FAQs

A steering committee, along with a comprehensive advisory committee that included faculty and staff of all levels from across various colleges and units, diligently worked on the design and implementation of the survey in collaboration with our partner, ModernThink. ModernThink assisted the committees in customizing and administering the survey, ensuring confidentiality, and aiding in the dissemination of the results.

The survey statements solicit feedback on a broad range of topics focused around the following themes:

• Collaboration
• Communication
• Confidence in Leadership
• Faculty & Staff Well-being
• Job Satisfaction & Support
• Mission & Pride
• Performance Management
• Professional Development
• Supervisors/Department Chair Effectiveness

While a 100% response rate is not necessary, we like to see as high a response rate as possible. Average response rates for ModernThink surveys typically range between 40% and 65%. During the two weeks the survey is available we will be sharing our response rate with you all. We hope that each of you will use this information and opportunity to encourage your colleagues to participate.

A steering committee, along with a comprehensive advisory committee that included faculty and staff of all levels from across various colleges and units, diligently worked on the design and implementation of the survey in collaboration with our partner, ModernThink. ModernThink assisted the committees in customizing and administering the survey, ensuring confidentiality, and aiding in the dissemination of the results.

Our strategic plan prioritizes becoming a leading institution for work and learning in Central Florida, a goal that requires collective effort. To support this objective, we will be introducing a faculty and staff experience survey this fall. This survey is both confidential and anonymous, aimed at collecting essential insights into the experiences, needs, and suggestions of our faculty and staff. The information gathered will enable us to assess our current strengths and identify areas where our culture can be improved.
Collecting feedback from faculty and staff on their work experiences is critical for understanding effective practices and pinpointing areas that require attention. Soliciting candid and confidential feedback from all stakeholders is vital, and consistent follow-up on the survey results will be instrumental in guiding UCF toward future success. By fostering a supportive and enriching work environment, we are committed to achieving excellence across all areas of operation.

Understanding the key factors that impact our faculty and staff is critical r. UCF is dedicated to supporting both our people and our community, and it is imperative that we gather input from our faculty and staff regarding our work environment. The survey will establish a baseline for future feedback that informs our efforts to be a best place to work. This survey is the first step in a larger feedback process, part of a new, ongoing effort that underscores our collective commitment to continuous improvement and will play a crucial role in informing our strategic planning process.

ModernThink LLC is a nationally recognized organization with expertise in conducting surveys for higher education institutions. Their extensive experience in supporting universities to improve work and learning environments ensures that they will provide us with reliable and relevant data to guide our decision-making. Additionally, the higher education benchmark data provided by ModernThink will offer valuable insights into how UCF compares to other universities across the nation.

The survey statements solicit feedback on a broad range of topics focused around the following themes:

• Collaboration
• Communication
• Confidence in Leadership
• Faculty & Staff Well-being
• Job Satisfaction & Support
• Mission & Pride
• Performance Management
• Professional Development
• Supervisors/Department Chair Effectiveness

Your participation as a valued member of our UCF community is essential. Higher response rates improve the accuracy of the survey results, providing a clearer picture of UCF. This opportunity allows you to contribute your ideas, opinions, and solutions through the survey and the subsequent action planning. Your involvement is critical in demonstrating our collective commitment to continuous improvement.

Yes, participation in the survey is completely voluntary.

All faculty and staff (A&P and USPS) of UCF are invited and encouraged to participate in the survey. OPS employees, as well as students, are not eligible to participate.

All faculty and staff will be invited via email to take the survey hosted on ModernThink’s secure website. The survey is available for two weeks and may be extended depending on the response rate.

You will be asked to enter a username and password, which will be provided in an e-mail invitation sent to you directly by ModernThink.

You may take the survey at any time, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, from work or from home. Internet access is required.

The purpose of the survey is to get honest feedback. UCF is using an external partner (ModernThink) to administer the survey. It is web-based and automated with a secure internet connection.

Each 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. UCF has no access to this website. Your responses will be submitted directly to ModernThink’s database, and all processing will be done by ModernThink. You will not be asked your name on the survey. The email will include unique password information for each user. This information is stored on the ModernThink server. This information is for access only and will not be linked to your individual survey responses.

At no point will your manager or any other UCF employee see your individual survey results; they are combined and only reported back to UCF in the aggregate/grouped format. No one at UCF will know if or how you personally responded.

No. The survey will be completed on ModernThink’s private server. The email address is only used to access the survey and to ensure that only one survey is completed per faculty and staff member. Emails are purged from ModernThink’ s system once the survey project has been completed.

The demographic information (i.e. Gender, Age, Job Role, School, etc.) will help 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 5 or more respondents in a particular group. Although the demographics are an optional component of the survey, you are strongly encouraged to provide this information.

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.

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

While a 100% response rate is not necessary, we like to see as high a response rate as possible. Average response rates for ModernThink surveys typically range between 40% and 65%. During the two weeks the survey is available we will be sharing our response rate with you all. We hope that each of you will use this information and opportunity to encourage your colleagues to participate.

President Cartwright and senior leadership, along with the advisory committee, are dedicated to gathering feedback, identifying and prioritizing areas of action, sharing the findings with you, and developing follow-up plans to address your concerns. This commitment will help us collect concrete and relevant data to inform our decisions. It is important to note that action planning is a detailed process that may require time to implement effectively. We will provide updates as we progress in addressing the feedback and making improvements.

While the formal timeline for the next survey is not yet established, UCF is exploring a three-year cycle for repeating this process. This year’s results will provide us with important baseline data, allowing us to track and assess our progress over time.

The COACHE survey is specifically for full-time faculty, including all tenured and tenure-earning ranks, Instructor/Lecturer ranks, and full-time MD faculty. It captures faculty sentiment on various aspects of the academic workplace, such as teaching, service, research, tenure and promotion, departmental engagement, and collegiality. In contrast, the faculty and staff experience survey aims to understand the experiences of all campus members in support of our strategic plan. This broader survey gathers, summarizes, and synthesizes feedback from a wide range of stakeholders, helping leaders identify key themes, trends, and patterns to make informed, data-driven decisions.

The faculty and staff experience survey aims to gather genuine feedback from our campus community and use that information to inform strategic decisions for the betterment of our people and our institution. By capturing honest insights into the experiences of faculty and staff, we seek to identify areas for improvement and develop strategies that enhance our work environment. This approach is essential for driving positive change and supporting our ongoing commitment to institutional excellence and continuous improvement.

After the survey period is complete, ModernThink will analyze the data and deliver the results to the university in early Spring 2025. Following this, the President and senior leadership will share the findings with the university community. Action planning will then follow, based on the survey results, to address the identified areas for improvement and implement strategies for enhancement.

The online survey should take approximately 15 – 18 minutes to complete. If you are unable to complete the survey after you begin, you will have the option to save your responses and access them later.

The survey consists of statements that faculty and staff respond to using a five-point agreement scale (Strongly Agree, Agree, Sometimes Agree/Sometimes Disagree, Disagree, Strongly Disagree). Additionally, there is a Not Applicable response option. The survey instrument also includes item benefits satisfaction component and open-ended questions.

There are several demographic questions at the end of the survey (Gender Identity, Age, etc.). Participants are encouraged to provide responses, however you have the option of skipping any of the demographic questions if you have concerns regarding the anonymity of your responses. (See also “Are my survey responses confidential?” below.)

Our strategic plan prioritizes becoming a leading institution for work and learning in Central Florida, a goal that requires collective effort. To support this objective, we will be introducing a faculty and staff experience survey this fall. This survey is both confidential and anonymous, aimed at collecting essential insights into the experiences, needs, and suggestions of our faculty and staff. The information gathered will enable us to assess our current strengths and identify areas where our culture can be improved.
Collecting feedback from faculty and staff on their work experiences is critical for understanding effective practices and pinpointing areas that require attention. Soliciting candid and confidential feedback from all stakeholders is vital, and consistent follow-up on the survey results will be instrumental in guiding UCF toward future success. By fostering a supportive and enriching work environment, we are committed to achieving excellence across all areas of operation.

Understanding the key factors that impact our faculty and staff is critical r. UCF is dedicated to supporting both our people and our community, and it is imperative that we gather input from our faculty and staff regarding our work environment. The survey will establish a baseline for future feedback that informs our efforts to be a best place to work. This survey is the first step in a larger feedback process, part of a new, ongoing effort that underscores our collective commitment to continuous improvement and will play a crucial role in informing our strategic planning process.

ModernThink LLC is a nationally recognized organization with expertise in conducting surveys for higher education institutions. Their extensive experience in supporting universities to improve work and learning environments ensures that they will provide us with reliable and relevant data to guide our decision-making. Additionally, the higher education benchmark data provided by ModernThink will offer valuable insights into how UCF compares to other universities across the nation.

The COACHE survey is specifically for full-time faculty, including all tenured and tenure-earning ranks, Instructor/Lecturer ranks, and full-time MD faculty. It captures faculty sentiment on various aspects of the academic workplace, such as teaching, service, research, tenure and promotion, departmental engagement, and collegiality. In contrast, the faculty and staff experience survey aims to understand the experiences of all campus members in support of our strategic plan. This broader survey gathers, summarizes, and synthesizes feedback from a wide range of stakeholders, helping leaders identify key themes, trends, and patterns to make informed, data-driven decisions.

The faculty and staff experience survey aims to gather genuine feedback from our campus community and use that information to inform strategic decisions for the betterment of our people and our institution. By capturing honest insights into the experiences of faculty and staff, we seek to identify areas for improvement and develop strategies that enhance our work environment. This approach is essential for driving positive change and supporting our ongoing commitment to institutional excellence and continuous improvement.

Your participation as a valued member of our UCF community is essential. Higher response rates improve the accuracy of the survey results, providing a clearer picture of UCF. This opportunity allows you to contribute your ideas, opinions, and solutions through the survey and the subsequent action planning. Your involvement is critical in demonstrating our collective commitment to continuous improvement.

Yes, participation in the survey is completely voluntary.

All faculty and staff (A&P and USPS) of UCF are invited and encouraged to participate in the survey. OPS employees, as well as students, are not eligible to participate.

All faculty and staff will be invited via email to take the survey hosted on ModernThink’s secure website. The survey is available for two weeks and may be extended depending on the response rate.

You will be asked to enter a username and password, which will be provided in an e-mail invitation sent to you directly by ModernThink.

You may take the survey at any time, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, from work or from home. Internet access is required.

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.

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

The online survey should take approximately 15 – 18 minutes to complete. If you are unable to complete the survey after you begin, you will have the option to save your responses and access them later.

The survey consists of statements that faculty and staff respond to using a five-point agreement scale (Strongly Agree, Agree, Sometimes Agree/Sometimes Disagree, Disagree, Strongly Disagree). Additionally, there is a Not Applicable response option. The survey instrument also includes item benefits satisfaction component and open-ended questions.

There are several demographic questions at the end of the survey (Gender Identity, Age, etc.). Participants are encouraged to provide responses, however you have the option of skipping any of the demographic questions if you have concerns regarding the anonymity of your responses. (See also “Are my survey responses confidential?” below.)

The purpose of the survey is to get honest feedback. UCF is using an external partner (ModernThink) to administer the survey. It is web-based and automated with a secure internet connection.

Each 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. UCF has no access to this website. Your responses will be submitted directly to ModernThink’s database, and all processing will be done by ModernThink. You will not be asked your name on the survey. The email will include unique password information for each user. This information is stored on the ModernThink server. This information is for access only and will not be linked to your individual survey responses.

At no point will your manager or any other UCF employee see your individual survey results; they are combined and only reported back to UCF in the aggregate/grouped format. No one at UCF will know if or how you personally responded.

No. The survey will be completed on ModernThink’s private server. The email address is only used to access the survey and to ensure that only one survey is completed per faculty and staff member. Emails are purged from ModernThink’ s system once the survey project has been completed.

The demographic information (i.e. Gender, Age, Job Role, School, etc.) will help 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 5 or more respondents in a particular group. Although the demographics are an optional component of the survey, you are strongly encouraged to provide this information.

President Cartwright and senior leadership, along with the advisory committee, are dedicated to gathering feedback, identifying and prioritizing areas of action, sharing the findings with you, and developing follow-up plans to address your concerns. This commitment will help us collect concrete and relevant data to inform our decisions. It is important to note that action planning is a detailed process that may require time to implement effectively. We will provide updates as we progress in addressing the feedback and making improvements.

While the formal timeline for the next survey is not yet established, UCF is exploring a three-year cycle for repeating this process. This year’s results will provide us with important baseline data, allowing us to track and assess our progress over time.

After the survey period is complete, ModernThink will analyze the data and deliver the results to the university in early Spring 2025. Following this, the President and senior leadership will share the findings with the university community. Action planning will then follow, based on the survey results, to address the identified areas for improvement and implement strategies for enhancement.