The Great Colleges to Work For (GCTWF) survey is back!  On Monday, March 24, all full-time faculty and staff will receive an email invitation to participate. 

What is the Great Colleges to Work For survey? 
The Great Colleges to Work For survey is the primary employee survey used by the University to gather feedback on our workplace culture. The survey is administered by ModernThink, a management-consulting firm focusing on workplace quality in higher education.  More information about the Great Colleges to Work For survey is available at greatcollegesprogram.com. 

Why should I participate? 
Your voice matters and your responses help the University identify opportunities to improve workplace satisfaction and engagement. Your responses provide valuable insight into employee opinions and needs. Overall responses are reviewed to identify actionable areas for improvement over the next year. For our last ‘Great Colleges’ Survey, 67% of full-time faculty and staff responded to the survey. This year, we are aiming to match or exceed that response rate. The higher the response rate, the more accurate and complete the results.  

Is participation mandatory? 
Participation is voluntary, although we do hope you will take advantage of this opportunity to share your feedback and make sure your voice is heard. A high response rate will help ensure an accurate representation of employee perspectives. 

Are my responses confidential? 
By having a third-party provider facilitate the survey process, your participation and the feedback you provide will be completely anonymous . No one at Drake will be able to trace results back to individuals. Drake will receive reports summarizing the results, but will not have access to any individual response data. Furthermore, ModernThink does not report back results for areas that have less than five respondents.  Learn more by reading the Statement of Confidentiality. 

When and how do I participate? 
The 2025 survey period begins Monday, March 24^th, and ends Friday, April 4^th. The survey is administered online by ModernThink. Full-time faculty and staff will receive an email invitation to participate in the survey from ModernThink on March 24. 

How long will it take to complete the survey? 
It typically takes about 10-15 minutes to complete the survey depending on the amount of feedback you provide. 

How is the data used and will the results be shared? 
Consistent with past practice, a summary of the university survey results will be shared with employees and will be used to identify our strengths and opportunities for improvement. All of our units on campus, with greater than five employees, will also have results shared with that unit-leader. Several key measures and targets in the University’s continuous improvement plan (CIP), and in many unit-level CIP’s, are tied directly to feedback from the survey. ModernThink also provides valuable benchmark data that we can use to compare our results against other similar institutions. This information helps senior leaders and individual units can make informed, strategic decisions about improving our culture. 

Can I complete the survey during work hours? 
Yes. Faculty and staff are encouraged to complete the survey during working hours. Completing the survey is an important contribution that you can make to strengthen our campus community. 

For further questions, contact Nate Reagen or Erica Kluver.   

Thanks for your support in advance! 

It is important to know what to do if law enforcement comes to campus to request information or access. Last week faculty and staff received an email highlighting what steps to take should that occur. That information is now posted on the Human Resources internal site here. The key thing to remember is that if law enforcement requests information or access, even with a judicial warrant, the first step is to notify Public Safety at 515-271-2222 and ask law enforcement to wait until an authorized representative is contacted. The Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA) protects the confidentiality of student records and personally identifiable student information and similarly, there are also protections for certain information about employees. To ensure we adhere to these laws and policies, it is important that only authorized individuals respond to requests for information from law enforcement. Please read the guidance carefully. Questions can be directed to Scott Law (scott.law@drake.edu) or Venessa Macro (venessa.macro@drake.edu).

— Venessa Macro, Chief Administration Officer