October 7, 2021

Dear Colleagues:

I invite you to take 10-15 minutes to complete this year’s Employee Experience survey. The survey is voluntary and confidential and helps us to more intentionally design a supportive, inclusive, and empowering campus culture. We will not trace responses back to individuals.

Please check your university email for a link to the survey.

Working in public higher education is meaningful but taxing work, especially during challenging times like those we face today. Here at UM, we attend to the experiences, needs, and aspirations of those we serve, and this important work should be sustained by a workplace culture that supports us in return.

Primary in our effort to sustain a healthy UM culture is the imperative that leaders at all levels understand our employees’ actual experiences and needs. This empathic understanding becomes even more important during challenging times. I can’t emphasize enough the importance of this.

This is why we administer the UM Employee Experience Survey each year. Through this survey, we gather valuable feedback, allowing us to identify needs, shape actions, and track our progress toward creating a campus of engaged and empowered employees.

Your candid responses will help us better understand those factors that most directly impact and influence our individual departments’ cultures, as well as our broader institutional workplace culture, allowing us to make deliberate, positive changes moving forward.

I invite everyone to take this opportunity to share their honest feedback. Thank you, in advance, for your participation. Please contact Jasmine Zink Laine if you have any questions.

Seth