The UW-Madison General Library System (GLS) launched an online survey to assess workplace climate for all GLS employees, including student employees, as part of an ongoing effort for the GLS to provide a supportive and inclusive workplace. The Climate and Staff Engagement (CaSE) subcommittee was charged with conducting the survey and worked with the UW Survey Center to administer it.
For this initiative, CaSE adapted the previous GLS climate survey instrument from 2015 to incorporate GLS Values, align it with climate surveys from other UW units, and to follow general survey design recommendations from the UW Survey Center. CaSE also kept what we identified as key questions from the 2015 survey to better track responses over time.
The survey was open from November 8 through November 22, 2021, and closed with a strong response rate of 79% for staff and 29% for student staff. CaSE held two virtual Q&A sessions, communicated with permanent and student staff supervisors, spoke at a GLS town hall, and posted an FAQ on the EDC staff website to inform staff about the survey.
In collaboration with the Survey Center, CaSE has prepared a general trends report of the survey responses. Also, the Survey Center prepared response reports with no analysis, demographic information, employee classification, or open-ended comments at the AUL and major unit levels for unit leadership to review and share with staff through engagements. The survey results will inform the Equity and Diversity Committee, Operational Leadership Team, and the Executive Team as to issues that need to be addressed and/or steps taken.