Program Methodology
The Great Colleges to Work For® program is designed to recognize institutions that have been successful in creating great workplaces, and to further our research and understanding of the factors, dynamics and influences that have the greatest impact on organizational culture at institutions of higher education.
At the core of the program is a two-part assessment process: a faculty/staff survey (The ModernThink Higher Education Insight Survey©) and an institutional audit capturing information detailing various institution demographics, policies, practices and infrastructure (The ModernThink Institution Questionnaire© also known as the”IQ”).
Each participating institution is asked to submit an email list of full-time faculty/staff randomly selected across four categories (Administration, Faculty, Exempt Professional Staff and Non-exempt Staff) to participate in the survey. Adjunct faculty are included only for community colleges.
To be eligible for participation, institutions must be non-profit, located in the United States, and have at least 500 students.
- Free To Participate
- Online and Completely Confidential
- Benchmarking Data
- Sample Sizes
- < 500 Employees
- 501-1K Employees
- 1K+ Employees
Sample sizes are determined based on the number of employees in the various categories.
The ModernThink Higher Education Insight Survey© is a faculty/staff survey derived in part from the ModernThink Insight Survey©, an assessment tool that has been used in over 55 “Best Place to Work” programs with more than 4,000 organizations. The survey measures the extent to which employees are involved and engaged in the organization and ultimately, the quality of the workplace experience.
The survey measures 10 core dimensions reflecting managerial and organizational competencies. The survey also includes a Faculty Experience dimension, comprising statements posed to Faculty and Adjuncts only. Benchmark data is compiled across Carnegie Classification, Region, Enrollment Size and Public/Private status.
The core survey contains 55 statements, plus an additional 5 Faculty Experience statements for Faculty and Adjuncts only. The instrument utilizes a five-point agreement scale (Strongly Agree, Agree, Sometimes Agree/Sometimes Disagree, Disagree, Strongly Disagree), along with a Not Applicable response option. The survey instrument also includes a 20-item benefits satisfaction component and two open-ended questions.
There Are Eight Voluntary Demographic Questions at The End of The Survey:
- Years at Institution
- Remote Work
- College/School or Division/Department
- Gender Identity
- Age
- Race/Ethnicity
- Academic Role (For Faculty Only)
- Tenure Status (For Faculty at 4-year Colleges Only)
There Are Also Two Pre-Loaded Demographics, That Is, Employees Are Tagged With These Demographic Choices:
- Job Category
- Employment Status (Part-time or Full-time)
Available to first-time participants and institutions who have never ordered reports, this suite combines both the qualitative and quantitative aspects of the survey as well as valuable benchmarking data to give institutions new to our program useful baseline and metrics to leverage right from the start!
For institutions that have made an ongoing commitment to participating on a regular cycle in the Great Colleges program, our Online Report Gateway is an option you should consider. The web-based Gateway provides users the flexibility to run their own reports for dynamic visual renderings of survey data in multiple formats. The Gateway includes all of your current and previous survey data with ModernThink since 2010. This reporting option is particularly appealing to audiences who require more in-depth analysis than the static reports provide and the ability to download your data in a raw format. The Gateway is a proven tool that has been used by single institutions as well as large systems over the last five years outside of Great Colleges participation. Click here to learn more.
For institutions that have made an ongoing commitment to participating on a regular cycle in the Great Colleges program, our Online Report Gateway is an option you should consider. The web-based Gateway provides users the flexibility to run their own reports for dynamic visual renderings of survey data in multiple formats. The Gateway includes all of your current and previous survey data with ModernThink since 2010. This reporting option is particularly appealing to audiences who require more in-depth analysis than the static reports provide and the ability to download your data in a raw format. The Gateway is a proven tool that has been used by single institutions as well as large systems over the last five years outside of Great Colleges participation. Click here to learn more.
Four-year Schools: ALL Administrators, Faculty and Exempt Professional Staff. An average of 15% of your sample will be allotted to Non-exempts (percentage varies by sample and school size).
Two-year Schools: ALL Administrators, Faculty and Exempt Professional Staff. An average of 8% and 19% of your sample will be allotted to Non-exempts and Adjuncts, respectively (percentages vary by sample and school size).
The ModernThink Higher Education Insight Survey© is a faculty/staff survey derived in part from the ModernThink Insight Survey©, an assessment tool that has been used in over 55 “Best Place to Work” programs with more than 4,000 organizations. The survey measures the extent to which employees are involved and engaged in the organization and ultimately, the quality of the workplace experience.
The survey measures 10 core dimensions reflecting managerial and organizational competencies. The survey also includes a Faculty Experience dimension, comprising statements posed to Faculty and Adjuncts only. Benchmark data is compiled across Carnegie Classification, Region, Enrollment Size and Public/Private status.
The core survey contains 55 statements, plus an additional 5 Faculty Experience statements for Faculty and Adjuncts only. The instrument utilizes a five-point agreement scale (Strongly Agree, Agree, Sometimes Agree/Sometimes Disagree, Disagree, Strongly Disagree), along with a Not Applicable response option. The survey instrument also includes a 20-item benefits satisfaction component and two open-ended questions.
There Are Eight Voluntary Demographic Questions at The End of The Survey:
- Years at Institution
- Remote Work
- College/School or Division/Department
- Gender Identity
- Age
- Race/Ethnicity
- Academic Role (For Faculty Only)
- Tenure Status (For Faculty at 4-year Colleges Only)
There Are Also Two Pre-Loaded Demographics, That Is, Employees Are Tagged With These Demographic Choices:
- Job Category
- Employment Status (Part-time or Full-time)
Available to first-time participants and institutions who have never ordered reports, this suite combines both the qualitative and quantitative aspects of the survey as well as valuable benchmarking data to give institutions new to our program useful baseline and metrics to leverage right from the start!
For institutions that have made an ongoing commitment to participating on a regular cycle in the Great Colleges program, our Online Report Gateway is an option you should consider. The web-based Gateway provides users the flexibility to run their own reports for dynamic visual renderings of survey data in multiple formats. The Gateway includes all of your current and previous survey data with ModernThink since 2010. This reporting option is particularly appealing to audiences who require more in-depth analysis than the static reports provide and the ability to download your data in a raw format. The Gateway is a proven tool that has been used by single institutions as well as large systems over the last five years outside of Great Colleges participation. Click here to learn more.
For institutions that have made an ongoing commitment to participating on a regular cycle in the Great Colleges program, our Online Report Gateway is an option you should consider. The web-based Gateway provides users the flexibility to run their own reports for dynamic visual renderings of survey data in multiple formats. The Gateway includes all of your current and previous survey data with ModernThink since 2010. This reporting option is particularly appealing to audiences who require more in-depth analysis than the static reports provide and the ability to download your data in a raw format. The Gateway is a proven tool that has been used by single institutions as well as large systems over the last five years outside of Great Colleges participation. Click here to learn more.
Sample sizes are determined based on the number of employees in the various categories.
Four-year Schools: ALL Administrators, Faculty and Exempt Professional Staff. An average of 15% of your sample will be allotted to Non-exempts (percentage varies by sample and school size).
Two-year Schools: ALL Administrators, Faculty and Exempt Professional Staff. An average of 8% and 19% of your sample will be allotted to Non-exempts and Adjuncts, respectively (percentages vary by sample and school size).