Background
The Great Colleges To Work For Program
The Program Partners, The Chronicle of Higher Education and ModernThink LLC, designed the program to recognize institutions that have been successful in creating great workplaces and to further research and understanding of the factors, dynamics and influences that have the most impact on organization culture at institutions of higher education. At the core of the program is a two-part assessment process: a faculty/employee survey (The ModernThink Higher Education Insight Survey©) and an institutional audit capturing information detailing various institution demographics, polices, practices and infrastructure (The ModernThink Institution Questionnaire©). All participating schools receive high level summaries of their survey results. Schools that are recognized as Great Colleges are featured in a special July Chronicle supplement entitled Academic Workplaces. List winners report a boost in national exposure, enhanced reputations and better ability to recruit and retain high caliber faculty and staff. ModernThink Higher Education Insight Survey©
The ModernThink Insight Survey© is an assessment tool that has been used in numerous “Best Place to Work” programs with close to 5,000 organizations nationwide. It was developed after a meta-analysis of “best workplaces” and engagement surveys in conjunction with ModernThink’s on-going research studying organizations that have been successful in building special cultures that enhance performance. The survey instrument measures the extent to which employees are involved and engaged in the organization and ultimately, the quality of the workplace experience. The ModernThink Higher Education Insight Survey© was created when working with The Chronicle of Higher Education, in early 2008 ModernThink convened a blue ribbon panel of experts and professionals within the field of higher education. The goal was to solicit input on how best to customize the ModernThink Insight Survey© so that it would best reflect the dynamics, systems and demographics unique to higher education. Now used as the principal assessment tool in the Great Colleges program, the ModernThink Higher Education Insight Survey© is widely regarded as the premier faculty/employee survey instrument within higher education. ModernThink Institution Questionnaire©
The blue ribbon panel also weighed in on the ModernThink Institution Questionnaire© which captures important demographic data as well as details regarding institution policies and practices. This information enables us to examine which benefits and programs are most effective, identify best practices and compile benchmark data based on different categorizations of the program participants. Benchmark data is compiled across Carnegie Classification, Geographic Region, Enrollment and Public/Private status. The information collected through the Institution Questionnaire© is also reviewed and analyzed to support both the recognition analysis and ModernThink’s continuing research. To learn more about the Great Colleges Program’s Methodology click here .
|
