Fresno State Internal Fresno State Internal Communications Audit Communications Audit Communications Audit Communications Audit

IMCC Audit Committee December 2009

Purpose Purpose

To assess the usage and attitudes of Fresno State’s internal of Fresno State s internal communication

MethodologyMethodology

416 i di id l t t d th l t i d 310 • 416 individuals started the electronic survey and 310 completed it. 351 responses were needed for an appropriate sample size (Keyton, 2006).

• The survey was sent via email to the Bulletin Board • The survey was sent via email to the Bulletin Board listserv

• Sought to measure the usage attitudes and preferences Sought to measure the usage, attitudes and preferences of internal communication at Fresno State

• 27 questions, 12 simple Lickert,4 questions involved q , p , qLickert scaling in a matrix format with several variables. Survey took approximately 10 minutes to complete. p

ResultsResults

M t f t i ti h l dMost frequent communication channels usedEmail (94.4%)Bulletin Board (65.6%)Campus Website (46%) Listserv groups (40.2%)

Top types of information Services available to faculty and staff (86.8%)Professional development (78.7%)Professional development (78.7%)Academic events (75.8%)HR information (64.5%) College/department/program accomp (62 9%)College/department/program accomp. (62.9%).

ResultsResults

Top very important communication characteristics Top very important communication characteristics Ease of navigation (71%)Ease of access (66.2%)Brevity (41 %)Brevity (41.%)Knowing the sender of the information (40.5%)

Respondents wanted to receive communication pMonthly (57.1%)Weekly (21.6%)Once per semester (16.8%)D il (2 6%) Daily (2.6%) Never (1.9%)

There is a difference among what There is a difference among what employees like to hear about employees like to hear about employees like to hear about employees like to hear about

Si ifi t diff f d i th Significant differences were found in three areas.

Alumni accomplishments- Faculty and staff did not want to hear about alumni accomplishments while administrators hear about alumni accomplishments while administrators did want to hear about them.

Deals and promotions - Staff wanted to hear about deals and promotions while administrators and faculty did not want to hear about them.

Faculty/staff accomplishments Staff and administrators Faculty/staff accomplishments - Staff and administrators wanted to hear about faculty/staff accomplishments while the number of faculty wanting to hear about such accomplishments achieved a slim margin. accomplishments achieved a slim margin.

There is a difference between the type of employee & There is a difference between the type of employee & what they like to hear about.what they like to hear about.

Of the 14 types of communications asked about 5 yielded significant results Of the 14 types of communications asked about, 5 yielded significant results.

1. Hearing about alumni accomplishments- Faculty and staff did not want to hear about alumni accomplishments while administrators did

2. Deals/promotions - Staff wanted to hear about deals and promotions while administrators and staff did not want to hear about them.

3. Faculty/staff accomplishments - Staff and administrators wanted to hear b t f lt / t ff li h t hil th b f f lt ti about faculty/staff accomplishments while the number of faculty wanting

to hear about such accomplishments achieved a slim margin.

4. Human resources information - Staff and administrators wanted to hear about human resources information while the number of faculty wanting to about human resources information while the number of faculty wanting to hear about such accomplishments achieved a slim margin.

5. Services available to faculty and staff - All employee types wanted to hear about services available to faculty/staff

There is a difference between the type of There is a difference between the type of employee and what characteristics of employee and what characteristics of

co c t o t o t tco c t o t o t tcommunication they feel are important.communication they feel are important.

Of th 13 h t i ti f i ti k d b t 3 Of the 13 characteristics of communications asked about, 3 yielded significant results.

1. Brevity- The results indicated that faculty believed that 1. Brevity The results indicated that faculty believed that brevity was important more than administrators or staff

2. Photo or graphic included - The results indicated that staff believed that the inclusion of a photo or graphic with communication was important more than administrators or faculty

3. Video enhancement - The results indicated that staff believed that it is important to enhance communication with video more than administrators or faculty with video more than administrators or faculty

There is a difference between how often an There is a difference between how often an employee wishes to receive information. employee wishes to receive information. o w s s o c v n o on. o w s s o c v n o on.

Th i ifi t diff b t h th There was a significant difference between whether individuals wanted communication daily, weekly, monthly, once per semester or never.

Respondents wanted to receive communication Monthly (57.1%)Weekly (21 6%)Weekly (21.6%)Once per semester (16.8%)Daily (2.6%) * Never (1 9%)Never (1.9%)

*Bulletin Board is the second most frequently used method (65%) and is based on messages sent daily.

Additional Significant Additional Significant ResultsResultsResultsResults

Wh ki h l d F S • When speaking to others not employed at Fresno State, administrators feel more informed about what’s going on at Fresno State, more so than faculty or staff

• Administrators, more than staff or faculty, believe the information they receive from Fresno State is current

•• Staff and administrators responded very positively to the Staff and administrators responded very positively to the campaign slogan, campaign slogan, Powering the New CaliforniaPowering the New California, while faculty had , while faculty had mixed feelings. Close to half of the faculty respondents responded mixed feelings. Close to half of the faculty respondents responded

i i l d h lf d d i l i i l d h lf d d i l positively and half responded negatively. positively and half responded negatively.

Conclusion Conclusion

R h h h th t F St t l h diff t • Research has shown that Fresno State employees have different preferences in the type of information they wanted to receive, how they wished to receive it and the frequency in which they receive the information

• Overwhelmingly, Internet-based communication are used most frequently

• New Internet-based communication allows for greater customization and flexibility to accommodate user preference

F S h ld ili I b d i i • Fresno State should utilize new Internet-based communication to improve communication. Employees that are better informed will be more engaged and in a better position to be successful in reaching department and university goals. g p y g

Next StepsNext Steps

•• More faculty representation is neededMore faculty representation is needed Staff accounted for Staff accounted for •• More faculty representation is neededMore faculty representation is needed. Staff accounted for . Staff accounted for 57.5% of survey responses and are 37% of the all university 57.5% of survey responses and are 37% of the all university employees. Faculty accounted for 26% of responses and are employees. Faculty accounted for 26% of responses and are 56% of the employee population. Administrators accounted 56% of the employee population. Administrators accounted p y p pp y p pfor 13.2% of survey respondents and are 7% of the for 13.2% of survey respondents and are 7% of the employee populationemployee population

•• Conduct a Conduct a student communications auditstudent communications auditConduct a Conduct a student communications auditstudent communications audit

•• Conduct Conduct Web site user experience audit Web site user experience audit and analyze and analyze existing dataexisting data