The Benefits, Employee Experience, and Structure Survey (BEES Survey)

CUPA-HR has received countless requests for non-salary data related to workplace policies and benefits, and we are excited to announce that we have created a new survey that replaces the Benefits in Higher Education Survey (Benefits Survey) and captures an even wider range of non-salary data.

The goals of the BEES Survey are to

• allow institutions to benchmark traditional benefits such as retirement and paid time off,
• show the big picture as to what institutions are doing with workplace flexibility, remote work, and professional development, and
• provide added details as to how HR departments function.

Data the Survey Collects

The BEES Survey collects data on standard benefits that were collected in the Benefits Survey:

• Healthcare and Wellness Programs
• Paid Time Off
• Dependent Care
• Tuition Reimbursement and Student Loan Repayment Assistance
• Retirement

However, it also collects data on:

Employee Experience Topics

• Remote and Flexible Work (e.g., whether the institution allows hybrid or remote work arrangements; where those policies are determined at the institution; what percentage of the workforce is on campus at all times, has a hybrid work arrangement, and is remote at all times)
• Performance Evaluations (e.g., how often they are conducted; whose feedback is included)
• Professional Development (e.g., whether the institution provides on-campus professional development opportunities and professional development funds)
• Volunteer and Community Engagement (e.g., whether the institution has a formal volunteer program)
• Hiring Metrics (e.g., time to fill; time to hire)

Institutional Structure and Policies

• HR Department Budget
• Where HR-related Functions Are Housed (or whether they are outsourced)
• Adjunct Faculty Pay Policies

Participation Details

The more data we collect, the more complete picture we have of today's higher education workforce. When your institution participates in the BEES Survey, it also qualifies for deep discounts on the DataOnDemand (DOD) subscriptions that provide access to the data. Read CUPA-HR's Data Anonymity Statement.

• Early September — The Survey Participation and Information Template (SPIT) for the BEES Survey is available. The SPIT is a comprehensive document that includes instructions and survey deadlines. With the SPIT file in hand, participating institutions are ready to organize their teams and start gathering data.
• Early November — The portal for entering data opens.
• Early January — Surveys close.
• Mid-February — DataOnDemand opens.

Accessing the Data

Results to the BEES Survey are delivered via a subscription to BEES DataOnDemand.

DataOnDemand (DOD) is CUPA-HR's subscription-based data service, which provides not only access to the data, but also analysis and reporting tools for creating custom data comparisons. An important part of this tool is the ability to specify which peer institutions you want to include in your benchmarking. Institutions that contribute data during the data collection process receive a deep discount on the DOD subscription for the survey(s) in which they participate. CUPA-HR offers resources, tutorials and labs for those who want to use data and DOD more effectively. Learn more about DOD.