Frequently Asked Questions

1. Why does the University conduct a survey of its faculty and staff?

Employee feedback is essential to identifying areas where the University is doing well and areas needing improvement. The survey is designed to gauge the opinions and needs of faculty and staff, and responses are applied in many different ways to help make UT a better place to work.

2. What topics does the survey cover?

The survey focuses on such workplace topics as pay, benefits, job satisfaction, professional development, work culture, performance evaluation, diversity, leadership and communication.

3. Who administers the survey?

The survey is administered by a third-party vendor that is selected through a competitive bid process every time.

The University partnered with ModernThink to conduct the 2011 and 2014 surveys. ModernThink has extensive expertise in workplace quality and employee engagement studies and has worked with more than 600 colleges and universities across the country.

4. How much time does it take to complete the survey?

About 20 minutes.

5. Why should I participate?

Your voice matters and your responses help the University identify areas needing attention. Higher response rates give a better understanding of employee opinions and needs. Please take advantage of the opportunity to comment.

6. Who is eligible to take the survey?

All regular, full- and part-time faculty and staff working at least 50 percent time are invited to take the survey.

7. How and when can I take the survey?

The survey is administered by an outside company and can only be accessed from the email invitation sent to all eligible employees by the survey vendor, ModernThink, on the first day of the survey live period. The email includes login information and instructions for taking the survey.

If you did not receive the email, deleted it or can’t find it, simply contact ModernThink’s helpdesk at (888) 684-4658 or surveys@modernthink.net and ask that it be resent.

It is important you read the instructions carefully and use the user name and randomly generated password to take the survey. The purpose of the unique login information is to ensure the survey isn’t being taken multiple times and that only employees eligible to take the survey are participating—regular faculty and staff scheduled to work at least 50 percent time.

Please do not forward your login information to anyone else. Only one survey can be submitted per password.

Supervisors are asked to ensure employees have time to fill out their survey during work hours. If you work in a high-traffic area and would like more privacy to complete the survey, please speak to your supervisor, human resources officer or call the HR Call Center at (888) 444-UTHR. Paper surveys also are available to employees without regular access to a computer.

If you need to step away from the survey at any time, your responses can be saved, and you can log in at a later time to complete the survey.

8. Will I have to identify myself to the University when completing the survey?

No. The survey vendor will give each employee a randomly generated user name and password to use when completing the survey. Employees are not required to enter their name, and providing demographic information is optional.

9. What if I don’t have access to a computer?

In addition to the electronic version, paper surveys are available and are distributed by supervisors and human resources officers. Please let them or the HR Call Center know if paper surveys have not been made available.

10. What do I do if I can’t find or didn’t receive the email survey invitation that has my login information?

Please contact ModernThink’s helpdesk at (888) 684-4658 or surveys@modernthink.net for instructions.

11. What happens after feedback is submitted?

ModernThink reviews and analyzes the results and shares them with the University. A University task force and entity-specific teams are appointed to analyze results, establish goals for improvement and monitor progress.

12. When will I hear a report on the findings?

All employees are invited to open forums on each campus and institute led by ModernThink and UT leadership to hear presentations and participate in discussions about the results.

13. How often is the survey administered?

The survey is administered every three years.