2024 HERI Staff Climate Survey

As part of the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater's continued efforts to better understand and support our campus community, Chancellor Corey King has asked the Chancellor's Committee on Inclusive Excellence to administer two surveys to UW-Whitewater employees in Spring 2024. Non-instructional staff and employees will be invited to share their experiences through the HERI Staff Climate Survey.

Developed by the Cooperative Institutional Research Program (CIRP) out of the University of California – Los Angeles (UCLA), the Higher Education Research Institute (HERI) Staff Climate Survey has been designed to collect information pertaining staff experiences with students, administrator, and each other. According to the HERI website, "The survey focuses on connecting diversity efforts with campus practices, including items related to the ease with which campus constituents interact and work across differences, satisfaction with working conditions and compensation packages; and what factors contribute to stress or excitement in their jobs." HERI provides participant institutions with comprehensive information about employee engagement outside the classroom at their institutions. This information can be used to identify and address issues that may contribute to student success. 

All non-instructional employees who were employed at either campus in the Fall 2023 semester at UW-Whitewater will receive a personalized invitation to participate in the survey on 16 January 2024. The survey, which takes approximately 25 minutes to complete, is comprised of a core set of ~30 substantive questions, and a set of 4 questions developed by the Chancellor's Committee on Inclusive Excellence specifically on the UW-Whitewater experience. The survey will remain open until 12 February 2024. Please note that each employee will receive a personalized link to the survey through their invitational email, in order to ensure that only non-instructional staff participate in the survey.

Participation in this survey is completely voluntary. The survey will be administered by CIRP, which is required to keep all responses to the survey confidential.  Data collected by CIRP will only be reported to UW-Whitewater administration in the aggregate. For specific information how participants will be treated, what they can expect should they choose to participate and their rights to withdraw from the survey, please read the HERI Staff Climate Survey Informed Consent Agreement.

In order to encourage participation in this important survey, UW-Whitewater is providing incentives for employees who choose to complete the survey. Those who complete the survey are automatically eligible to be chosen to receive:

• one of five iPads
• one of two campus parking passes, or
• one of two opportunities to have lunch with Chancellor King.

Winners will be randomly selected by the Office of Institutional Research, Assessment and Planning (IRAP) and notified by email. 

UW-Whitewater has not surveyed non-instructional staff since 2009, and the HERI Staff Climate Survey has not previously been administered at UW-Whitewater. If you have any questions or concerns about UW-Whitewater’s participation in this survey, please contact the Office of Institutional Research, Assessment & Planning at 262-472-5671 or irp@uww.edu.