As the Spring 2025 semester ends, the Total Organizational Health (TOH@UTC) team would like to share a few updates based on the recently completed Spring 2025 TOH@UTC progress check evaluation, to which all UTC employees had the opportunity to respond in April 2025. These recurring TOH@UTC progress check evaluations, along with other campus and systems surveys (e.g., McLean, COACHE), provide valuable insights that help guide campus initiatives to strengthen and sustain a positive and healthy work environment at UTC. This blog post/report provides an overview of how our campus is doing in terms of the five overarching dimensions to the TOH@UTC framework (i.e., protection from harm, connection and community, work-life harmony, mattering at work, and opportunities for growth). You can learn more about this framework and initiative by reading previous blog posts in this series and by reviewing other information and resources available through the TOH@UTC website.
The data for this most recent TOH@UTC progress check come from nearly 430 faculty and staff employees who responded to this survey in April 2025. These data were analyzed and reported by May 2, 2025 to leaders and managers of all campus units in which at least three employees responded. This means that approximately 80 distinct campus work units received a report, which is a notable increase from the 70 reports generated for the Fall 2024 progress check evaluation. These reports follow the format of the overall campus TOH@UTC data dashboard. Within each report, results from the Spring 2025 survey were compared to corresponding data from the Fall 2024 and Spring 2024 administrations of this progress check survey.
Across specific UTC divisions, colleges, departments, and work areas, these data show encouraging signs of continued growth and improvement, along with some ongoing challenges and areas of concern with respect to the various aspects of TOH that we are working to improve across campus. Overall, the campus picture reflects general stability, with some slight improvements observed between Fall 2024 and Spring 2025. Improvements are more noticeable within units that have worked to address or respond to previous rounds of progress check information, and which are actively making the management of TOH a shared responsibility among all members of those units. We are hopeful that more units across campus will engage with this TOH monitoring and improvement work, especially as the areas of emphasis for this initiative align with goals in the 2025-2030 strategic plan.
In the remainder of this blog post, we present a high-level overview of employee responses to the open-ended items included in this progress check evaluation and data-driven findings summarized for each of the five TOH@UTC core dimensions. These summaries compare employee responses from TOH@UTC progress check evaluations in Spring 2024 (517 employee respondents), Fall 2024 (379 employee respondents), and Spring 2025 (429 employee responses). We report weighted median responses and interquartile ranges (IQR) to provide a snapshot of what the “typical” UTC employee was feeling about the core components to TOH at the end of last semester, taking into account sample size differences across the participating division and college units. As you review these values, please note that all progress check evaluation items are scaled from 1 = Disagree strongly to 5 = Agree strongly, and higher scores indicate a more positive perception of any particular TOH dimension. If you do not find these values to reflect the way you personally feel about one or more of these TOH dimensions, please share your concerns with your unit manager or leader, and/or reach out to the TOH@UTC Facilitator, Dr. Chris Cunningham at toh@utc.edu or (423) 425-4264.
Protection from harm
Protection from harm involves ensuring the physical and psychological safety of UTC employees, including their risk of physical harm and their perceived ability to speak up and be heard without retaliation (i.e., psychological safety). From Spring 2024 to Fall 2024 and to Spring 2025, median employee responses to this dimension held study, at 3.89 (IQR = 3.32, 4.44) in Spring 2024, to 3.88 (IQR = 3.32, 4.40) in Fall 2024, to 3.90 (IQR = 3.40, 4.37) for Spring 2025. Overall, employees are reporting generally stronger perceptions of physical to psychological safety, with both being more positive than negative. However, these perceptions are not consistent among all employees, indicating that this is an area for continued attention by all employees moving forward.
Mattering at work
Mattering at work encompasses one’s sense of dignity, meaning, and worth in one’s work. A small, but notable increase in employee perceptions of this important component to TOH were observed, from 4.07 (IQR = 3.71, 4.76) in Spring 2024, to 4.02 (IQR = 3.55, 4.59) in Fall 2024, to 4.14 (IQR = 3.72, 4.68) in Spring 2025. This is an encouraging and positive shift that we believe can continue, especially as campus rallies and finds renewed focus for our shared mission and sense of impact within the university’s next strategic plan and new Chancellor.
Connection and community
The connection and community dimension to the TOH framework reflects our perceptions of and experiences with social support at work, and our sense of community and interpersonal connectedness with our colleagues. From Spring 2024 to Fall 2024 to Spring 2025, median employee responses to this dimension decreased slightly, from 4.20 (IQR = 3.71, 4.76) to 4.26 (IQR = 3.59, 4.61) for Fall 2024, and to 4.15 (IQR = 3.61, 4.67) for Spring 2025. Here again, employees are reporting generally positive perceptions of connection and community, with a slight decrease in overall perceptions since this past Fall semester. This continues to be an area where we can do better at providing constructive feedback and meaningful support to each other.
Work-life harmony
Work-life harmony describes the employee’s perceived ability to juggle and manage the demands of their personal and work lives, which is affected by their degree of autonomy and flexibility at work. Median employee responses to this dimension remained relatively stable across semesters, at 4.14 (IQR = 3.70, 4.75) in Spring 2024, 4.13 (IQR = 3.62, 4.80) in Fall 2024, and 4.18 (IQR = 3.66, 4.78) in Spring 2025. Relevant to this TOH dimension, many employees across different units across campus are experiencing notable improvements in flexibility and autonomy. There is still work to be done here to facilitate work-life harmony for all employees, however.
Opportunities for growth
Opportunities for growth reflect employees’ perceptions that they can learn, develop, and experience a sense of accomplishment through their work. Median employee responses to this dimension have fluctuated from 3.94 (IQR = 3.44, 4.69) in Spring 2024, to 3.88 (IQR = 3.27, 4.50) in Fall 2024, to 4.00 (IQR = 3.54 to 4.48) in Spring 2025. The overall trend is positive and most evident when generally improving employee awareness of learning and growth opportunities.
Overview of employee open-ended responses
Employee responses to the open-ended items from the Spring 2025 progress check evaluation help illustrate with more specific detail UTC’s current TOH-related strengths and areas for improvement. All employees had the opportunity to respond to three open-ended items: the first asked for recent examples to illustrate why employees felt one or more of the TOH dimensions are weak or need improvement, the second asked for recent examples to illustrate why employees felt one or more of the TOH dimensions are strong, and the third asked for up to three things that employees felt would help them experience their ideal workplace at UTC. The TOH@UTC team reviewed and coded the responses to each of these items into individual ideas, or “response elements,” which were then grouped into broader, recurring themes. The first notable finding was that despite direct prompting for negative, and then positive examples, employee comments emphasizing positive TOH examples exceeded those highlighting areas for improvement by a ratio of 2 to 1. This continues a similarly encouraging pattern observed in the Fall 2024 TOH@UTC progress check open-ended data.
Focusing back on the Spring 2025 progress check data, out of the 103 open-ended responses to the first item regarding UTC’s TOH weak spots, 172 total recurring themes surfaced. The top five most prevalent themes were:
- Perceived lack social support from direct supervisor(s) (15.00%)
- Perceived lack of social support from UTC’s upper administration (8.00%)
- Perceived inability to make mistakes or take risks at work (i.e., low psychological safety and autonomy) (8.00%)
- Concerns about recent political events (7.00%)
- Feeling of being unappreciated (i.e., not mattering) in their workplace (7.00%).
Out of the 211 open-ended responses to the second item regarding UTC’s TOH strong points, 345 total recurring themes emerged. The top five most prevalent themes were:
- Perceived support from direct supervisor(s) (23.00%)
- Perceived support from coworkers (21.00%)
- Sense of meaning in one’s job (15.00%)
- Appreciation for the high degree of flexibility within one’s role (8.00%)
- Gratitude for the high degree of autonomy within their position (7.00%).
As with the data from the Fall 2024 progress check survey, it is really important to highlight here that many of these themes show up on both the weakness and strengths list for our campus. This is not an error in coding, but rather a reflection of the unfortunate reality that some employees have very good work experiences here at UTC, while others are not yet having the same experiences. While this does mean there is still a need for TOH-related improvements in certain areas across campus, the finding that some UTC employees are able to experience a positive workplace suggests that meaningful change is possible, is occurring, and is meaningful to employees.
Out of the 242 open-ended responses to the third item regarding what would help employees feel that UTC is their ideal workplace, 533 total recurring themes appeared. The top five most prevalent themes here were:
- Desire/need for increased compensation (11.00%)
- Desire for more support from UTC’s leadership (10.50%)
- More transparency within campus communications (6.50%)
- More consistent expectations and treatment in their work units (5.40%)
- More support from coworkers (5.40%)
It is also important to note here that 16 responses (6.60%) explicitly indicated that responding employees were already experiencing their ideal workplace at UTC. Additionally, 173 respondents to this progress check survey did not include any responses to this prompt, potentially indicating that they are generally satisfied with their current work environment and experiences.
Employee responses to these open-ended items are essential for guiding UTC leadership’s next steps. To further ensure employees’ voices are heard, when possible, a high-level and summary of these comments was shared with the unit-level reports noted earlier.
Where do we go from here?
Comparing findings from the recent Spring 2025 progress check to the two previous progress check surveys leads to a few concluding thoughts and next steps. First, these data show that the typical UTC employee is experiencing many of the core components of the TOH@UTC initiative, with many of these remaining stable and improving over time. However, as has been observed in other progress check updates, the considerable variability in the data tells us that this is not yet a universal experience for all UTC employees. Review of individual unit reports shows very clearly that the pattern of TOH-related strengths and weaknesses is unique to nearly every unit on campus. In a general sense, however, these university-level data remind us that there is a need to further strengthen employee perceptions of psychological safety and social support, while also maintaining a strong sense of meaning, accomplishment, and autonomy in their work.
Second, the overall results from the Spring 2025 progress check evaluation tell us that when we maintain collective, ongoing commitment to this initiative, positive change can be fostered. As we enter the summer months, and hopefully find a little more time to reflect and plan for the next academic year, we (the TOH@UTC team) invite you to think about where you see both strengths and areas for growth in your day-to-day work, and how you can play an active role in strengthening a healthier, more supportive campus community. If you have questions or would like help interpretating any recent TOH-related data for your unit, please contact the TOH@UTC Facilitator, Dr. Chris Cunningham, at toh@utc.edu or (423) 425-4264.