Administrative Quality Satisfaction Survey
The Administrative Quality Satisfaction Survey (AQSS)—conducted in April 2024—had a response rate of 13.9% and received over 15,000 qualitative responses. The survey aimed to gather insights about employee experiences with administrative services, at both central and local/departmental units. This survey was open to all Academic Staff, University Staff, Limited Appointees, Faculty, Graduate Assistants, and Post-Docs/Post-degree recipients.
The overall satisfaction rating increased to 3.90 on a 1 through 5 scale, up from 3.81 in 2022. Local service (service provided by divisions and/or departments) received higher ratings, averaging 3.97, compared to the central-level service (service provided by campus-level units, such as the Office of Human Resources or Division of Business Services), which scored an average of 3.83. This trend is consistent with the 2022 AQSS survey.
AQSS results showed a highly variable perception of customer services across campus and the different survey focus areas of communications, facilities, finance, general administration, human resources, information technology, and research administration.
Survey Results
Reports
The Administrative Quality Satisfaction Survey reports include analysis of all quantitative and qualitative question results.
Dashboard
The dashboard allows UW–Madison users to view results for schools, colleges, or divisions. The dashboard must be accessed from the UW–Madison network or VPN with a NetID.
Results show increased service satisfaction in finance, human resources, information technology, communications, and general administration.
Following the 2022 survey, administrative leaders took action to improve administrative services. These actions include finance teams improving procurement and travel and human resource teams taking action to mitigate Title and Total Compensation concerns.
Research Administration saw a decrease in service satisfaction.
The most frequent reasons stated in the qualitative responses were concerns with the implementation of the Research Administration Management Portal (RAMP) and the staffing level and rates of staff turnover in the central research administration office (Research and Sponsored Programs). Learn more about RAMP.
Other Successes
Survey respondents saw positive improvements in IRB, travel, and purchasing processes. There was also praise for the additional resources around training and professional development available to employees.
Participants also noted the improved campus-level and divisional/departmental leadership communication and transparency around decision-making, strategic planning, and an overall feeling of creating a culture of progress.
About the Survey
Employee experience, engagement, and feedback will continue to inform our strategic priorities and help UW-Madison identify innovative opportunities to make this university a great place to work for everyone.
The Administrative Quality Satisfaction Survey (AQSS) asks participants to provide important insights about their experience with these services. Questions relate to administrative activities at both the campus and local levels.
Survey results will be used to assess and improve overall satisfaction with UW-Madison’s administrative services. The survey results will also provide valuable baseline metrics for administrative transformation at UW-Madison, including the transition to Workday in July 2025. Improvements could include investments in resources, staffing, and employee training and development.
The survey is not being used to evaluate budgets or employee performance.
The survey will be available in English, Spanish, Chinese, Hmong, Tibetan, and Nepali.
The survey is a mix of open-ended response questions and questions that ask participants to rate their levels of satisfaction on a given scale.
The survey asks participants to reflect on their experience with seven categories of administrative services:
- Communications
- Facilities
- Finance
- General Administration
- Human Resources
- Information Technology
- Research Administration
10-15 minutes for the rating portion; more time may be required depending on the level of detail provided in the open-ended responses.
Participants do not need to complete the survey all at once. They can return to the survey by clicking the link provided in the original email.
UW-Madison has partnered with a third-party organization called HelioCampus to distribute the survey and keep survey responses confidential. Survey respondent identities will not be shared by HelioCampus to UW-Madison, except when there are legal reporting requirements related to harassment, abuse, or threat of harm.
Frequently Asked Questions
Below are answers to frequently asked questions about the Administrative Quality Satisfaction Survey.
You will receive an email from Provost Zumbrunnen & VCFA Cramer from the email address noreply@qualtrics-research.com.
Each email will include a unique link to take the Qualtrics Survey. Please DO NOT forward this email or share your link with others, as this link is unique to you.
Yes, you can take the survey on your mobile or tablet device. We recommend using a desktop computer or laptop due to the length of the survey and the opportunity to provide written feedback.
If you don’t have access to a computer, laptops and computer stations will be available for you to use. You can also visit one of the campus InfoLab locations to take the survey.
More information on locations of available computer stations will be added here in the coming months.
The survey is open to all faculty, staff, postdoctoral, and graduate assistant employees.
Please check your junk and other email folders to ensure it did not get filtered out of your inbox.
If you do not find the email, please contact adminqualitysurvey@vc.wisc.edu.
Survey results will primarily be used to assess and improve overall satisfaction with UW-Madison’s administrative services.
The survey is not being used for evaluation of budgets or employee performance.
If you cannot finish the survey all at once, you may return to it later. You will exit the survey when needed and use the link in your email to start the survey again.
This can happen if you forward your email survey and the recipient uses your unique link to complete the survey. If this has happened to you, please contact adminqualitysurvey@vc.wisc.edu to request a new link.
Yes, the survey will be available in English, Spanish, Chinese, Hmong, Tibetan, and Nepali.
Yes. If you don’t have access to a computer, you can complete the survey on your mobile device or tablet. You can also visit one of the campus InfoLab locations to take the survey.
Please contact your supervisor or human resources representative if you have additional questions.
Campus-level units serve the broader university. The Office of Human Resources and Madison Budget Office are considered campus-level units.
Local units serve the unit in which they immediately reside. The human resources team in the School of Business and the finance & budget team in Recreation & Wellbeing are both local units.
HelioCampus is a benchmarking consortium with more than 70 active members. Members are colleges and universities from around the country. UW-Madison has been a member of the HelioCampus consortium since 2016.
Contact Us
If you would like the project team to speak with your group or have questions about the findings, email adminqualitysurvey@vc.wisc.edu.