Q: Can my manager see my You Count! survey responses? Should I worry about responding honestly?
A: Don’t worry, it’s not possible for a manager or anyone else at UTMB to trace a response back to an individual. That's why UTMB hired Watson Wyatt to manage the You Count! survey. Watson Wyatt receives all survey responses, compiles the results and reports a summary to UTMB. The data is given to UTMB at the entity, department, and division levels. If less than 8 people respond in any given division, those responses are incorporated into the next larger group summary.

Q: Does this survey really matter? Why should I even participate?
A: Your participation is critical to the survey success. It’s your opportunity to voice your opinion. While participation is voluntary, the more employees who participate, the more accurately we can identify and ultimately address employee perceptions and concerns.

UTMB takes this survey seriously. It's been developed so we can compare UTMB against national norms; and against our peers. UTMB has hired Watson Wyatt, an international consulting firm with more than 50 years experience, to manage and direct our survey.

And leadership listens. As President Stobo has said, “I closely monitor employee satisfaction. When I meet with university leaders, I hold them accountable for addressing issues raised by employees. I encourage every UTMB employee to voice their opinions via You Count.”

Q: Why is the survey only being done once this year, instead of twice as in the past? Is it not as important? Are we trying to cut corners or save money?
A: Last year (in 2006), we changed from a twice-yearly to one-a-year approach. We said at the time that what we did in 2007 would depend in part on the success/response rate for the annualized process in FY06. The response and feedback were positive; we had our highest participation ever. So, we plan to continue on this new schedule. However, the change in frequency had more to do with trying to be more effective and saving wear and tear on employees, than with saving money. All UTMB employees are still surveyed, so there's no net decrease in the number of surveys distributed, collected or analyzed. The university's leadership remains committed to the survey process and to acting on the results to make the university stronger.

There are other measures we've taken, however, that are meant to save us money. Eliminating paper forms--and the related costs associated with printing, postage and handling--are examples. Efforts to save dollars don't mean the survey is less important; it means we are trying to get a maximum return on our limited resources.  

Q: If I enter the raffle drawing for the cruise (or cash equivalent), can UTMB track back to find out who completed a survey?
A: No. The raffle and raffle entry process is distinct from the on-line survey submission. Both are managed by Watson Wyatt, not UTMB. Once you complete the survey, a link appears to give you the option to go to a different site with the raffle registration page. Watson Wyatt, our survey administrator, verifies entries have not been duplicated and then prints out raffle tickets for each eligible employee. The tickets will be mailed to UTMB, the winning ticket will be selected (at a drawing in March) and the remaining tickets will be destroyed. The only UTMB employee who will be identified will be the raffle winner.

Q: What exactly is the raffle prize?
A: The raffle is for a voucher for a cruise for two or the cash equivalent of $2000.

Q: What if I only partially complete my survey? Do I get to participate in the drawing?
A: No. The survey must be completely filled out in order to be eligible for the drawing.

Q: When can I take the cruise? Are there restrictions? If I win the cruise do I have to use my vacation days?
A: The drawing will be held in March. The cruise voucher can be transferred to another person. The winner will need to use their accrued vacation time to take time off for the cruise. Or you can take the cash. 

Q: If I win the prize, what impact will that have on my taxes? How does this work?
A: UTMB will pay both the employee and the employer portion of all relevant taxes. At the end of the calendar year, the employee portion of the taxed related to the cruise will be added to the employee’s overall income on their W-2. This practice is commonly called a ‘gross-up,’ where the employee’s income is kept whole for tax purposes.

Q: Why didn’t I get to participate in the survey and get a chance in the cruise raffle?
A: The only reasons an employee would not be eligible to participate would be if they are not benefits eligible, or were hired after Jan. 15, 2007. You Count! has only been available to benefit eligible employees since its inception in 2000. We will continue to review the criteria for survey eligibility each year. In order to make the survey available we had to create a cutoff date.

Q: Why is the survey only online this year?
A: Nationally, online employee surveys are the standard and a best practice, according to Watson Wyatt, our survey partner. Organizations (including health care) that only offer online surveys typically achieve a higher participation rate than those that use paper surveys. The use of on-line surveys also results in substantive cost savings, from printing, processing and postage reductions.

2006 was a transition year for UTMB's survey, and employees had a choice whether to participate in the survey online or via paper. This year all surveys are online.

Q: What if I don’t have access to a computer at work?
We recognize that some employees don’t have access to a computer at a private workstation. If that’s you, we encourage you to participate at an alternate location at work or at home, at a friend’s house, in Room 232 of the Administration Building, at the Moody Medical Library (PCs are available at the library for employee use) or your local public library. You can take the survey from anyplace that you can access your email and/or have access to the Internet.   

Q: If I complete the You Count! survey via the web will my responses be confidential? Can UTMB trace my individual responses from my specific IP (Internet protocol) address?
A: Your survey is sent directly to Watson Wyatt. No one from UTMB ever sees individual responses or knows who has responded. UTMB is only interested in the data summarized at group-levels, such as entity, department, and division levels.

While the Internet technology does make it possible for Watson Wyatt (or any web server operator) to log site traffic, there is no practical purpose to justify the effort. An Internet protocol (IP) address is tied to a specific machine but it does not reveal who owns the computer or most importantly, who was using that computer at any given time. Matching individual responses to IP addresses is highly complex, time-consuming and expensive, and would require access to Watson Wyatt's server log files. It's not part of the plan and runs counter to the purpose and intent of the survey. It's not being done.