Campus Climate Task Force develops plan to improve University’s internal communications efforts

Background

The Campus Climate Task Force (CCTF) was created in 2014 to evaluate information resulting from the Modern Think 2014 Great Colleges Survey and formulate actionable recommendations.

After thorough review of the survey results, the CCTF established four subcommittees to undertake an in-depth analysis of the data. Goals were established to communicate openly and regularly through a variety of vehicles and to seek further information and input from the University community.

The recommendations of the Task Force focused on four key areas, including University‐wide internal communications. The internal communication subcommittee was provided the following list of priorities on which to focus its efforts:

• (High Potential) Increase employee recognition and use of the university-wide internal newsletter.
• (High Potential) Rebuild the Faculty/Staff front page with an audience focus.
• (Consider) Investigate the effectiveness of internal communications in reaching the intended audience.
• (Ongoing) Units that offer internal services should continue to improve their avenues for receiving lateral communication.
• (Ongoing) Continue to support the OHIO Alert system.
• (Ongoing) Continue to communicate for targeted and selected purposes via media other than e-mail.
• (Consider) Consider how the online directory could be improved.

The subcommittee, which is comprised of faculty, administrative and classified staff representatives, developed a survey focused on internal communications. The survey included questions about communication tools used to disseminate information, the types of information employees want to see and demographic information of the respondents. It was distributed electronically through broadcast emails and the University’s news website, Compass, as well as paper copies distributed to employees who do not have regular access to computers at work.

While the data from the survey has been collected and analyzed, a new work group was formed in 2016-17 to specifically address action items that were directly related to employee communications.

The work group, which includes representatives from University Communications and Marketing, the Division of Finance and Administration and Information Technology, outlined its priorities based upon results from the survey conducted by the CCTF internal communication subcommittee and recommendations outlined in the original Campus Climate Task Force report.

Purpose

The purpose of the employee communications work group is to bring together communicators whose primary responsibility is employee (internal) communications. It also brings together communicators whose units distribute important news and updates to better align efforts and create actionable plans to support the work and recommendations of the Campus Climate Task Force.

Progress

In February 2017, the employee communication work group proposed the following charge:

1. Specific communications plan for CCTF (High priority)
   1. Progress: This document will serve as a plan for the employee communication work group, outlining progress during the 2016-17 academic year and goals for the 2017-18 year. Additional plans involving the CCTF internal communication subcommittee may be forthcoming.
2. Employee newsletter rebrand/redesign (High priority)
   1. Progress: With the help of the work group and feedback from the CCTF internal communication subcommittee and Campus Communicator Network, University Communications and Marketing (UCM) launched a new faculty/staff newsletter in August 2017. The newsletter, OHIO Employee News, features a new design and layout and is distributed every Monday morning during the academic year.
3. Faculty/Staff website redesign (High priority)
   1. Progress: As UCM moves forward with the redesign of the Compass website, plans will be made to address the faculty/staff website concurrently.  
4. Field staff communication strategy (High priority)
   1. Progress: The employee communication work group conducted surveys and research during summer 2017, soliciting feedback from non-desk and field employees regarding effective strategies for ensuring University communications reach them. Once all feedback was gathered, the work group engaged other stakeholders and developed a plan outlining new and/or improved communication channels for this audience.
5. Drive content in general to OHIO Employee News (High priority)
   1. Progress: Future expansion of the employee communication work group with new members during 2017-18 increased awareness and collaboration among key communicators to drive content to OHIO Employee News.
6. Overuse/misuse of Ad Hoc email (High priority)
   1. Progress: Compass and OHIO Employee News outlined in the updated Big Book of Communications (produced by UCM’s Communication Services team) encourages other avenues for communicating information outside of ad hoc emails.
7. Advancing use of technology (Secondary priority)
   1. Progress: The employee work group will support the efforts of OIT and UCM as the University rolls out its new content management system. New technology will be addressed in the form of tools and communication channels that may be established to reach all employee audiences.
8. Establish communication plan standards (Secondary priority)
9. Directory improvement (Tertiary priority)
   1. Progress: The employee work group will support the efforts of the Web Advisory Group (WAG) as it addresses improvements to the University’s directory.

The above priorities were based on alignment with the Campus Climate Task Force recommendations and ongoing or planned projects related to internal communications.

Next Steps

• Continue progress on improving field employee communications by developing a plan with specific tactical action items as a result of the June 2017 survey   
• Support the new faculty/staff newsletter launch by driving content to the newsletter and encouraging adoption through division/unit communications
• Identify new members to add to the work group for the 2017-18 academic year, to broaden representation of faculty and units with frequent employee communication needs
• Continue to use regular meetings as an opportunity to coordinate employee communications originating in VPFA and other units through UCM for message clarity and consistency