2003 UW-Madison Faculty/Staff
Computing Survey

November 18, 2002

written by: Barry Radler, Ph.D.

contact: bradler@wisc.edu

Division of Information Technology (DoIT)

University of Wisconsin - Madison

An Overview: Survey Highlights

Computer use (page 5)

            ∙    Increases in IT ownership appeared across the board:

                  ∙    PDA ownership increase from 15% last year to 22%.

                  ∙    The percentage of laptop owners rose from 25% last year to almost 40%.

                  ∙    Cell phones continue to be popular, with ownership rates rising to 57% from 44% in Fall, 2001.

            ∙    Among computer owners, there was a substantial increase in the use of Windows NT/2000/XP, rising from 9% to nearly 59% in two years.

            ∙    There appears to have been a decline in Faculty/Staff cell phone users on campus, from 44% last year to 23% this year.

            ∙    Among UW computers, there was also an increase in Windows NT/2000/XP use, increasing from 38% to 70% in two years.

Internet use (page 8, 10)

            ∙    Internet use held steady during the past year, at an average of 19 hours per week. Staff (19.6 hrs) tended to use the Internet more than faculty (17.8 hrs), but this difference was not significant.

            ∙    Reported use of the WiscWorld modem pool dropped for the third year in a row, while cable modem use remained steady at 14% and DSL continued to increase.

            ∙    Asked about their satisfaction with their chosen mode of Internet access, cable modems scored the highest ratings while commercial ISP modems received the lowest ratings.

            ∙    Peer-to-peer file sharing and streaming media will be among the most popular Internet applications faculty and staff will use in the next six months.

Tech Store and DoIT Services (page 12, 16)

            ∙    Technical support is clearly the most important computing service, relative to seven other services.

            ∙    Respondents tend to think of department experts and local retailers when they need installation, repair, and tech support.

            ∙    The online catalogue continues to be the most-used service among DoIT customers, who report using the catalogue an average of 4 times in the past six months.

            ∙    Satisfaction ratings with Tech Store service remained largely stable but for the Sales Counter, which dropped from a rating of 4.2 last year to 3.8 this year.

            ∙    Recent Tech Store customers gave quality and delivery of products the highest satisfaction ratings. Pricing received the lowest satisfaction rating.

My UW-Madison (page 19)

            ∙    “Customizable library resources” was allocated more money by both faculty and staff than any other service listed. This was nearly the only agreement between the two groups, with staff much more strongly emphasizing payroll and benefits, and with faculty preferring to spend more money on a course management system and adviser database.

            ∙    Besides the services listed, both faculty and staff mentioned email and calendaring as important aspects of a portal service.

Wireless (page 20)

            ∙    55% of faculty and staff (as opposed to 57% in 2002) have heard or seen something about the wireless network.

            ∙    Overall, respondents gave a mean rating of 2.2 (5-point scale) when asked how likely they were to use the wireless network in the next 12 months.

            ∙    Faculty and laptop owners were more likely to use the wireless network in the next year than the general population.

Training (page 22)

            ∙    Interest in training dropped to 54% of faculty and staff, down from 66% last year.

            ∙    DoIT has become somewhat less preferred as a source of training.

            ∙    The topics requested most for training areas were web page development, databases and some brand applications such as Excel and Word.

Rules of the Road (page 23)

            ∙    Faculty/staff awareness of DoIT”s Rules of the Road campaign remained at 33%.

            ∙    Posters dropped in awareness over the past year, probably because no new posters were distributed during the past year.

            ∙    Streaming media continues to be the least-used publicity vehicle in this campaign.

Background and Objectives

The 2003 UW-Madison Faculty/Staff Computing Survey was the latest in DoIT’s annual attempt to gauge IT needs, concerns, and performance on the UW campus. Specific objectives of the survey were to:

                    ∙   Continue to monitor faculty/staff awareness and use of computing services

                    ∙   Obtain respondent perceptions of DoIT’s performance in providing products/services in a competitive environment

                    ∙   Document changing information technology behavior

                    ∙   Determine relative importance of and preference for new product and service concepts

                    ∙   Provide actionable research for training, My UW-Madison, and web services

Methodology

The 2003 Faculty/Staff Computing Survey was e-mailed to 1,000 randomly selected UW-Madison Faculty and Staff on October 17, 2002. Two follow-up e-mailings were sent on October 21 and October 24. Returns were collected until October 31. The survey was in the field for 2 weeks.

Of the 1,000 emails initially sent out, 41 were judged undeliverable. Of the remaining 959 respondents, 407 completed the survey for a final response of 42.4% (407/959 completed surveys). An additional 55 respondents completed portions of the survey. These individuals are included in the report, but not in the computation of final response rates.

The distribution of respondents’ classification (faculty, instructional staff, academic staff or classified staff) was compared with the UW’s actual distribution of classification. A weight which took into account the slight disparity between the two distributions was computed and applied to the data. An approximation of the survey margin of error is +/- 4.8 percent.

The questionnaire took an average of 21.6 minutes to complete, but this figure is inflated by outliers. A more telling statistic is the median completion time, which was 13.2 minutes.

The survey was fielded by DoIT’s Business and Financial Applications group. Population sampling, survey design, data analysis, and report writing were conducted by DoIT Communications.

Notes on Data Analysis

The number of respondents upon which percentages are calculated can change from question to question. Some respondents simply skip a question, others are instructed to skip a question. Because of this, the number of respondents is usually included in each Table in the Frequency Runs and Analysis section. Generally, the figures reported here take into account only those individuals who answered the question.

Respondents were often encouraged to respond to all relevant response options within a question. In these cases column percentages will usually sum to more than 100. In the Frequency Runs and Analysis section, these cases can be identified by instructions at the end of the question, [Check all that apply].

Some analysis in the following tables compares data between different groups of respondents. This is an attempt to understand both the data and our customers more completely. In these tables, the last column indicates whether the differences tested can be considered statistically significant. There are two levels of significance used, called alpha levels. Basically, these figures indicate how often we would expect the results if they were simply a matter of chance. Thus, when a test statistic has a probability of less than .05, this means such results are relatively rare and would be expected to occur less than five percent of the time. All the reader needs to know is that the more asterisks in the last column, the more likely it is that real differences exist between or among the groups being compared.

In general, care should always be taken in interpreting data, keeping in mind the context and wording of the question, what response options, if any respondents were asked to choose, etc. Where a specific response scale was used (such as a Likert scale, ranking, etc.) this information is highlighted in or at the end of the question.

Computer and IT ownership

Overall computer ownership stands at 90%. There were noticeable gains in ownership of laptops, PDAs, and cell phones. The percentage of owned computers with a network OS such as NT, 2000, or XP rose from 9% in 2001 to 59% in this year’s survey. Linux use has also grown from 2% to 6% in three years.

Among IT products used on campus, PDA use has doubled from three years ago, while cell phone use has decreased. Windows NT/2000/XP now account for 70% of operating systems on campus.

1. Which of the following information technology products do you own?

2. Which operating systems do you use on the computer you own?

 Computer ownership

3. Which of the following information technology products do you regularly use at the UW?

4. Which operating systems do you use on the computer you use at the UW?

Internet use

Reported Internet use remained steady this year, at an average of 19 hours per week. Staff tend to spend significantly more time online (20 hours per week) than faculty (13 hours per week).

At home, fewer faculty and staff are using the WiscWorld modem pool to connect to the web. Cable modem use has leveled off this year around 14%, but DSL continues to grow in popularity, currently at 10%. Not surprisingly, broadband users report the greatest satisfaction with the performance of their connection.

5. On average, how many hours per week have you spent online in the past six (6) months?

Faculty and Staff spent an average 19 hours per week (median=11.2 hours) connected to the web, similar figures to last year. Staff tended to spend significantly more time online each week (20 hours) than faculty did (13 hours).

6.When you are at home or off-campus, how do you access the Internet? [Check all that apply]

7. Overall, how satisfied are you with the performance of [insert each applicable Internet mode from q6]?

8. Why do you use an ISP to connect to the Internet?

A follow-up question was asked of commercial ISP, DSL and cable modem users in order to determine why they paid for such a service when a free one (WiscWorld) was available to them.

Campus network

Users of the campus network rated its performance well, with a mean rating of 4 on the same scale used in question 7. About 2/3 of respondents indicated awareness of the network upgrade. The most popular Internet uses in the next six months will be file-sharing and streaming media. Significantly more staff than faculty predicted using “instant messaging,” and “live video, academic television.”

9.  Overall, how satisfied are you with the performance of the existing campus network which provides Internet service?

On a 5-point scale, where 1=very dissatisfied and 5=very satisfied, respondents gave an average satisfaction rating of 4.0 to the network’s performance. There were no significant differences between faculty and staff.

10.     The campus network is undergoing an upgrade this fall. Are you aware of this new network upgrade?

Approximately 66% of faculty and staff were unaware of the upgrade.

11.     Which of these Internet applications do you expect to use on the campus network in the next six months?

12. Which other new Internet applications do you expect to use on the campus network in the next six months?

Computing services and DoIT’s “position”

Technical support is preferred by our audience far more than any other of the seven services asked about. Sales advice is the least-preferred service. Looking at the perceptual maps below, one can see the changes between the two years’ maps. “Training” has moved away from DoIT and software sales--though less important--has moved closer to DoIT. There is also a trend consolidating repair and support among department experts, local retailers and do-it-yourselfers.

13. Below is a list of factors that can affect the experience of owning or operating computers and other information technology. Assuming you had $100 to split up among them, how much would you allocate to each of the following services? If you don’t want to allocate any money to an area just write “0.”

Relative preference for seven computing services

14. Thinking about your computing and information technology needs, indicate the one provider you are most likely to choose for each service using the scale below.

      1=Self

      2=Local retailer (e.g., Advantage Computers, Madison Computer Works, etc.)

      3=Friend/relative

      4=DoIT

      5=Department or resident expert

      6=Large chain store (e.g., Circuit City, CompUSA)

      7=Mail order (e.g., Dell, NewEgg.com)

      8=UW school or college support units

      Sales advice. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1    2    3    4    5    6    7    8

      Technical support. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1    2    3    4    5    6    7    8

      Installation and repair. . . . . . . . . . . . 1    2    3    4    5    6    7    8

      Hardware sales. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1    2    3    4    5    6    7    8

      Software sales. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1    2    3    4    5    6    7    8

      Instructional technology. . . . . . . . . . 1    2    3    4    5    6    7    8

      Training. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1    2    3    4    5    6    7    8

This question is designed to create a perceptual map. Using a technique called correspondence analysis, the following figures graphically display the results of this question for the past two years.

Perceptual maps afford us a wealth of information in an visual format. Perceptual maps are often used in “positioning” studies because they shows the position of each variable relative to all other variables. And those relationships change over time.

Service providers are represented as circles (identified by numbers and a legend) and services are triangles. The reader can see which computer retailers are associated with particular attributes by looking at the distances between a provider and a service. Basically, items closer to each other on the map indicate greater preference.

Also, we know that our customers find some services more valuable or important than others (see question 13). This piece of information aids interpreting the map, and is shown in the size of triangles. The larger the triangle, the more important the service.

1 =  Myself

2 =  Local retailer

3 =  Friend/relative

4 =  DoIT

5 =  Department or resident expert

6 =  Large chain store

7 =  Mail order

8 =  UW school or college support units

1 =  Myself

2 =  Local retailer

3 =  Friend/relative

4 =  DoIT

5 =  Department or resident expert

6 =  Large chain store

7 =  Mail order

8 =  UW school or college support units

Tech Store

There has been very little substantive change in awareness levels among Tech Store areas. Help Desk continues to enjoy high awareness and use. The online catalog garners the most use per individual. With the exception of the rental program which only had five ratings, there was little dispersion among satisfaction ratings of Tech Store areas. Customers are generally satisfied with many aspects of their purchasing experiences at the Tech Store.

15. Which of the following DoIT Tech Store services are you aware of? [Check all that apply]

Awareness

16. About how many times did you use each of the following DoIT Tech Store services during the past six (6) months?

Use among aware respondents

17. Using the scale provided, please rate your satisfaction these DoIT Tech Store services.

Mean satisfaction ratings

18. Within the past six months, have you purchased anything through the DoIT Tech Store?

Approximately 41% of all faculty and staff surveyed indicated that they had purchased an item from the DoIT Tech Store in the past six months.

19. Thinking about your most recent purchase, please rate your satisfaction with each of the following areas:

Average satisfaction ratings among Tech Store customers

My UW-Madison

There were many significant differences between faculty and staff in allocating dollars across potential MUM services, but customizable library resources scored well above all other services for both groups. Staff tend to prioritize payroll and compensation services, while faculty favored course management systems and an advisee database.

20. Below is a list of potential views that are being considered for the faculty and staff version of My UW-Madison web portal, your personalized gateway to campus services. Assuming you could split $100 among them, how much would you allocate to incorporating each of the following offerings into My UW-Madison?

       ✱= p<.05; ✱✱=p<.01

21. What other services would you like to see in the My UW-Madison web portal?

Wireless

A bit more than half of faculty and staff (55%) are aware of the wireless network. A minority, mostly faculty and laptop owners, plan to use the network in the next year; on a 5-point likelihood scale, respondents provided a mean rating of 2.2.

22. In the summer of 2000, the UW campus installed a wireless network with access at 12 locations. Have you heard or seen anything about this development?

55% of faculty and staff (compared with 57% last year) have heard or seen something about the wireless network. There were no significant differences between faculty and staff.

23. Wireless technology allows laptop users to connect to the campus network to surf or check email at different places around campus, at speeds similar to a direct network connection. How likely will you be to use the campus wireless network in the next 12 months?

24. What is the top reason you would not use the wireless network?

Training

Interest in training dropped substantially this year to 53%. The top training areas preferred continue to be web page development and databases.

25. Would you like training in computing?

Interest in Training

26. In what areas would you like to have training?

Rules of the Road

33% (the same figure as last year) are aware of the “Rules of the Road” campaign. This is a substantially greater level of awareness than among the student population (19%), at which the campaign was ostensibly targeted. There was a measurable drop in the effectiveness of posters, which were not distributed to departments last year.

27. Have you seen or heard of the “Rules of the Road,” a campaign effort by the UW about the appropriate use of campus computing resources?

33% (the same figure as last year) are aware of the “Rules of the Road” campaign.

28. Where have you seen or heard of the “Rules of the Road?”

Demographics

29. What is your classification?

30. What is your department or unit?