from last year 97 percent of staff agreed they were proud to say they work for Murray State.
All surveys are kept anonymous and prompts employees to answer numerous questions regarding general employment, overall institutional impression, upper administration, working environment, benefits and pay, recognition and communication and teamwork.
Staff Congress is hoping to have the survey results complied by the middle of January and present it to the Board of Regents at the meeting March 2, 2012.
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