Survey Methodology – Great Colleges To Work For

The Great Colleges to Work For® program is designed to recognize institutions that have been successful in creating great workplaces, and to further our research and understanding of the factors, dynamics and influences that have the greatest impact on organizational culture at institutions of higher education.

At the core of the program is a two-part assessment process: a faculty/staff survey (The ModernThink Higher Education Insight Survey©) and an institutional audit capturing information detailing various institution demographics, policies, practices and infrastructure (The ModernThink Institution Questionnaire© also known as the”IQ”).

Each participating institution is asked to submit an email list of full-time faculty/staff randomly selected across four categories (Administration, Faculty, Exempt Professional Staff and Non-exempt Staff) to participate in the survey. Adjunct faculty are included only for community colleges.

To be eligible for participation, institutions must be non-profit, located in the United States, and have at least 500 students.

Free To Participate
Online and Completely Confidential
Benchmarking Data

Oversampling Customization Important Forms & Documents

Sample Sizes
< 500 Employees
501-1K Employees
1K+ Employees

Sample sizes are determined based on the number of employees in the various categories.

The ModernThink Higher Education Insight Survey© is a faculty/staff survey derived in part from the ModernThink Insight Survey©, an assessment tool that has been used in over 55 “Best Place to Work” programs with more than 4,000 organizations. The survey measures the extent to which employees are involved and engaged in the organization and ultimately, the quality of the workplace experience.

The survey measures 10 core dimensions reflecting managerial and organizational competencies. The survey also includes a Faculty Experience dimension, comprising statements posed to Faculty and Adjuncts only. Benchmark data is compiled across Carnegie Classification, Region, Enrollment Size and Public/Private status.

The core survey contains 55 statements, plus an additional 5 Faculty Experience statements for Faculty and Adjuncts only. The instrument utilizes a five-point agreement scale (Strongly Agree, Agree, Sometimes Agree/Sometimes Disagree, Disagree, Strongly Disagree), along with a Not Applicable response option. The survey instrument also includes a 20-item benefits satisfaction component and two open-ended questions.

There Are Eight Voluntary Demographic Questions at The End of The Survey:

Years at Institution
Remote Work
College/School or Division/Department
Gender Identity
Age
Race/Ethnicity
Academic Role (For Faculty Only)
Tenure Status (For Faculty at 4-year Colleges Only)

There Are Also Two Pre-Loaded Demographics, That Is, Employees Are Tagged With These Demographic Choices:

Job Category
Employment Status (Part-time or Full-time)

Four-year Schools: ALL Administrators, Faculty and Exempt Professional Staff. An average of 15% of your sample will be allotted to Non-exempts (percentage varies by sample and school size).

Two-year Schools: ALL Administrators, Faculty and Exempt Professional Staff. An average of 8% and 19% of your sample will be allotted to Non-exempts and Adjuncts, respectively (percentages vary by sample and school size).

There Are Eight Voluntary Demographic Questions at The End of The Survey:

Years at Institution
Remote Work
College/School or Division/Department
Gender Identity
Age
Race/Ethnicity
Academic Role (For Faculty Only)
Tenure Status (For Faculty at 4-year Colleges Only)

There Are Also Two Pre-Loaded Demographics, That Is, Employees Are Tagged With These Demographic Choices:

Job Category
Employment Status (Part-time or Full-time)

Four-year Schools: Up to 400 randomly selected employees among the four eligible job categories. An average of 15% of your sample will be allotted to Non-exempts (percentage varies by sample and school size).

Two-year Schools: Up to 400 randomly selected employees among the five eligible job categories. An average of 8% and 19% of your sample will be allotted to Non-exempts and Adjuncts, respectively (percentages vary by sample and school size).

There Are Eight Voluntary Demographic Questions at The End of The Survey:

Years at Institution
Remote Work
College/School or Division/Department
Gender Identity
Age
Race/Ethnicity
Academic Role (For Faculty Only)
Tenure Status (For Faculty at 4-year Colleges Only)

There Are Also Two Pre-Loaded Demographics, That Is, Employees Are Tagged With These Demographic Choices:

Job Category
Employment Status (Part-time or Full-time)

Four-year Schools: Up to 600 randomly selected employees among the four eligible job categories. An average of 15% of your sample will be allotted to Non-exempts (percentage varies by sample and school size).

Two-year Schools: Up to 600 randomly selected employees among the five eligible job categories. An average of 8% and 19% of your sample will be allotted to Non-exempts and Adjuncts, respectively (percentages vary by sample and school size).

There Are Eight Voluntary Demographic Questions at The End of The Survey:

Years at Institution
Remote Work
College/School or Division/Department
Gender Identity
Age
Race/Ethnicity
Academic Role (For Faculty Only)
Tenure Status (For Faculty at 4-year Colleges Only)

There Are Also Two Pre-Loaded Demographics, That Is, Employees Are Tagged With These Demographic Choices:

Job Category
Employment Status (Part-time or Full-time)