Faculty/Staff Survey
Occidental College faculty and staff were surveyed in Spring 2005 by PricewaterhouseCoopers as part of the process of gathering input for the College’s new master plan. Some 240 individuals – about half of Occidental employees -- responded to the survey. Respondents’ replies remain confidential; PricewaterhouseCoopers retains the original survey forms and responses.
NOTE: Totals may not add up to 100% due to rounding.
1. What is your employment category?
| Faculty | 30.0% |
| Administrative (salaried) | 30.4 |
| Staff (hourly) | 39.6 |
2. What is your employment status?
| Full time | 88.5% |
| Part time | 11.5 |
3. How long have you been with the College?
| Less than 1 year | 9.3% |
| 1-2 years | 11.7 |
| 3-5 years | 21.8 |
| 6-10 years | 19.0 |
| 10 years or more | 38.0 |
4. How many people in your household?
| One | 20.8% |
| Two | 32.2 |
| Three | 14.7 |
| Four | 20.0 |
| More than four | 12.2 |
5. How many household members are under 18?
| None | 61.5% |
| One | 19.7 |
| Two | 14.2 |
| Three | 4.2 |
| Four | 0.4 |
| More than four | 0.0 |
6. Do you rent or own?
7. If you currently rent, did you previously own?
8. In what kind of dwelling do you currently live?
| Single-family home | 69.5% |
| Apartment | 20.4 |
| Townhome | 3.9 |
| Condominium | 3.0 |
| Mobile home | 0.4 |
| Other | 2.6 |
9. Average time of one-way commute
| Under 15 minutes | 45.2% |
| 15-30 minutes | 32.6 |
| 30-45 minutes | 9.5 |
| 45-60 minutes | 7.4 |
| More than 1 hour | 5.2 |
10.Current monthly housing payments
| Less than $500 | 15.9% |
| $500-799 | 11.3 |
| $750-999 | 17.6 |
| $1,000-1,249 | 15.8 |
| $1,250-1,499 | 8.1 |
| $1,500-1,799 | 8.1 |
| $1,750-1,999 | 9.0 |
| $2,000-2,299 | 6.3 |
| $2,250-2,499 | 3.1 |
| $2,500 or more | 4.9 |
11. How satisfied are you with your current housing situation?
| Extremely | 23.2% |
| Very | 35.5 |
| Somewhat | 21.9 |
| Not very | 15.7 |
| Not at all | 3.5 |
12. If not satisfied, why? (check all that apply)
| Don’t own home | 21.3% |
| Home too small | 19.5 |
| Yard too small | 8.6 |
| Commute too long | 7.7 |
| Poor public schools | 7.3 |
| Quality of public transportation | 7.2 |
| Lack of recreational facilities | 6.8 |
| House too expensive to maintain | 6.3 |
| Lack of diversity in area | 5.4 |
| Crime in area | 5.0 |
| Lack of local services | 4.5 |
13. What is your College salary?
| Less than $19,999 | 12.9% |
| $20,000-29,999 | 20.9 |
| $30,000-39,999 | 12.0 |
| $40,000-49,999 | 15.1 |
| $50,000-59,999 | 10.2 |
| $60,000-69,000 | 7.6 |
| $70,000-79,000 | 7.6 |
| $80,000-89,000 | 4.9 |
| $90,000-99,000 | 5.3 |
| $100,000-129,999 | 3.1 |
| $130,000 or more | 0.4 |
14. How many persons contribute to your household income?
| One | 33.3% |
| Two | 64.4 |
| More than 2 | 2.2 |
15. Total household income from all sources
| Less than $40,000 | 19.6% |
| $40,000-49,999 | 14.7 |
| $50,000-59,999 | 8.5 |
| $60,000-69,999 | 7.6 |
| $70,000-79,999 | 7.1 |
| $80,000-89,999 | 3.1 |
| $90,000-99,999 | 6.7 |
| $100,000-129,000 | 15.1 |
| $130,000-159,000 | 6.7 |
| $160,000 or more | 10.7 |
16. Is housing an important competitive factor in Oxy’s ability to recruit job candidates?
| Yes | 80.2% |
| No | 6.2 |
| Don’t know | 13.6 |
17. Should consideration of opportunities for employee housing be included in Occidental’s master plan?
| Yes | 66.9% |
| No | 10.1 |
| Not sure | 22.9 |
18. Will new employees want to live near campus if new housing is created?
| Yes | 81.3% |
| No | 2.6 |
| Not sure | 15.4 |
19. If yes, what option would you expect them to prefer?
| Own | 36.3% |
| Rent | 27.8 |
| Not sure | 35.8 |
20. If you do not believe new employees will want to live near campus, why not?
| Perceptions about quality of neighborhood | 17.1% |
| Perceptions about safety of neighborhood | 16.3 |
| Perception of quality of public schools | 13.7 |
| Investment considerations (appreciation) | 13.1 |
| Preference for distance from job | 9.7 |
| Personal financial constraints | 9.4 |
| Neighborhood services | 8.8 |
| Recreational facilities | 6.3 |
| Perception of quality of public transit | 5.4 |
21. What kind of on- or near-campus housing should the College consider providing for employees? (check all that apply)
| Condos/townhomes | 33.8% |
| Single-family homes | 27.3 |
| Rental apartments | 26.5 |
| None | 3.7 |
| Not sure | 8.5 |
22. What are the best ways for the College to address the high cost of ownership for future employees? (check all that apply)
| Share property appreciation | 30.1% |
| Use campus property, charge cost-only prices | 20.1 |
| Control price appreciation basedon standard price index | 12.9 |
| No opinion | 36.9 |
23. What is your perception of safety on campus?
| Very safe | 16.0% |
| Safe | 50.7 |
| Mostly safe | 31.0 |
| Not safe | 2.2 |
24. What is your perception of lighting on campus?
| Good | 22.3% |
| A few dark areas | 52.6 |
| Fair | 20.5 |
| Inadequate | 4.5 |
25. In what ways should the master plan address lighting issues? (check all that apply)
| Central campus/Sycamore Glen | 12.3% |
| Paths between upper and lower campus | 11.8 |
| Lower campus athletic facilities | 10.7 |
| Parking structure | 8.6 |
| Academic Quad | 7.7 |
| North-south walkways linking res halls | 7.7 |
| Thorne and Booth halls | 7.2 |
| South campus walkways | 7.2 |
| Lower campus parking lots | 6.9 |
| Facilities/Campus Safety area | 5.7 |
| Keck and Hillside theaters | 5.5 |
| Upper campus parking lots | 5.3 |
| Lighting is adequate | 3.7 |
26. Do you support controlling access to campus? (check all that apply)
| Maintain open campus | 26.1% |
| Staff and visitor ID tags | 13.6 |
| Gated entries staffed by Campus Safety | 13.3 |
| Card-key building access | 26.9 |
| Strict parking enforcement | 19.9 |
27. How should Occidental address future childcare support for employees?
| Maintain existing on-campus childcare facility | 38.8% |
| Expand facility capacity | 30.5 |
| Subsidize costsat off-campus locations | 12.3 |
| Benefit dollars should address other issues | 18.3 |
28. How important is it that an on-campus childcare facility be accredited?
| Extremely important | 40.2% |
| Very important | 33.8 |
| Fairly important | 17.8 |
| Not important | 8.2 |
29. How important is a quality educational program at the childcare facility?
| Extremely important | 39.8% |
| Very important | 35.2 |
| Fairly important | 16.6 |
| Not important | 8.3 |
30. As a parent, what problems with childcare have you experienced? (check all that apply)
| Doesn’t apply to me | 38.2% |
| Have had no problems | 6.4 |
| High cost | 13.7 |
| No space/long wait list | 7.8 |
| Hours of operation | 6.4 |
| Inconvenient location | 6.4 |
| Poor/no curriculum | 6.0 |
| High student/teacher ratio | 3.9 |
| Lack of activities | 3.9 |
| Child too old | 3.5 |
| Facility cleanliness | 2.8 |
| Program not accredited | 2.5 |
| Low level of accreditation | 2.5 |
| Part-time care not available | 2.1 |
31. How important is it to reduce vehicular traffic in the interior portions of campus?
| Extremely important | 18.8% |
| Very important | 27.1 |
| Fairly important | 27.9 |
| Not important | 26.1 |
32. Should the college bar first-year and sophomore students from having cars?
33. Should the College eliminate selected parking lots interior to campus?
34. Should internal campus roads be redesigned to reduce auto traffic?
35. Should the College charge for parking as do USC and UCLA to pay for enforcement?
36. Should the College provide incentives for students and employees to use public transit?
37. Should the College establish a car-sharing program for use by those using alternative forms of transportation for their daily commute?
38. Should the College provide shower and other facilities for bicyclists?
