Not only has satisfaction in most of McMaster support services increased, according to the results of a UniForum@McMaster survey, but our overall satisfaction scores are among the highest of the participating universities globally and the third highest among Canadian universities.  

The annual UniForum@McMaster Service Effectiveness Survey, which was distributed to over 4,800 faculty and staff members, is a critical tool used to evaluate the quality of administrative support services provided by the University. Staff and faculty from across the University can access the results through the UniForum@McMaster team to gain insights and analyze whether support services in their area are delivered as efficiently and effectively as possible. The survey was first done in 2018 and since that time, McMaster’s satisfaction score has risen notably (12 points over the year before).   

Universities from Canada, the UK, Australia and New Zealand also participate in the program and submit the same data to benchmark their outcomes. 

“McMaster’s faculty and staff have worked incredibly hard over the last few years to find ways to improve our services and achieve our goal of operational excellence,” says President of McMaster University, David Farrar.

“I want to thank each and every one of them for their excellent work: McMaster’s staff is truly world-class.”

While these results are encouraging, the data also reveal opportunities for service improvements. The UniForum@McMaster team is hoping to meet with Faculty and department representatives from across the University to go through their results and find areas of efficiencies. For instance, the Faculty of Health Sciences has used the data to demonstrate the impact of organizational changes and process enhancements. Currently, the MacPherson Institute is examining the data within the area of teaching design, development and delivery. 

McMaster participates annually in the survey, which is divided into two parts, each of which covers 35 different services. The survey relies on employees from across the University to submit their views to a database that measures the effectiveness of operational and administrative services and tracks satisfaction.    

“The data from UniForum@McMaster has become key to understanding how we can better support employees in delivering services to our students, faculty and staff,” says Susan Tighe, McMaster’s Provost. “Without this input, it would be difficult to understand the true landscape of where and how services are delivered throughout McMaster. I hope our staff will contact the UniForum team to take time to review the data and see how their hard work is making positive change at McMaster.” 

If you would like to receive and analyze data from your area, please contact the UniForum@McMaster team (uniforum@mcmaster.ca).  

The 2023 UniForum Activity Collection is now underway. The data collected allows us to better understand how we resource administrative and support services and how we can better respond to the results of the Service Effectiveness Survey. Staff across the University will be participating: please contact the UniForum team for more information or support.