2025 Oakland University Employee Engagement Survey

• OU & You: Employee Engagement Survey is a key part of Strategic Vision: 2030.
• Building a culture of learning and growth is integral to fostering a campus community that is welcoming and highly values the contribution of our faculty, staff and students.
• The survey is among the initiatives included in the first of five pathways, which are: Our People, Student Success, Discovery, Stewards of Place, and Sustainable University.
• The survey is a strategic tool in the ongoing effort to continually improve the campus community culture.
• The survey is a BENCHMARK or a “documented point in time” to define where we stand re: employee attitudes. With this in mind, we will chart our progress in building a Culture of Learning & Growth.

• 2025
• January - February: Decision to conduct comprehensive employee survey. Modern Think selected to develop and administer surveys.
• April-May: Survey distributed to employees through an online question and rating system.
• July-August: Responses reviewed/analyzed
• August: Modern Think presents findings to OU Cabinet
• September: Campus announcement re: Survey results DISSEMINATION
• October: Modern Think presents survey results to the campus community. Employee meetings and townhalls
• 2026
• January-March: Evaluate priorities and determine how to implement improvements

• Tri-chairs:
• Joi Cunnigham, Vice President of Human Resources
• Michelle Hammond, Professor of Management, Management & Marketing
• Sarah Butash, Associate Registrar
• Committee:
• Don Blalock, Sergeant
• Erin Boomer, Manager, Learning and Professional Development
• Theawiana Bracewell, Director of Academic Events
• Tisha Briggs, Accreditation Assistant
• Dennis Condron, Professor of Sociology
• Caitlin Demsky, Associate Professor, Organizational Behavior, Management & Marketing
• Elvis Dedvukaj, Master Level VII Painter
• Cheyanne Kramer, Office Assistant III
• Carrie Miller, Business Manager/Financial Analyst
• Nivedita Mukherji, Vice Provost of Faculty Affairs
• Frank Provenzano, Director, Presidential Initiatives
• Marie VanBuskirk, Associate Director, Recreation and Well-Being
• Song Yan, Associate Vice President, Intuitional Research/ Data Analytics
• John Young, Vice President, Communications

Why did OU conduct an employee engagement survey?
This was an effort to gather views and perspectives on how OU can become, as President Pescovitz has articulated it, “a more welcoming and inspiring learning environment, and a workplace distinguished by civility, compassion, and collegiality.” With a strategic goal to be the university of choice, OU desires to create and maintain an environment that retains its world-class faculty and staff and continues to attract employees of the same caliber. Gathering candid and confidential perspectives on work experiences helps university leadership understand what is currently working and what needs to be improved. 

When was the data gathered? Who participated?
All benefits-eligible faculty and staff members of Oakland University were invited and strongly encouraged to participate in the survey from April 10 – May 5, 2025 as a means to gauge satisfaction and engagement levels.  

Why was spring 2025 the right time for this survey?
The survey aligned with the launch of the OU’s Strategic Vision 2030 – a perfect time to better understand issues and initiatives important to our faculty and staff. We are dedicated to our employees, the community we serve, and the institutional mission we have adopted. Survey results established a baseline and initiated a continuous communication process that will now help inform, enrich, and fully align our strategic planning process. 

What now? What are we going to do with information?
Town halls and meetings with various populations were conducted by ModernThink in October 2025 to share survey findings. The newly established Culture Committee will conduct further analysis of survey findings, identify priorities, and make recommendations to Cabinet to enhance campus work environments and drive our institution toward greater success. For example, the Culture Committee will analyze data and meet with senior leaders about their specific survey results so they can better understand opportunities and successes defined in their areas.

How will we measure progress?
This site will be updated to communicate progress made towards identified key priorities and milestones, once established. This survey round, we will be focusing on priorities that have the potential for institution-wide impact. Regular updates on priorities that align with the 2030 Strategic Vision will also be published on the Strides page. OU plans to repeat this survey every few years to measure progress and establish new priorities as former ones are accomplished.  

How often will OU participate?
While the formal timeline for the next survey is not yet established, OU plans to repeat this process every few years. The 2025 results provided us with important baseline data so that we chart our progress moving forward.

Can I get access to the raw data?
OU does not have access to the raw data. ModernThink houses this information on its server to ensure confidentiality is maintained.  

What are the different comparison benchmarks? Who is in them?
The benchmarks provide a means for comparison as a way to better understand how OU relates to various peer groups. The benchmarks identified in the Executive Summary presents Oakland’s data within the context of Carnegie Classification peer institutions, the ModernThink Great Colleges Honor Roll, and the custom peer benchmark prepared specifically for Oakland.  

The Honor Roll benchmark is comprised of the average percent positive, or percent negative, of those institutions recognized on the Honor Roll in OU's enrollment size classification. The Honor Roll distinction is awarded to the 10 four-year colleges and the 4 two-year colleges recognized the greatest number of times in their enrollment size classification. “Small” institutions have fewer than 3,000 students, “medium” institutions have between 3,000 and 9,999 students, and “large” institutions have 10,000 or more students. 

The Carnegie benchmark reflects the average percent positive, or percent negative, of all institutions in OU's Carnegie Classification for 2025.

The Peer Group is a confidential benchmark developed by ModernThink. Oakland University provided ModernThink with two peer groups for benchmarking purposes: the Michigan Public Universities (MPU) and the Oakland University peer list. ModernThink generally requires a minimum of 4–5 institutions to establish a reliable benchmark. However, due to data limitations following the 2021 ModernThink survey update, neither list independently included enough participating institutions. After reviewing both lists, ModernThink determined that a combined peer benchmark could be developed using institutions from both groups. As a result, they created a custom peer benchmark using a combined total of four institutions from both lists provided. In accordance with ModernThink policy, the names of institutions included in a peer benchmark are only disclosed if they were recognized in the Great Colleges Program. Of the four institutions selected, only one—Saginaw Valley State University—was recognized in the 2024 Great Colleges to Work For program. OU's peer benchmark represents a mix of three large public universities (enrollment of 10,000 or more students) and one medium-sized public institution (3,000–9,999 students), all offering four-year programs and accredited by either the Higher Learning Commission (HLC) or the Northwest Commission on Colleges and Universities (NWCCU). Three of the universities are classified as Doctoral Universities, while one serves as a Master’s-level institution. Geographically, two are located in the Great Lakes region (one being SVSU) and two in the Far West, reflecting a blend of institutions. 

I have other questions. Who can I contact? 
Additional questions can be directed to Human Resources at [email protected].