Future of Sta� Work Survey Report

Committee on the Future of Sta� Work

May 2021

Contents

1 Introduction 1

2 General Questions 22.1 What is your primary role at BU? Faculty or Sta�? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22.2 In what unit is your primary role at the University? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32.3 What campus do you spend the majority of your time on? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5

3 Sta� Related Questions 63.1 Do you work full-time or part-time? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 63.2 Are you hourly paid or salaried? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 63.3 During COVID, did you work fewer, same, or more hours than pre-COVID? . . . . 63.4 Is your job one that could be performed remotely, some or all of the time? . . . . . 73.5 If yes, Pre-COVID, what individuals or groups did you normally interact with in

person in an average day? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 103.6 During the 2020-2021 academic year, what was your typical working arrangement? 103.7 How productive are you in your work from home setup compared to being in the

o�ce? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 113.8 How e�ective is remote communication? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 123.9 From a job perspective, what has been most di�cult for you when working from

home? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 133.10 From a job perspective, what has been better when working from home? . . . . . . 143.11 Ideally, how many days per week would you like to work from home? . . . . . . . 153.12 If you do not have an opportunity to work remotely one or more days per week,

how likely will that in�uence your decision to remain at BU? . . . . . . . . . . . . 153.13 If you return to campus at some level, will you have any issues to overcome (profes-

sional or personal)? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 163.14 Please specify the issues you will need to overcome. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 163.15 Do you feel like your supervisor is supportive of a work from home arrangement? 17

4 Supervisors Questions 194.1 Do you supervise sta�? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 194.2 To what degree do you feel that sta� can be equally productive working remotely as

in person? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 204.3 Are your direct reports able to accomplish all tasks remotely? . . . . . . . . . . . . 204.4 Could you arrange work responsibilities so that some work could be performed re-

motely to allow one or more days of remote work? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 214.5 How many days per week on average would you be willing to allow sta� to work

from home (excluding those whose positions are 100% public-facing)? . . . . . . . 224.6 How e�ective is the communication with your sta� when working remotely? . . . 234.7 What have you found to be the most di�cult as a supervisor while sta� have been

working from remotely? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 244.8 How have you evaluated productivity and performance for sta� working remotely? 26

i

4.9 How likely do you expect to have challenges recruiting sta� without o�ering remoteworking options? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28

4.10 How likely do you expect to have challenges retaining sta� without o�ering remoteworking options? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28

4.11 Do you have any recommendations regarding how to promote engagement amongsta� working remotely or partially remote (i.e. Monthly remote community meet-ings around shared interests, community events such as a volunteer project, developsta� a�nity groups, etc.)? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29

5 Faculty Questions 315.1 In what areas do you receive support from sta�? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 315.2 During the COVID-19 pandemic, how has sta� working remotely a�ected the level

and quality of support you receive from sta�? (Quality) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 325.3 During the COVID-19 pandemic, how has sta� working remotely a�ected the level

and quality of support you receive from sta�? (Level) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 325.4 Assuming pandemic trends allow for BU employees to return to pre-pandemic ar-

rangements, would you support sta� working on a hybrid basis, partially on campusand o�? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33

5.5 Please elaborate: . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33

6 Conclusion 346.1 In conclusion, please provide any additional comments or suggestions you may have

regarding the future of remote work. Selecting the submit button below will com-plete the survey. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34

ii

Introduction

Committee members on the Future of Sta� Work:

• Kenneth Freeman, cochair, vice president ad interim for human resources, Questrom Schoolof Business dean emeritus and professor of the practice

• Natalie McKnight, cochair, dean, College of General Studies

• Diane Baldwin, associate vice president, Sponsored Programs

• Jorge Delva, dean, School of Social Work, Paul Farmer Professor

• Mariette DiChristina (COM’86), dean, College of Communication

• Ira Lazic, associate dean for administration and �nance, School of Public Health

• Elise Morgan, Maysarah K. Sukkar Professor of Engineering, director, Center for Multiscaleand Translational Mechanobiology, associate dean for research and faculty development, Col-lege of Engineering

• Janet O’Brien, senior associate vice president, IS&T

• Patricia O’Brien, associate provost for budget and planning

• Hee-Young Park, associate dean, faculty a�airs, professor and chair, department of medicalsciences and education, School of Medicine, Faculty Council representative

• Silifa Wallace, associate vice president, internal audit

• Juliana Walsh Kaiser, senior associate dean for �nance and administration, College of Arts& Sciences

1

General Questions

Total BU sta� (as of May 10, 2021): 6,145Total number of people (including faculty) completed the survey: 3200Number of sta� members completed the survey: 2,948Percent of total BU Sta� who answered the survey: 48%.

2.1 What is your primary role at BU? Faculty or Sta�?

2948

92.1%

252

7.9%

Faculty Staff

2

2.2 In what unit is your primary role at the University?

332

285

240

163

149

134

117

117

111

111

95

91

89

89

81

80

66

66

65

60

59

56

52

52

44

44

42

36

32

24

21

18

18

17

16

16

16

15

14

10

9

9

9

7

6

5

4

3

3

1

1Office of the Medical Campus Provost

ROTC Military Science

Marsh Chapel

School of Global Studies

Arvind & Chandan Nandlal Kilachand Honors College

School of Hospitality Administration

Division of Military Education

WBUR

Investment Office

Office of the President

University Libraries

Development

BU Academy

Graduate School of Arts & Sciences

Frederick S. Pardee School of Global Studies

NEIDL

School of Theology

College of General Studies

Office of the General Counsel

Operations

Athletics

Graduate Medical Sciences

Budget Planning & Business Affairs

Wheelock College of Education & Human Development

College of Communication

Dean of Students

School of Social Work

College of Fine Arts

Human Resources

BU Libraries

Global Programs

College of Health & Rehabilitation Sciences

Auxiliary Services

Campus Planning & Operations

Student Health Services

College of Engineering

School of Law

External Communications and Governmental Affairs

School of Dental Medicine

Office of the Provost

Questrom School of Business

Metropolitan College

School of Public Health

Development & Alumni Relations

Financial Affairs Administration

Research & Research Compliance

Other

Enrollment & Student Affairs

School of Medicine

College of Arts & Sciences

IS&T

0 100 200 300Number of the survey reponders

Uni

vers

ity U

nit

3

If other, please specify:

There were 111 responders who selected "Other" option. Most frequent answers are:

• Healthway: 18• Danielsen Institute: 10• Center for Marketing & Communications: 9• Hariri: 6• Center for Antiracist Research: 6• Other choices: 3 times or less

healthwayresearch

danielsencommunications

marketing

antiracist

hariri

educationhealth

hous

ing

safety

back

bioinformatics

custodian

environmental

epid

emio

logy

faci

litie

s

medical

slone

adm

issi

ons

boston

campus

cent

ral

com

putin

g

cont

inui

ng

covi

d

creative

data

depa

rtm

ent

development

faculty

financial

fram

ingh

am

heart

innovation

phot

onic

s

program

psyc

hiat

ric

reha

bilit

atio

n

scho

ol

sciences

student

study

technology

university

acco

untin

g

administrator

affa

irs

aid

bmc

board

bugs

dm

bumc

cds

ceed

child

rens

citie

s

clin

ical

collection

collections

college

compliance

cust

odia

l

dance

dent

al

design

dist

ance

educational

employee

energy

engagement

full

gms

grad

uate

hum

an

ihsip

industry

initi

ativ

e

inno

vate

bu

institutional

interactive

isso

laboratory

law

lear

ning

med

ia

medicine

nanotechnology

ohra

ombuds

osp

perd

phar

mac

olog

y

physical

phys

ics

polic

e

policy

prog

ram

s

public

recreation

residential

resource

revi

ewsargent

senior

spacesp

ark

sponsoredsustainability

sust

aina

ble

syst

em

teac

hing

tech

test

ing

theater

time

undergraduate

unit

working

4

2.3 What campus do you spend the majority of your time on?

2487

77.7%

34

1.1%

585

18.3%

94

2.9%

Other Medical Fenway Charles River

If other, please specify:

There were 89 responders who selected "Other" option. Most frequent answers are:

• Remote: 24• Framingham Heart Study: 20• Both Campuses: 7• Hawes str or Fenway: 5• Other choices: 2 times or less

remotefhs

campus

bothcampuses

charles

river

hawes

homewor

k

hire

d

medical

time

wor

king

currentlymajority

pand

emic

prev

ious

ly

spen

d

washington

yetabroad

agga

nis

allstonangeles

anymore

approximately

atte

ntio

n

ave

away

base

dba

y

bost

on

buick

building

bure

late

d

cape

category

clinical

cod

commcrosstown

day

delaware

departmentdue

endingevans

even

family

fullgallery

general

health

hire

hospital

june

leas

e

los

mainly

med

icin

e

multiple

near

needed

neidl

neve

r

new

none

norm

al

november

office

offsite

outside

per

pers

on

postpandemic

prec

ovid

relocated

research

role

school

services

since

site

spac

e

spentstart

starting

state

street

stud

ent

stud

yte

leco

mm

uter

testingtimes

transitioning

unit

wbur

wee

k

wfh

will

wor

cest

er

worked

year

s

5

Sta� Related Questions

3.1 Do you work full-time or part-time?

67

2.3%

2880

97.7%

Full−time Part−time

3.2 Are you hourly paid or salaried?

2511

85.2%

437

14.8%

Hourly Salaried

3.3 DuringCOVID, did youwork fewer, same, ormorehours thanpre-COVID?

Only for the population identi�ed as salaried sta�

60

2.4%

1264

50.3%

1160

46.2%

27

1.1%

NA Same More Fewer

6

Check if the answer di�ers for di�erent campuses:

2.5%

51.3%

45%

1.1%

4%

32%

64%

0%

1%

46.5%

51.3%

1.3%

5.9%

50%

44.1%

0%0

25

50

75

100

Charles River Fenway Medical OtherCampus

Per

cent

Hours

Fewer hours than pre−COVID

More hours than pre−COVID

Same as pre−COVID

NA

Amount of work vs. Campus

3.4 Is your job one that could be performed remotely, someor all of the time?

207

7%

2741

93%

Yes No

7

Check how di�erent BU departments answered this question:

IS&T

College of Arts & Sciences

School of Medicine

Enrollment & Student Affairs

Other

Research & Research Compliance

Development & Alumni Relations

Financial Affairs Administration

Metropolitan College

Questrom School of Business

School of Public Health

External Communications and Governmental Affairs

Office of the Provost

School of Dental Medicine

School of Law

College of Engineering

Student Health Services

Auxiliary Services

Campus Planning & Operations

Global Programs

BU Libraries

College of Fine Arts

Human Resources

College of Health & Rehabilitation Sciences

Dean of Students

School of Social Work

College of Communication

Wheelock College of Education & Human Development

Budget Planning & Business Affairs

Athletics

Office of the General Counsel

Graduate Medical Sciences

Operations

Frederick S. Pardee School of Global Studies

School of Theology

College of General Studies

Graduate School of Arts & Sciences

BU Academy

NEIDL

Development

Office of the President

University Libraries

Investment Office

WBUR

School of Hospitality Administration

Arvind & Chandan Nandlal Kilachand Honors College

Marsh Chapel

School of Global Studies

Division of Military Education

Office of the Medical Campus Provost

ROTC Military Science

0 100 200 300Freq

Uni

vers

ity U

nit

Answer No Yes

8

Check how this question was answered by supervisors vs. regular em-ployees:

7.3%

92.7%

6.6%

93.4%

0

25

50

75

100

Regular Employee SupervisorRole

Per

cent

Answer

No

Yes

9

3.5 If yes, Pre-COVID, what individuals or groups did you normally interactwith in person in an average day?

37.8%

Students

42.9%

Faculty

8.1%

Alumni

30.4%

External contacts

77.9%

Supervisor

90.3%

Colleagues

57.9%

Staff in other Dept.

2.4%

No one

3.6 During the 2020-2021 academic year, what was your typical working ar-rangement?

814

29.7%

375

13.7%

1552

56.6%

Remotely On Campus Hybrid

10

3.7 How productive are you in your work from home setup compared tobeing in the o�ce?

This question allowed to select a non-whole value, i.e. 4.3. The �rst graph and the table below, showsthe distribution of values rounded to a whole value, while the "violin" plot shows the distribution ofnon-rounded answers.

1559

65.9%

606

25.6%

162

6.8%

1 2 3 4 5

1 2 3 4 5

Productivity Count PercentageNot productive 4 0.2%

2 35 1.5%3 162 6.8%4 606 25.6%

Very productive 1559 65.9%

11

3.8 How e�ective is remote communication?

This question allowed to select a non-whole value, i.e. 4.3. The �rst graph and the table below, showsthe distribution of values rounded to a whole value, while the "violin" plot shows the distribution ofnon-rounded answers.

1281

54.1%

795

33.6%

226

9.6%

62

2.6%

1 2 3 4 5

1 2 3 4 5

Communication Count PercentageNot e�ective 2 0.1%

2 62 2.6%3 226 9.6%4 795 33.6%

Very e�ective 1281 54.1%

12

3.9 From a job perspective, what has beenmost di�cult for you when work-ing from home?

8.2%

13.2%

33.1%

18.1%

53.3%

27.6%Other

Ability to connect

Lack of equipment

Screen time

Technical issues

More distractions

0 25 50 75 100Percent

Other includes:

• long hours• separation between work and personal space• no or missing equipment• management/supervision• technical issues• caring for (or distraction from) kids/family/pets• di�culties with mailing services• increased amount of meetings• isolation• mental health• lack of physical movement• lack of understanding by the Leadership

13

3.10 Froma job perspective, what has been betterwhenworking fromhome?

89.2%

64.9%

52.6%

90.3%

61.8%

21.3%Other

Less distractions/ability to focus

Better commute

Emphasis on more purposeful interaction

More time to dedicate to work

Work life balance/flexibility

0 25 50 75 100 125Percent

Other includes:

• mental and/or physical health improved• more time for physical activity/outdoor time• quality of life improved• be able to care for dependents (elderly parents)• better meals• less commute• time �exibility• ability to work from various locations• more (quality) work done• emotional support from pets• money saved on gas and parking• less distraction• be more available to students during non-standard hours• comfortability• more (intimate, deeper) connections with colleagues• literally everything

14

3.11 Ideally, how many days per week would you like to work from home?

zero: 1.1%

one: 8.2%

two: 24.4%

three: 31.9%

four: 13.2%

five: 21.2%

3.12 If you do not have an opportunity to work remotely one or more daysper week, how likely will that in�uence your decision to remain at BU?

Very unlikely:14.8%

Unlikely: 16.9%

Neutral: 7.1%

Likely: 23%

Very Likely: 38.1%

15

3.13 If you return to campus at some level, will you have any issues to over-come (professional or personal)?

586

24.8%

654

27.6%

138

5.8%

988

41.8%

Yes Not applicable No Maybe

3.14 Please specify the issues you will need to overcome.

75.1%

Long commute

40%

Family care

60.8%

Concern about health/safety

28%

Other

16

Other includes:

3.15 Do you feel like your supervisor is supportive of a work from homearrangement?

416

15.2%

2311

84.3%

14

0.5%

NA Yes No

If no, please explain:There are total 393 responses. Below are some representative answers:

• My supervisor is not a fan of work-from-home.• CAS emailed all of us saying that we are expected to work on campus again.• Not approved for IS&T Client Technology Analysts• My immediate supervisor is. Our dean is not.• In the past, when discussed, the supervisor was not open.• There is a hesitancy in my unit to acknowledge that our job can be done remotely.

17

• She is a very di�cult person to communicate with and does not feel that my work can be doneremotely all the time when in fact, I believe that I have been very productive.

• Very old school• My direct supervisor is supportive, however indirect supervisors is wholly focused on ensur-

ing that all individuals are present on campus regardless of need because they believe it bettersthe culture.

• I think my supervisor thinks I don’t perform my work while working remotely.• Not very accommodating/�exible. They encourage FMLA instead.• I feel like because my supervisor feels like he has to be in the o�ce, the same expectation is

passed down to me even though my job can be done remotely.• My supervisor and administration has previously rejected any remote or �exible work options,

even for a single day.• You should have an "I don’t know" option because I haven’t spoken to my boss about this yet.• They are placing a strong emphasis on returning to campus and "fairness" compared with

colleagues whose job requires they work on-site.• They don’t seem to care and want to maintain the image of us being present on campus, even

though most of our department will not be interacting with students on a daily basis, so noone would even know if we’re physically in the o�ce.

• They are only supportive of a hybrid work from home arrangement• Probably no, because the head manager above my supervisor is against it. Lack of communi-

cation and transparency is not helping.

18

Supervisors Questions

4.1 Do you supervise sta�?

1870

58.4%

1078

33.7%

252

7.9%

NA Yes No

19

4.2 To what degree do you feel that sta� can be equally productive workingremotely as in person?

505

48.7%

295

28.4%

142

13.7%

59

5.7%

1 2 3 4 5

1 2 3 4 5

Productivity Count PercentageNot productive 37 3.6%

2 59 5.7%3 142 13.7%4 295 28.4%

Very productive 505 48.7%

4.3 Are your direct reports able to accomplish all tasks remotely?

332

32%

706

68%

Yes No

20

4.4 Could you arrangework responsibilities so that somework could be per-formed remotely to allow one or more days of remote work?

This question was only asked to those people who answered "No" on the previous question.

82

24.8%

249

75.2%

Yes No

If "No", please explain:

There are total 78 entries. There are 3 major groups of replies:

Public facing work: 56

Most tasks would benefit from

in−person interactions: 1

Public facing work,

but some hybrid work

(1−2 days)

might be possible: 14

Will place burden (or will be unfair)

to other members of the team

who need to be present on sight: 7

21

4.5 Howmany days per week on average would you be willing to allow sta�to work from home (excluding those whose positions are 100% public-facing)?

The chart below shows the choices of those managers who answered positive on the previous ques-tion.

zero: 0.4%

one: 4.7%

two: 21.5%

three: 27.9%

four: 15.4%

five: 30.1%

22

4.6 How e�ective is the communication with your sta� when working re-motely?

537

49.8%

334

31%

138

12.8%

52

4.8%

1 2 3 4 5

1 2 3 4 5

E�ectiveness Count PercentageLeast e�ective 17 1.6%

2 52 4.8%3 138 12.8%4 334 31.0%

Very e�ective 537 49.8%

23

4.7 What have you found to be the most di�cult as a supervisor while sta�have been working from remotely?

26.5%

18.3%

13.5%

44.8%

24.8%Other

None

Difficulty with team communication

Ability to monitor work progress

Ability to connect with staff

0 25 50 75 100Percent

If "Other", please specify:

There are 266 entries in "Other" �eld:

1. (96 people) Lack of informal personal interactions

2. (28 people) Hard to monitor/manage sta� work

3. (25 people) Hard to on-board or train remotely

4. (14 people) Hard to support sta� / keep morale

5. (14 people) Long hours / hard to separate personal and work time

6. (12 people) Many additional meetings / zoom fatigue

7. (6 people) Problems with communications, project coordination, increased response time

8. (5 people) Various problems with technology / hard to troubleshoot

24

teamwork

connectremoteperson

timemeet

abili

tyconnects

difficult

info

rmal

office

cam

pus

zoom

homepersonal

productive

people

ableho

urs

chal

leng

ing

done

issues

pand

emic training

check

direct

need

chec

kins

covi

d

effective

environment

improve

avai

labl

e

casualchat

com

mun

icat

e

productivity

toge

ther

emai

l

faceonboarding

othe

rs

task

sda

ily

supervise

contact

grea

t

issu

e

missing

progress

ques

tions

report

support

teams

bala

nce

challenge

completecomputer

department

effic

ient

emails

formal

hybr

id

info

rmal

ly

maintain

majority

monitor

morale

opportunities

personallyslack

stud

ents

activities

around

challenges

checking

culture

faceface

fullfully

goin

g

impromptu

isolation

lab

mai

ntai

ning

meaningful

often

physically

prof

essi

onal

response

responsivescheduling social

supe

rvis

ing

supportive

tool

s

wellness

wor

ks

25

4.8 Howhave you evaluated productivity and performance for sta�workingremotely?

76%

69.6%

62%

26.8%Other

Number of tasks/projects completed

Rate of progress on assigned tasks

Periodic work check

0 25 50 75 100Percent

26

If "Other", please specify

There are 287 entries in "Other" �eld:

1. (162 people) Regular check-ins (daily, weekly, bi-weekly)

2. (47 people) Quality of work, accomplishments, or feedback from clients

3. (24 people) Project management tools (Teams/trello/spreadsheets/reports)

4. (9 people) Time spent on the tasks, keeping deadlines

5. (3 people) Time to respond to emails/texts time

staffmeetings

weeklycheck

teamch

ecki

nsdaily

progressw

eek

zoom

meeting

regular

tasks

day

projects

can

teamsre

mot

e

remotely

also

direct

done

com

plet

ed

issu

eson

e

prod

uctiv

ity

project

communication

ever

y

meetmetrics

neededreport

well

working

repo

rts

discuss

task

basis

review

use

via

ability

feedback keep

performance

throughoutdeadlines

goals

management

pandemic

pers

onst

uden

ts

department

member

mon

itor

phon

e

quality

status

biweekly

indi

vidu

al

much

need

regularly

scheduled

student support

tool

s

able

clear

deliverables

facu

lty

going

group

hour

soneone

ques

tions

see

sinc

e

supervisor

track

updates

usingw

ay

campus

communicate

constant

covi

d

easi

ly

etc

feel

good

less

morning

othe

rs

quarterly

slac

k

talktogether

used

challenges

closely

conv

ersa

tions

employeesev

alua

te

ever

yone

getting

great

home

list

made

many

mem

bers

monthly

open

output

productive

specific

tool

vide

o

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4.9 How likely do you expect to have challenges recruiting sta� without of-fering remote working options?

Scale of 1-5 with 1 being not likely and 5 being very likely.

377

35%

286

26.5%

221

20.5%

117

10.9%

77

7.1%

1 2 3 4 5

4.10 How likely do you expect to have challenges retaining sta� withouto�ering remote working options?

Scale of 1-5 with 1 being not likely and 5 being very likely.

368

34.1%

286

26.5%

247

22.9%

109

10.1%

68

6.3%

1 2 3 4 5

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4.11 Do you have any recommendations regarding how to promote engage-ment among sta� working remotely or partially remote (i.e. Monthlyremote communitymeetings around shared interests, community eventssuch as a volunteer project, develop sta� a�nity groups, etc.)?

Representative answers:

• regular community conversations• Periodic remote social hours• Use in-person days intensively for team meetings, team building, networking.• A volunteer project is a great idea!• Regular in-person rituals such as team lunches, etc• DAR has done an exceptional job building community. I recommend talking to Amy Bronson

about how she has implemented across the unit.• There’s no one-size �ts all answer to this question. It’s very much dependent on the people

you work with.• This will just add another overhead, which I am not sure will be a productive use of every-

body’s time.• My sta� have been in their jobs for years and are very e�cient. I don’t want to waste their

time on these unnecessary meetings.

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staf

fw

ork

mee

tings

remoteteam

person

think

engagement

officeweekly

timecommunity

zoom

also

events

mon

thly

working can

people

groups

meetingremotely

day

will on

e

together

like

campus

group

teams week

social

great

etc

regularvirtualprojects

affin

ity

days

need

activ

ities

ever

yone

get

volu

ntee

r

well

check

just

even

fun

hours

make

connecthe

lp

help

ful

mee

t

build

ing

colle

ague

s

communication

feel

keep

thin

gs

way

year

info

rmal

shar

ed

want

depa

rtm

ent

donegood

opportunities

engaged

important

know

univ

ersi

ty

around

com

eho

me

able

enga

ge

every

allow

bette

rchat di

ffere

nt

lunc

h

need

stalk

daily

employees

fully

many

new via

chec

kins

ideas

interest

mon

th

pand

emic

hybrid

idea

members

online

project

really

see

share

som

ethi

ng

supp

ort

times

worked

anot

her

lunches

open

sche

dule

d

ways

outside

per

promote

always

small

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Faculty Questions

There are 203 faculty members answered this survey.

5.1 In what areas do you receive support from sta�?

91.7%

Administrative

37.3%

Teaching

56.3%

Research

55.6%

Central Admin.

12.3%

Other

If other, please specify:

support

rese

arch

student

admissions

program

serv

ices

staff

clinical

development

facilitiesfaculty

man

agem

ent

member

new

stud

ents

teac

hing

tech

nolo

gy

acad

emic

administering

advisers

advisoralso

although

animal

athleticaward

clerical

communications

com

putin

gcons

truc

tionb

uild

ing

cust

odia

n

data

degr

ee

developmentalumni

director

engineering

event expe

rienc

es

external

fellows

finemanfull

graduate

grant

hard

war

e

information

interns

lab

labo

rato

rylaw

letslibraries

libra

ry

mar

ketin

g

med

ia

mentoring

mon

ey

neuroscience

operations

orde

ring

organization

papp

as

phd

policy

post

pre

proc

urem

ent

professionalprograms

promys

prop

osal

ranging

ras

receiving

recr

uit

recruitmentregulatory

relations

repo

rts

review

role

runsoftware

spec

ial

spec

ialis

t

supe

rvis

e

supervising

supe

rvis

ion

tech

inic

al

tech

nica

l

testing

time

training

travel

undergraduate

use

vario

us

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5.2 During the COVID-19 pandemic, how has sta� working remotely af-fected the level and quality of support you receive from sta�? (Quality)

Scale of 1-5, with one being signi�cant negative impact and 5 being positive impact.

30

12.4%

32

13.3%

139

57.7%

36

14.9%

4

1.7%

1 2 3 4 5

1 2 3 4 5

5.3 During the COVID-19 pandemic, how has sta� working remotely af-fected the level and quality of support you receive from sta�? (Level)

Scale of 1-5, with one being signi�cant negative impact and 5 being positive impact.

29

12%

37

15.4%

123

51%

48

19.9%

4

1.7%

1 2 3 4 5

1 2 3 4 5

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5.4 Assuming pandemic trends allow for BU employees to return to pre-pandemic arrangements, would you support sta� working on a hybridbasis, partially on campus and o�?

19

7.9%

54

22.4%

168

69.7%

Yes Maybe (depends on the role) No

5.5 Please elaborate:

There are 67 entries in this section:

• (36 people ) For some positions it might work. Front facing positions should be on campus.• (16 people) The support quality, e�ciency, etc. went signi�cantly down. We should all go

back to campus.• (15 people) We all need to go back to campus and work as a team.• (1 person) Hybrid work is the worst.

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Conclusion

6.1 In conclusion, please provide any additional comments or suggestionsyoumay have regarding the future of remote work. Selecting the submitbutton below will complete the survey.

There are 1814 replies for this question.

wor

kre

mot

e

homestaffw

orki

ng

will

remotely

can

timeoffic

e

campus

flexibilitythink

days

empl

oyee

s able

week

university

people

day

person

year

also many

students

com

mut

e

need

productive

like

hour

s

job

much

done

pand

emic

bala

nce

better

hybrid

one

option

prod

uctiv

ity

even

back

well

believe

less

allo

w

feel

just

life

flexible

commuting

hope

make

get

meetingsim

port

ant

needs

pastcontinue

ability

team

way

covid

with

out

depa

rtm

ent

colle

ague

s

facu

lty

want

now

going

great

future

leas

t

boston

come

opportunity

real

ly

wor

klife

heal

th

long

schedule

take

benefit

best

see

environment

lot

sinc

e

espe

cial

ly

family

still

new

thank

everyone

forw

ard

support

allo

win

g

bene

fits

give

n

offer

return

space

know

may

wor

ked

per

times

allowed

empl

oyee

polic

yquality

zoom

help

student

jobs

part

etc

options

fully

made

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0

100

200

300

400

anger anticipation disgust fear joy sadness surprise trustsentiment

coun

t

sentiment

anger

anticipation

disgust

fear

joy

sadness

surprise

trust

Survey sentiments

In addition to overwhelminglymany replieswith a very strong support of remoteworkoption ("Being able to work remotely N days/week would change my life..."), below aresome challenges raised or feedback provided:

• I’m glad we are thinking about this systematically. Thank you.• I do not know: 1) how to foster and maintain a strong team culture when people are in multiple

places; 2) how to ensure that productivity continues 3) how do I evaluate work that is notnumerical, etc.

• We don’t yet know how we will conduct meetings with combinations of remote and in-personattendees. Probably we will need to continue to use Zoom.

• Meetings with faculty have been INFINITELY easier to schedule and far more productive.• That’s it???? You are going to make decisions that have incredible impact on a workforce that

has just gone through collective trauma and that’s all you want to know from us? This year hasbeen the hardest of my life. The support systems I rely on as a mother/partner/daughter/friend/humanvanished, and my mental health has su�ered. We are all going to need time to process thetrauma of this past year, and I get the sense that the University thinks we all just had a 15month long vacation. Yes, I got my work done and was still there to support the studentsand faculty I work with. Yes, it was often at the expense of my children and my own mentalhealth. NO, I did not work optimally–we were in a global pandemic! Your workforce needssome space and grace after this year. Please allow us to have that.

• I don’t think BU should implement a blanket "in o�ce" requirement. It should be determinedby department or o�ce and sta� should have the ability to express their interests on a depart-ment or sta� level without repercussion.

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• My fear is that BU will allow some employees to work from home at least some of the time, butwill not allow it for employees who work regularly with students. I am an academic advisor,and our jobs are perfectly doable from home at least some, if not all, of the time.

• One challenge is who gets a permanent work station in the o�ce and who shares. Wouldyou get an assigned space if you are in at least three days per week? What about technology.Does BU provide two workstations; one in the o�ce and one from home? Or only provide alaptop and monitors, keyboards, etc at home needs to be supplied by the individual. Duringthe pandemic we have not hired anyone new so the challenge of on boarding someone newwhile working remote has not been discussed. I think it will be a real challenge integratingsomeone new in a team.

• I believe that there is a trust issue with supervisors allowing sta� to work remotely. Essentially,I am professional and want to give responsibility for knowing how to do my job well fromwherever and whenever. I give so much of my free time in the past year to get the job doneand meet student and faculty needs without dropping the ball. However, at no point has mysupervisor acknowledged that the job required any additional e�ort in the last 12 months andthinks I have to be in front of her to be productive.

• I would suggest that the university draft work from home minimum guidelines that depart-ments can then add to in ultimately drafting and implementing their remote work policy.Should not be a matter if if at this point but rather how.

• No clear boundary between work and personal life. Emails from co-workers throughout theday, night and weekends

• I think providing home o�ce equipment, and reimbursements/bene�ts for internet, electricity,and heating will have to be considered.

• Maybe charge both remote and in-person employees the same for parking? Unfair pay penaltyfor those working in person.

• THE SCHOOL DOES NOT FUNCTION CORRECTLY WITH PEOPLE WORKING FROM HOME• There was not enough focus in this survey how to show appreciation for sta� who must be on

campus. Many sta� have been coming in throughout the pandemic and feel that their e�ortshave gone unnoticed. For some reason, they still have to pay for parking, they had a com-mute, they had potentially additional exposure to COVID-19, and they still all put in extrahours, often working before they came to campus and resuming work when they returnedhome, but no one is asking what we can do for those sta�. The assumption I hear that onlyremote workers put in more hours because they did not have a commute during the pandemicis completely incorrect. We have an issue at BU with potentially losing candidates and currentemployees who want to be remote and could be. We also have an issue at BU with candidatesand current employees who are in roles that legitimately need to be on campus, but compa-rable roles at corporations do not always have this requirement. We need to spend some timeensuring those folks are heard and acknowledged and that we don’t lose experienced sta� inroles that require an on-campus presence. Might want to consider equity adjustments and arecruitment premium for on-campus roles.

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