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PSU-AAUP

Survey Results: Info Valued, Challenged by “Too Many Emails, Not Enough Time.”

March 30, 2018 / PSU-AAUP

A sincere thank you to the 281 members who responded to the PSU-AAUP communications survey!  We heard you--loud and clear.  You told us that you value the information you get from us (see below for detail on your top priorities) and you prefer email over other means. But with 55% of responding members to our Communications Survey saying “I get too many emails (from all sources) and can’t keep up,” and 49% of responding members saying “not enough time,” we know that we need to look for even more ways to ensure that our messages are succinctly and efficiently delivered. The good news is that our union is here to support us.

Read on for more results from the Communications Committee’s Communications Survey findings and how we are going to act on what we heard.

Here’s a recap of the survey results:

  • 25% response rate with 281 recorded responses from our ~1,100 members.
  • Top 3 issues members find most important: 1) Increased wages and benefits; 2) Workload; 3) Administrative Bloat
  • Top 3 issues about which members would like to receive communication: 1) Bargaining and negotiation updates; 2) Issues that co-workers or other departments are facing with management; 3) Official PSU-AAUP Events; 4) Q&A about union issues (4th by only 1 respondent)
  • Top 3 issues members want to hear about: 1) Bargaining and negotiation updates; 2) Issues that co-workers or other departments are facing with management; 3) Q&A about union issues
  • Over 50% of responding members do not want to use social media for PSU-AAUP communications

Email: What We Do and How We Can Improve

We do our best to not contribute to the “too many emails, not enough time” issues. Here’s how we support you in that:

  • We’ll continue to send Member News emails from PSU-AAUP just once a week, at a maximum.
  • Emails from PSU-AAUP have subject lines beginning with [PSU-AAUP]. We’ll continue this practice, which allows you to easily scan your inbox, and/or create filters and labels in gmail. (Note: you may also receive emails from our national affiliate AAUP - these will not have our [PSU-AAUP] tag on them so you can filter them separately.)
  • We are making adjustments to the content and layout of our Member News to enable quick scanning for content most relevant to your interests and to help you get to know your fellow union members.
  • We will continue to post all articles to our blog so that you can search for and review them at times convenient for you.
  • We’ll continue to bargain on your behalf to create strong contracts and advocate for reasonable workloads.
  • We’re looking into how else we can provide support and education for email management tools (like inbox zero).

Social Media

We do have social media accounts on Facebook and Twitter, so if you’d like to follow us, please do. If you’re not on social media, don’t worry. You’ll still be able to keep up with our union’s happenings via Member News messages.

Here’s How to Connect with your Union

All of our updates on bargaining and grievances are posted to our blog, and linked via our member news emails. Our quarterly member meetings and socials also provide a good way to learn about PSU-AAUP goings on. Please join us at our Spring term events, and be sure you connect with your Unit Representative if you’d like an update.

 

Respectfully submitted by your Communications Committee:

Emily Ford (Chair), Susan Adams, Daneen Bergland, Mauryn Cisneros, Tracy Williams-Murphy

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