UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. — Penn State has released the results of the 2022 Living Our Values survey, the third in a series of surveys designed to inform the University’s continuing efforts to foster an accountable, ethical culture. The survey revealed strong connections to the Penn State Values among members of the University community, and lower rates of observed misconduct. It also identified opportunities to continue fostering an ethical culture across the institution in the areas of reporting misconduct, perceived retaliation for reporting wrongdoing, and trust in and perceptions of University leadership related to the Penn State Values. The results are being actively used to inform ongoing efforts to promote a strong ethical culture at the University.
An executive summary of survey findings, including a summary of the survey methodology, is available online. Full data tables reflecting all responses also are available.*
All data is presented in a manner to ensure anonymity of participants.
The survey focused on three main areas: The Penn State Values; ethics and compliance at Penn State; and observed misconduct, raising concerns and the University’s response to reported violations. The survey is a critical tool for Penn State leaders to gauge progress, evaluate programs, and identify areas for further development and attention. The results provide University leadership with a benchmark to build upon in the coming years and will help to inform strategic planning within individual colleges, campuses and units.
“We greatly value the feedback, thoughts and experiences that have been shared by our community, which help us to have an understanding of the experiences of people who learn and work at Penn State,” said Penn State President Neeli Bendapudi. “We take these results very seriously; they continue to inform our efforts to identify priorities for promoting and supporting an ethical culture and driving principled decision-making across the institution. They also reveal opportunities to further strengthen our commitment to the Penn State Values, which should guide the actions and decisions of all of us as Penn Staters.”
The survey was conducted by an independent, third-party agency from November 2022 to February 2023, as part of the University Office of Ethics and Compliance’s ongoing efforts to measure the feelings and perceptions of the community on a regular cadence, and to analyze if and how they change over time. Previous iterations were completed in 2017 and 2013.
Since the community was last surveyed in 2017, higher education overall has experienced challenges including the COVID-19 pandemic; implementation of new technologies; economic, demographic and budgetary complexities; discussions and controversies involving politics, and racial and social justice, on campuses nationwide; and ongoing national conversations about the role and value of higher education. The 2022 findings indicate high awareness of the Penn State Values and their incorporation into Penn Staters’ everyday work. They also show steady or increased perceptions that colleagues and direct supervisors act with integrity and responsibility, and lower rates of observed misconduct and slightly lower rates of reported misconduct, compared with 2017 results. Fewer respondents agreed that University-wide leaders “act with integrity and responsibility” compared with 2017; in the same vein, fewer respondents indicated they felt University-wide leaders “would be held accountable if they were caught violating Penn State policies.”
The rate of perceived retaliation for reporting misconduct remained consistent with 2017; the percentage of survey respondents who felt satisfied with the misconduct reporting process has decreased since the 2017 survey. More information on these and other key findings is below, and in the materials provided at the links above.
“I want to be clear: Anyone who observes misconduct is urged to report what they see,” said Bendapudi. “Retaliation in any form is unacceptable; we remain committed to continuing to build an environment that encourages members of our community to report issues or actions they observe that are not consistent with the Penn State Values.”
Key findings
The survey was conducted by the U.S.-based Ethics and Compliance Initiative (ECI), an independent, nonprofit organization and recognized leader in the field of organizational survey work. It was distributed to all faculty, staff, graduate students and postdoctoral researchers at all Penn State campuses in November 2022.
As announced when the survey was launched, due to low, single-digit participation rates in the previous two surveys that made it difficult to determine actionable results, undergraduate students were not included in the 2022 survey. The student voice and perspective are critical to University leaders, who regularly seek undergraduate student input through other surveys, including the Food and Housing Needs Survey, the Health and Wellness Survey, and the Student Experience Survey.
A total of 9,540 individuals participated, yielding a University-wide response rate of 24%. Data collection concluded Feb. 13, and, following analysis, the results were released Aug. 23.
“We’re committed to using the results of this survey to continue to make meaningful progress and build an ever-stronger ethical culture on behalf of all Penn State students, faculty and staff,” said Tabitha Oman, Penn State’s Vice President and General Counsel. “Progress takes a commitment from all of us, and we are thankful to the many members of the community who shared their thoughts and experiences with us.”
“While similar surveys have traditionally been more common in the corporate world, Penn State was one of the first universities to conduct a values and culture survey of this magnitude and remains among a select group of higher education institutions that do so today,” Oman said. “The survey continues to be a valuable tool as we strengthen our overall ethics and compliance efforts.”
Key findings from the 2022 survey, driven by themes highlighted in the executive summary, include:
Awareness of Penn State Values.
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91% of survey participants indicated that they are aware of the Penn State Values.
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85% agreed the Penn State Values have been integrated into the activities of their college, campus or unit.
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89% of respondents indicated they considered, applied or used the Penn State Values in their work and responsibilities at the University.
Perceptions of integrity and responsibility.
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Overall, 80% of participants in both the 2017 and 2022 surveys agreed they trust that fellow members of the University community will act with integrity and responsibility.
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This level of agreement remained the same or increased slightly compared with 2017 when respondents were asked about faculty, staff, direct supervisors and department heads or directors.
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Levels of agreement decreased slightly when respondents rated deans, chancellors or unit heads (73% in 2022, compared with 75% in 2017) and University-wide leaders, which include the president, provost, and vice presidents and vice provosts (62% in 2022, compared with 68% in 2017).
Perceptions of accountability.
When respondents were asked to rate their perceptions of whether various groups would be held accountable for their actions if they committed wrongdoing, there was a decrease at the following levels:
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University-wide leaders (57% in 2022, 65% in 2017)
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Deans, chancellors and unit heads (66% in 2022, 70% in 2017)
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Department heads and directors (74% in 2022, 76% in 2017)
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Staff members (86% in 2022, 87% in 2017)
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Faculty (70% in 2022, 73% in 2017)
The percentage of survey respondents who believe that the person they directly report to would be held accountable if they committed wrongdoing remained consistent between both surveys (80% in both 2017 and 2022).
Observed misconduct.
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Fewer survey participants said they observed misconduct within the last 12 months (43% in 2022 compared with 49% in 2017).
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Faculty respondents said they observed misconduct (58%) at higher levels than staff (38%) and graduate students (40%), although a higher percentage of graduate student respondents stated they observed misconduct in 2022 compared with 2017 (37%).
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Staff respondents said they observed misconduct at a substantially lower rate in 2022 (38%) than in 2017 (52%).
Reported misconduct.
Of those who observed misconduct:
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55% overall reported at least one instance of observed misconduct, compared with 58% in 2017.
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Just over half of survey participants who observed but did not report misconduct indicated they did not report because they did not believe they could do so anonymously (51%).
Members of the University community are reminded that they can choose to report misconduct anonymously via the Reporting at Penn State website.
Perceived retaliation for reporting wrongdoing.
Of respondents who said they reported misconduct, the percentage of overall survey respondents who felt they experienced retaliation as a result of their reporting remained consistent between 2017 (15%) and 2022 (14%).
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Staff respondents were more likely to perceive retaliation after reporting misconduct (18% of staff who reported misconduct, compared with 12% of faculty and 10% of graduate students).
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There is not a statistically significant change in perceived retaliation among each group since the 2017 survey. The rate of perceived retaliation by those who reported misconduct:
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Faculty: 12% in 2022, 11% in 2017
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Staff: 18% in 2022, 18% in 2017
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Graduate students: 10% in 2022, 13% in 2017
Retaliation, as perceived by employees when they report wrongdoing, is one of the most intractable obstacles to achieving higher reporting levels and reducing risk for an organization, according to ECI.
“I want to emphasize again that retaliation against individuals who report misconduct is not tolerated and that we take all reports of retaliation extremely seriously,” said Oman. “My office is actively working to strengthen our processes to track, manage and follow up with individuals who report wrongdoing and to immediately address any issues of perceived retaliation.”
Satisfaction with misconduct reporting.
There was a decline in the overall percentage of survey participants who reported misconduct that felt satisfied with the University’s response to their report.
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In 2017, 40% of those who reported misconduct felt satisfied with the University’s response, while 26% did in 2022.
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Of those who reported dissatisfaction, 68% indicated the reason as being unaware if action was taken.
“It is absolutely critical that members of the University community report potential issues and concerns if they witness or learn about actions that are not consistent with the Penn State Values,” said Oman. “I want to remind community members who report misconduct – whether they identify themselves or choose to remain anonymous – that all reports are handled with the strictest confidence.”
It is the policy of the University to encourage and enable any member of the faculty, staff or student body to make good faith reports of suspected wrongful conduct, and to protect such individuals from retaliation for making such reports to the University or an appropriate authority.
“I want to underscore the fact that all reports of misconduct are taken very seriously and thoroughly investigated. In many cases, it is true that investigations and subsequent actions and outcomes must remain confidential, in accordance with applicable laws and University policies related to personnel matters and data privacy,” said Oman. “This means that oftentimes, at Penn State or any large organization, the final outcome of an investigation cannot be shared with the person who originally reported the concern. However, we are in the process of analyzing different ways we may be able to share aggregate outcomes in the future with the Penn State community using deidentified data, to be able share information such as the number of new and resolved cases, types of reports and broad outcomes with the community.”
Continuing to foster a strong, ethical culture
The Office of Ethics and Compliance, along with the Penn State administration, has been actively working to improve processes and resources to provide an open, ethical environment for learning and working at all Penn State campuses. A number of these efforts began prior to the launch of the most recent survey in November 2022.
Recent and ongoing initiatives include:
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Launching a new University-wide interface for reporting wrongdoing, including bias and discrimination, to make it easier for students, faculty and staff to determine how and where to make a report. The new interface streamlines and directs individuals reporting wrongdoing to appropriate offices and reporting processes for various types of wrongdoing. In addition, Oman is leading efforts to update the University’s approach to reporting, streamlining internal tools and processes that will support a greater level of accountability in terms of tracking, case management and follow-up with reporters of bias, discrimination and misconduct.
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Establishing three centers of excellence, through which the Living Our Values survey results will be actively used to further refine the University’s approach across the following areas:
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Issue management and investigations, to create misconduct investigation best practices and standard operating procedures and raise awareness for them.
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Regulatory management and risk mitigation, to work with University offices to help mitigate and improve compliance programs, and to create common practices and tools for offices across the University to use to remain compliant.
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Values, ethics, communication and training, to catalog and shape ethics and compliance training efforts and to support Living Our Values survey results follow-up and action planning.
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Reinforcement of the University’s anti-retaliation policy, including an increased emphasis on retaliation-related content in the mandatory annual Values, Ethics and Compliance training for all employees. Specific anti-retaliation language also has been added to messages received by reporters of misconduct to the Penn State Hotline.
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Updates to procedures, training and case management tools to refine the bias reporting process and support community members who wish to report bias and discrimination.
Additionally, data specific to each college, campus and unit has been shared with leadership in each area, who will identify findings needing further action. Chancellors, deans and unit leaders are expected to review their results and identify values imperatives and action steps to incorporate into their strategic plans. The Penn State Office of Planning, Assessment and Institutional Research will provide continued oversight of unit-level efforts and progress until the next survey is conducted, which is being planned in the next three to four years.
As noted above, additional information and results from the 2022 survey is available to the community at https://universityethics.psu.edu/penn-state-values/living-our-values. A summary of the survey process can be found on page 2 of the executive summary.
How to report wrongdoing
Members of the Penn State community are encouraged to report potential issues and concerns if they learn about or observe something that might not be consistent with the Penn State Values.
If you observe misconduct:
- Visit the Reporting at Penn State website.
- Select your role at Penn State.
- Select the topic that relates to the issue or concern you wish to report.
- You will be directed to further information and ways to report the issue or concern.
After reports are received, they are handled by the appropriate office -- Ethics and Compliance; Affirmative Action Office; Student Affairs; Labor and Employee Relations; the Office of the Vice Provost for Faculty Affairs; and the Office of Sexual Misconduct, Prevention and Response, among others — for case management and investigation. Dedicated staff members in these offices are trained in a particular area and are equipped to provide support to reporters as well as manage investigations, which may have federally mandated procedures.
In many cases, reports may be made anonymously. Reporters may choose, or in some cases may be asked, to confidentially identify themselves so that further information can be collected by the office investigating the report. Reporters are encouraged to provide details about their concerns to help the team handling the report conduct a thorough investigation.
Penn State takes every report of misconduct seriously and takes action on every report. Specific case details and personal information cannot be shared publicly, or even with the reporter, because of privacy rules and federal laws such as the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA) and the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA). However, the Office of Ethics and Compliance is developing a process for how to share outcomes with the Penn State community in the aggregate using deidentified data, such as the number of new cases, categories of reports, how many cases were closed and outcomes.
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* Note: In some cases, there are differences between the 2017 figures cited in the executive summary released in 2023, and the original results from the 2017 survey, released in 2018. In 2022, the survey was administered to faculty, staff and graduate students. In 2017, the survey was also administered to undergraduate students. To make results comparable between the two surveys, the 2017 data shown in 2022 reports have been updated to exclude undergraduate students and reflect a weighting approach that excludes undergraduate students. Additional information about methodology for the latest survey is available in the executive summary, hosted at https://universityethics.psu.edu/penn-state-values/living-our-values.