People are at the heart of the University of Alberta and the work we do every day. The expertise, passion and commitment of our faculty and staff help bring the university’s mission to life.
“When you have interesting work, when you're surrounded by engaged colleagues, when processes go well and you’re able to focus on what you do best – that’s when the U of A is at its best," says Marcie Chisholm, chief human resources officer and associate vice-president of Human Resources, Health, Safety and Environment.
As part of this ongoing work to improve the workplace experience, all faculty and staff will be invited to participate in the Faculty and Staff Engagement Survey beginning on October 5. This survey is a follow-up to the 2023 survey, which guided the development of Forward Together, the U of A People Strategy. “It’s a way to check in on how we’re responding to feedback and adapt our plans to the current needs of our people,” says Marcie.
The survey is an opportunity for everyone who works at the university to share feedback on their workplace experience and help identify what’s going well and where there are opportunities to improve, both at the institutional level and within their own faculty or department.
“Engagement is influenced by so many different things – our personal and professional experiences, our leaders, our colleagues, the overall environment in which we operate – really everything that touches our lives,” Marcie points out. “Regularly asking for feedback from faculty and staff across all departments and units helps us improve our workplace environment, so we can remove barriers, solve problems and focus on the important work of the university.”
What to expect
The 2026 survey includes 23 questions and will take approximately 15 minutes to complete while still allowing teams to measure progress since the last survey. The decision to make the survey shorter was in response to input from across the U of A community, which emphasized competing demands on faculty and staff members’ time.
While the survey is shorter, Marcie hopes the feedback will inspire opportunities for constructive change. “We are asking the community to be specific in their feedback so we can apply it directly to make improvements. Faculty and staff can share suggestions about anything from small changes that could improve the workplace at the unit level to larger changes they’d like to see across the university,” Marcie explains.
What happens next?
The full results will be shared with the university community, followed by action planning. “We will use the survey results to reflect on where we are as an institution, and to revise, renew or create action plans.”
“So long as there are at least five respondents, leaders will receive all of the comments for their units. To protect anonymity, individual identifiers will be removed and feedback reported in aggregate. Comments will help leaders with action planning.”
Marcie doesn’t shy away from the challenges and constraints facing the university. “There are some things we know we can’t change. However, there are many things that are completely within our accountability and authority to change. Let’s focus there.”
Marcie says the guiding principle for this effort is that “everything we do at the University of Alberta is through our people.”
“We’re lucky to have a clear and compelling purpose at the U of A, and we all contribute to that purpose. Your feedback and engagement are critical in ensuring we can celebrate and learn from what’s going well, and also catch areas where we're not doing well so we can make changes.”
Forward Together is the U of A’s People Strategy and our action plan for supporting workplace engagement and culture. See how faculty and staff feedback has helped shape positive change across the university: People Strategy in Action: Progress Update. Continue shaping our workplace culture by sharing your feedback in the Faculty and Staff Engagement Survey, Oct. 5–23, 2026.