At the University of Alberta, people are our biggest strength. Our university is home to faculty and staff who are leaders in their fields – individuals with ideas, drive and talent who work tirelessly to make the U of A a beacon of high-quality education and research.
As the core of our institution, faculty and staff must feel valued, respected and included. That’s why we conducted a faculty and staff engagement survey this spring to understand engagement levels and to gather faculty and staff perceptions about the university’s strengths, as well as areas of opportunity. The results are intended to guide senior leadership's commitment to working together to continuously improve as a university.
Results from the 2023 Faculty and Staff Engagement Survey are available for our community to review.
- 51 per cent of faculty and staff participated in the survey.
- More than half (55 per cent) of the respondents want to see the university succeed and are willing to put in extra effort for the good of the university. This is the engagement score.
- 64 per cent of people surveyed feel their skills and abilities are fully utilized in their roles, and the university environment supports them in their work. This is the enablement score.
- Town halls on the survey results are available for all faculty and staff members to attend on November 6 and 16.
We have heard you. Although some results of the survey are humbling, they are not fully unexpected given the many changes and challenges over the last four years. There are clear areas for improvement, and senior leadership has work to do to build trust.
The survey results also highlighted areas of strength that we can take pride in. For example, the vast majority of respondents say they feel respected as individuals, and they have a good understanding of health and safety rules and procedures. Most respondents also rated their direct supervisor favourably, saying the person they report to treats them with respect and is accessible when needed.
These results are important reminders that we must always strive for improvements. And that’s exactly what we are going to do: improve. We will use these results as building blocks for positive change. Leaders will work within their teams to create action plans to address your feedback, and we will also continue to measure progress over time – including an additional survey in two years.
In the coming weeks, we will be starting work on an overarching People Strategy that will lead us forward. Building on – and responding to – the results of the Engagement Survey, the People Strategy will help us create a culture and environment that supports our people to do their best work, and to thrive personally and in their careers.
We will be holding consultations and collecting feedback as we develop the People Strategy, and we want you to participate in that process as well.
There are also a number of other institutional strategies that will feed into and inform the People Strategy, including A Culture of Care, Braiding Past, Present and Future, the Strategic Plan for EDI and the upcoming Student Experience Action Plan (SEAP).
We know that improvement is a continual process, especially in a large organization like the U of A, so the engagement survey and the consultations for the People Strategy are only two of the many tools we use to obtain feedback and make improvements to the university and its culture. We encourage you to continue providing feedback, ideas and suggestions through annual performance reviews, one-on-one meetings with your supervisor, town halls and project engagement opportunities and regular surveying about programs and services.
We want to thank everyone who participated in the survey. Your feedback and opinions are helping shape the future of the U of A as we go forward.
Todd Gilchrist, Vice-President (University Services and Finance)
Verna Yiu, Interim Provost and Vice-President (Academic)
The University of Alberta is committed to the safety, health and well-being of our faculty, staff and students. Every day, we advance this commitment to safety through the Culture of Care.