Campus Community
Posted: Thursday, June 18, 2009Buffalo State Recognized among Chronicle’s 2009 Great Colleges to Work For
The Chronicle of Higher Education has selected Buffalo State College as one of 2009’s Great Colleges to Work For. The designation is based on anonymous survey responses from roughly 330 Buffalo State administrators, faculty members, and staff members as well as an analysis of demographic data and workplace policies and practices.
About 250 institutions participated in the program, now in its second year. The program is modeled after Fortunemagazine’s popular “Best Companies to Work For” issue; however, top institutions are recognized—but not ranked—in the Chronicle. Specific categories of recognition will be announced online and in the July 10 print issue. When the results are announced, Buffalo State can include the designation and the Chronicle’s logo on its Web site and in recruiting materials.
“I have always thought of Buffalo State College as a great place to learn—and to work,” said President Muriel A. Howard. “I am delighted to see nationwide recognition for our campus and appreciate the thoughtful, candid input provided by our faculty and staff for this valuable program.”
The assessment process was administered by ModernThink LLC, a human resources consulting firm that has conducted similar surveys for more than a dozen state best-workplace programs. The Chronicle and ModernThink worked with a panel of higher-education experts to design the questionnaires, which were administered online in March and April.
Participating institutions fall into one of five classifications by the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching: research universities with “very high” research activity; research universities with “high” research activity; doctoral/research universities; master’s colleges and universities; and baccalaureate colleges—arts and sciences.
Each was asked to submit a list of employees randomly selected across three categories: administration, faculty, and professional support staff. The sample size, either 400 or 600, was based on the number of employees in those categories. Buffalo State’s sample size was 600. All were asked to respond to 60 statements using a five-point scale. The questionnaire also asked respondents to rate their satisfaction with 15 benefits; respond to two open-ended questions; and answer 14 demographic questions relating to gender, age, ethnicity, marital status, salary, tenure status, and other job issues.
ModernThink’s survey is based on an assessment tool used in more than 55 best-workplace programs with more than 4,000 organizations.
