2017

North Dakota University System

Bismarck, North Dakota

NDUS Office Fall 2017 Climate

Survey Report
November 21, 2017

REPORT ON THE RESULTS OF THE NORTH DAKOTA STATE

UNIVERSITY SYSTEM OFFICE CLIMATE SURVEY
DISTRIBUTED OCTOBER 24, 2017.

NORTH DAKOTA UNIVERSITY SYSTEM COMPLIANCE OFFICE

Contents
Conveyance Letter.....2

Objective and Scope..3

.
Executive Summary...4

Survey Results ..........5

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 NDUS Compliance Office
State Capitol 600 E. Boulevard Ave.
Dept. 215
Bismarck, ND 58505-0602
Phone: 701-328-4150
Email: karol.riedman@ndus.edu

Conveyance Letter

November 21, 2017

North Dakota State Board of Higher Education

Mr. Don Morton, Chair

At your request, the NDUS Compliance Office prepared and distributed a Climate Survey to North
Dakota University System Office (NDUSO) employees on October 24, 2017. The objective of the
survey was to collect general information regarding the office workplace climate, as well as to
follow up on a 2016 informal survey regarding Chancellor Hagerotts leadership and
communication. The results of this survey are included in this report.

Inquiries or comments relating to this report may be directed to me at (701) 328-4150.

Respectfully submitted,

Karol K. Riedman, CPA CIA CGMA

NDUS Compliance Officer

CC: North Dakota State Board of Higher Education

Dr. Mark Hagerott, Chancellor, NDUS

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Objective and Scope
Objective -- The objective of the climate survey was to collect general information regarding the present
NDUS office workplace climate, and to record any changes in the perception of the workplace climate and
Chancellor Hagerotts communication and leadership style since July 2016.

Scope At the request of the SBHE Chair Don Morton, a climate survey was prepared and distributed to
NDUSO staff and several Core Technology Services (CTS) staff who regularly interact with the system
office. Each participant received an email link to the electronic survey, which was valid for only one
attempt. Participant names, email addresses and IP addresses were not linked to the survey responses, in
order to preserve anonymity.

The survey consisted of ten statements with a five-point Likert scale of responses. Responses of Agree
or Strongly Agree indicate agreement or a positive response to the question, while Disagree or Strongly
Disagree would indicate the opposite. A neutral response of Neither agree or disagree was also an
option. The final question consisted of an optional opportunity to add comments and feedback.

The survey was distributed on October 24, 2017 and was closed on November 3, 2017. A total of 28
surveys were distributed, and responses from 26 participants were recorded; a response rate of 92.86%.
The survey tool did not require participants to answer every question, therefore less than 26 responses
could be recorded for each individual question. As this is the initial formal survey of this type, there is no
comparative statistical data to be reported.

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Executive Summary
SBHE Chair Don Morton requested a climate survey be performed to collect general information regarding
the present NDUS office workplace climate. The survey also requested staff perceptions of changes in the
workplace climate and in Chancellor Hagerotts communication and leadership style since July 2016, when
a performance evaluation recommended improvements in these areas.

Overall, the survey results indicate a positive workplace climate. The first six questions addressed general
workplace topics:

1. The NDUS offers a positive workplace climate.

2. Leadership is open to input from employees.
3. I receive recognition or feedback for my work.
4. I feel that I am a valued employee within the organization.
5. At the present time, I feel that I can express my opinion on work issues without fear of reprisals.
6. I am treated with respect by my supervisor.

These six questions received a total of 150 responses, with only five disagree and one strongly disagree
response. Three of these questions had no negative responses at all. Nine responses were neutral. The
most common response for the climate questions was Strongly Agree (83 responses = 55.33%), followed
by Agree (52 responses = 34.67%). Total positive responses for the six general climate questions was
135 of 150, which is 90%.

The remaining questions related to staff perception of the workplace climate and Chancellor Hagerotts
leadership and communication style as compared to July 2016.

7. Workplace climate - 70.59% of respondents felt the workplace climate had improved over that
period of time, 17.65% were neutral and 11.76% (consisting of two responses) did not feel the
climate had improved.
8. Communication style - 68.75% of respondents felt the Chancellors communication style had
shown improvement, with the remaining 31.25% neutral. There were no negative responses.
9. Leadership style 64.71% of respondents felt the Chancellors leadership style had shown
improvement. 29.41% of responses were neutral and one response (5.88%) was negative.
10. Recently hired employees Eight respondents were not a part of the NDUS office in July 2016,
so they were excluded from the comparison questions. These participants were asked if they felt
the Chancellors communication and leadership style is satisfactory. Six (75%) responded
Strongly Agree or Agree, and the remaining two were neutral.

Survey participants were also offered an opportunity to add comments or feedback. Due to the size of the
group surveyed, and to ensure the anonymity of the responses, comments and feedback are reported in
summary form only, and are presented on page 10. Overall, the comments were very positive regarding
both the workplace climate and the Chancellors communication and leadership style.

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Survey results
1. The NDUS offers a positive workplace climate.

Twenty-two of twenty-five responses (88%) agreed or strongly agreed with this statement. Two
respondents neither agreed nor disagreed, and one respondent disagreed with this statement.

# Answer Bar Response %

1 Strongly agree 13 52.00%

2 Agree 9 36.00%
Neither agree
3 2 8.00%
nor disagree
4 Disagree 1 4.00%
Strongly
5 0 0.00%
disagree
Total 25 100.00%

2. Leadership is open to input from employees.

Twenty-one of twenty-five responses (84%) agreed or strongly agreed with this statement. Three
respondents disagreed, and one respondent neither agreed nor disagreed with this statement.

# Answer Bar Response %

1 Strongly agree 12 48.00%

2 Agree 9 36.00%
Neither agree
3 1 4.00%
nor disagree

4 Disagree 3 12.00%
Strongly
5 0 0.00%
disagree

Total 25 100.00%

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3. I receive recognition or feedback for my work.

Twenty-four of twenty-five responses (96%) agreed or strongly agreed with this statement. One respondent
neither agreed nor disagreed, and no respondents disagreed with this statement.

# Answer Bar Response %

1 Strongly agree 14 56.00%

2 Agree 10 40.00%
Neither agree nor
3 1 4.00%
disagree
4 Disagree 0 0.00%

5 Strongly disagree 0 0.00%

Total 25 100.00%

4. I feel that I am a valued employee within the organization.

Twenty-three of twenty-five responses (92%) agreed or strongly agreed with this statement. Two
respondents neither agreed nor disagreed, and no respondents disagreed or strongly disagreed with this
statement.

# Answer Bar Response %

1 Strongly agree 14 56.00%

2 Agree 9 36.00%
Neither agree nor
3 2 8.00%
disagree
4 Disagree 0 0.00%

5 Strongly disagree 0 0.00%

Total 25 100.00%

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5. At the present time, I feel that I can express my opinion on work issues without fear of reprisals.

Twenty-two of twenty-five responses (88%) agreed or strongly agreed with this statement. One respondent
neither agreed nor disagreed, one respondent disagreed and one respondent strongly disagreed with this
statement.

# Answer Bar Response %

1 Strongly agree 14 56.00%

2 Agree 8 32.00%
Neither agree
3 1 4.00%
nor disagree
4 Disagree 1 4.00%
Strongly
5 1 4.00%
disagree
Total 25 100.00%

6. I am treated with respect by my supervisor.

Twenty-three of twenty-five responses (92%) agreed or strongly agreed with this statement. Two
respondents neither agreed nor disagreed, and no respondents disagreed with this statement.

# Answer Bar Response %

1 Strongly agree 16 64.00%

2 Agree 7 28.00%
Neither agree
3 2 8.00%
nor disagree
4 Disagree 0 0.00%
Strongly
5 0 0.00%
disagree
Total 25 100.00%

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For questions 7, 8 and 9, participants who responded I was not here in July 2016 were redirected
to question 10.

7. I feel the workplace climate has improved from July 2016 to present.

Twenty-five responses were recorded for this statement. Eight responded that they were not at the NDUS
office in July 2016, and the survey tool redirected those respondents to Question 10, skipping Questions 8
and 9. Of the remaining seventeen responses, twelve (70.59%) agreed or strongly agreed that the
workplace climate had improved. One respondent disagreed, one strongly disagreed and three neither
agreed nor disagreed with this statement.

# Answer Bar Response %

1 Strongly agree 10 40.00%

2 Agree 2 8.00%
Neither agree nor
3 3 12.00%
disagree
4 Disagree 1 4.00%

5 Strongly disagree 1 4.00%

I was not here in
6 8 32.00%
July 2016
Total 25 100.00%

8. I feel the Chancellors communication style has shown improvement from July 2016 to present.

Sixteen responses were recorded for this statement. Eleven of the responses (68.75%) agreed or strongly
agreed that the Chancellors communication style had improved. The remaining five respondents neither
agreed nor disagreed with this statement.

# Answer Bar Response %

1 Strongly agree 10 62.50%

2 Agree 1 6.25%
Neither agree
3 5 31.25%
nor disagree
4 Disagree 0 0.00%
Strongly
5 0 0.00%
disagree
Total 16 100.00%

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9. I feel the Chancellors leadership style has shown improvement from July 2016 to present.

Seventeen responses were recorded for this statement. Eleven of the responses (68.75%) agreed or
strongly agreed that the Chancellors leadership style had improved. One participant disagreed, and five
respondents neither agreed nor disagreed with this statement.

# Answer Bar Response %

1 Strongly agree 10 58.82%
2 Agree 1 5.88%
Neither agree nor
3 5 29.41%
disagree
4 Disagree 1 5.88%
5 Strongly disagree 0 0.00%
Total 17 100.00%

This question is for respondents that joined the system office after July 2016.

10. I feel the Chancellors communication and leadership style is satisfactory.

Six of the eight respondents (75%) agreed or strongly agreed with this statement. The remaining two
participants neither agreed nor disagreed with this statement.

# Answer Bar Response %

1 Strongly agree 4 50.00%

2 Agree 2 25.00%
Neither agree nor
3 2 25.00%
disagree
4 Disagree 0 0.00%

5 Strongly disagree 0 0.00%

Total 8 100.00%

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11. Comments and additional feedback:

Due to the size of the group surveyed, and to ensure the anonymity of the responses, comments and
feedback are presented in summary form.

Generally positive feedback was received regarding the NDUS workplace climate, with respondents noting
improvements in collaboration and teamwork, and expressing appreciation for the open-door policy of
supervisors. Respondents stated that they enjoy working at NDUS, that the atmosphere is friendly and
collegial, and that they feel their work is appreciated and respected, with honest and helpful feedback
being provided. Comments were made regarding low morale in the office and system-wide due to drastic
budget cuts and the suspension of general employee raises, as well as continued external scrutiny.
However, other comments noted improved morale due to an increased perception of professionalism and
respect at all levels.

Turnover in the system office over the past year was mentioned in several comments. Improvement in
timely communication of major staff changes was suggested, however comments regarding the effect of
personnel changes on the workplace climate were positive, specifically referencing the elimination of
intimidating and bullying behavior. Numerous comments addressed an improvement in communication and
transparency, and expressed the need for these efforts to continue to be a high priority.

Feedback regarding the Chancellor echoed the positive survey results regarding improvement in
leadership and communication style. There were no negative comments recorded regarding the
Chancellors leadership or communication style. Several comments noted that the Chancellor supports the
staff and treats employees equally and with respect. Others stated that the Chancellor encourages staff to
share both ideas and concerns with him, and that he listens to his employees. Specific references
described Chancellor Hagerott as a true public servant, a champion of the cause of higher education,
guiding the system toward new and positive directions, and an invaluable asset to NDUS.

For additional copies of this report, please contact:

NDUS Compliance Officer

State Capitol 600 E. Boulevard Ave.
Dept. 215
Bismarck, ND 58505-0602
Phone: 701-328-4150
Email: karol.riedman@ndus.edu

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