Beyond providing institutions with these robust tools, The MISO Survey team explores the data at the national level, sharing these results in presentations and publications.  In this post, we will explore the 2011 benchmarks/means and trends for staff at MISO Survey institutions.

Importance and Satisfaction Benchmarks

The benchmarks/means reported here were created by using data from all institutions that participated in any of the 2009-2011 survey cycles.  For institutions that surveyed their population more than once during that period, only the most recent data is included for analysis.

Four-point Likert scales are used for both the importance (1 = not important, 2 = somewhat important, 3 = important, 4 = very important) and satisfaction (1 = dissatisfied, 2 = somewhat dissatisfied, 3 = somewhat satisfied, 4 = satisfied) questions.

Importance for Staff

Services with Staff Importance Ratings of 3.5 and Higher, 2009-2011 (Descending Order):

• E-mail Services (3.89)
• Virus Protection (3.83)
• Network Stability (3.81)
• Network Speed (3.81)
• E-mail SPAM Filtering (3.74)
• Support: Computing Problems (3.71)
• Overall Computing Service (3.62)
• Campus Phone Services (3.50)

The services most important to staff are the core IT functions required to support efficient work.  E-mail, networking, computer support and phone services are the basic services upon which other services are built.  None of the services staff consider most important are focused on teaching and learning as a primary attribute.  Library services and remote access to campus resources, while important to staff, are not as highly valued.

Satisfaction for Staff

Services with Staff Satisfaction Ratings of 3.5 and Higher, 2009-2011 (Descending Order):

Satisfaction is high across the board for staff: only 10 services measured by the survey scored below 3.50 on our four-point scale.  The service with the lowest satisfaction mean, Input into Computing Decisions, still manages to have a mean of 3.29, well above the 3.00 (somewhat satisfied) mark.  Of the eight services ranked most important by staff, only two have satisfaction means below 3.50 – Network Stability and Network Speed.  The remaining six most important services are all found among those services with high satisfaction.

Importance Trends for Staff

Average Annual Change in Importance for Staff, 2005-2011.

Looking at the average annual change in importance of library & computing services for staff, the growth in importance for wireless access clearly stands out.  In fact, wireless access is growing in importance faster than any other service, not only for staff, but for students and faculty as well (to see student and faculty trends, see our recent ECAR Research Bulletin, Evaluating Library and IT Services with the MISO Survey, available to ECAR subscribers now. Mobility (wireless access, borrowing laptops, and off-campus access) and collaboration (video conferencing, course management system, and technology in meeting spaces / classrooms) appear to sum up most of the services increasing in importance for staff.

Nothing is decreasing in importance for staff.  This echoes the faculty, who have sixteen services rising in importance and only one dropping.  Students have twelve services rising in importance and four dropping.  In an economic environment where adding resources is rarely an option, library and computing leaders need to think carefully about strategies to meet the growing needs of our staff, students, and faculty.

Satisfaction Trends for Staff

Average Annual Change in Satisfaction for Staff, 2005-2011.

Satisfaction trends tell a mixed story: while there are more items increasing in satisfaction over time, the three services declining in satisfaction the most are are found among services that are identified as most important: E-mail services, network speed, and network stability.  And while e-mail services are declining in satisfaction, e-mail SPAM filtering is increasing in satisfaction faster than other services: the problem with e-mail isn’t SPAM.  While it’s important to remember that staff are satisfied overall, IT leaders should research these infrastructure services locally to better understand the gaps in expectations that may exist.

The 2011 MISO Survey results workbooks allow you to easily and dynamically compare your institution’s results with results from a customized cohort of peer institutions.  You can also test for statistically significant differences between two sets of results.  Detailed instructions and tutorial videos are available on the MISO Survey Campus Survey Administrator’s Web site (access is restricted to authorized participants).

In 2012, the MISO Survey can accommodate up to 30 participating institutions.  If you wish to participate, please contact the survey team (survey@misosurvey.org).

The Survey measures nearly 70 critical services, including course management systems, the library facility, public computing on campus, digital library resources, campus printers, web conferencing, physical library collections, technology in classrooms, circulation services, and more.  Each participating institution receives a summary of its collected data as well as Excel documents with aggregate data and tools for analysis.

Most participating institutions survey teaching faculty, full-time enrolled undergraduates, and campus staff.  The survey is administered early in the spring semester.  There is a $1500 fee to participate.  Additional fees may apply for institutions surveying special campus populations.

If you have questions about the 2012 MISO Survey, or if you wish to participate, please contact the survey team (survey@misosurvey.org).  For more information about the Survey, please visit www.misosurvey.org.

All of the 2011 participating institutions have now received their survey data. In June, the Survey team will release the Excel workbooks that allow participating institutions to see statistically significant trends in comparison to other schools or dynamically created cohorts. Institutions that have participated in the Survey more than once will also be able to track trends over time.

We’re happy to report that response rates for faculty, staff, and students were all over 50%.

For each population, here is its number of respondents and its response rate.

While participation has been strong overall, we’re particularly pleased with the high response rates among undergraduates. We are unaware of any other national survey regarding libraries and/or IT organizations that has higher student response rates.

Slides from the presentation are now available.

Our second presentation, “Analyzing the MISO Data: Broader Perspectives on Library and Computing Trends,” will be at the Library Assessment Conference, which takes place in Baltimore, Maryland October 25-27.  The conference is sponsored by the Association of Research Libraries, the University of Virginia Library, and the University of Washington Libraries.

Download the presentation slides.