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UA employees want more recognition, communication

UA employees want more recognition, communication on necessary information and concern and care, according to results of a December survey ordered by Gov. Jane Hull.

University of Arizona employees also stated they have the opportunity to learn and understand what is expected of them at work.

Hull requested last semester that all state employees complete a survey regarding job satisfaction as part of her goal of high customer service, said Francie Noyes, the governor's press secretary.

Saundra Taylor, UA vice president for Campus Life, said the survey gave a "preliminary" glimpse to employee satisfaction, and a more in-depth survey by UA Human Resources is planned for the fall.

"The survey was encouraging in that overall employees were satisfied this is a good place to work," Taylor said.

Noyes said Hull wanted a survey conducted to detect areas to make improvements in state employee satisfaction.

"I'm sure we will use this to formulate proposals, but we simply haven't completed the process yet," she said.

FMR Associates, Inc., a market research firm based in Tucson, conducted a telephone survey in December of about 125 UA faculty, 100 appointed personnel and 275 classified staff.

The firm asked employees 11 questions ordered by the governor.

Taylor said plans are in the works to bring more recognition to UA employees.

She said UA's Faculty Senate, Appointed Personnel Committee and Staff Advisory Council will unite to bring more employees recognition.

Jerrold Hogle, English professor and Faculty Chairman, said he agreed that UA employees need more recognition and more communication of necessary information.

"I think a lot of this can be improved with training at the department head level," Hogle said.

Hogle said the Program For Academic Leadership has been training new department heads, and the processes employed there could be beneficial for all campus leaders.

"The current program works on things like better communication and better recognition," he said.

Hogle said he thought the survey was accurate in reflecting UA employee satisfaction, but he added the UA faces special challenges because it is a large institution.

"People tend to feel anonymous in a huge place," Hogle said. "My hope is that people who are staff members can feel more a part of the community."

Improvements should be focused on individual departments rather than the university as a whole.

"A lot depends on the quality of leadership in different units on campus. Working on individual departments might help," he said.

Hogle also said faculty members should get credited for all the hours they spend working. Right now, they're expected to spend 40 percent of their time on research, 40 percent on teaching, and 20 percent on service, but that can fluctuate, and professors should be compensated for it.

"If we made better use of those percentages, we'd recognize people more for what they do rather than for following a pattern," he added.

Noyes said Hull is pleased with the overall results of state employee job satisfaction.

"Three-fourths of state employees are satisfied with their job and satisfied with what they're doing," she said. "As a generality, she was pleased with the results."

Taylor said the last time a comprehensive, in-depth UA employee survey was conducted was in the 1992-1993 school year.

"We can say that the climate for working at the University of Arizona is perceived to be better than it was six to seven years ago," Taylor said.

She said the UA is doing a better job of announcing job positions with memos, orientating employees and has reorganized Human Resources to be more responsive. She added that she thinks employees now have a better sense of who to call to get answers.

Past surveys state that employees want more training, supervisory experience and career/vocational development, Taylor said.

UA President Peter Likins is invoking a policy that would require employees to have 16 hours of in-service training a year, Taylor said. She added that a memo is being organized to notify deans, directors and department heads regarding this training.