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Finance and Support Services Division
Office of Human Resources

Employee Engagement Survey

Each and every voice helps shape Texas State

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At Texas State, our people shine bright. Each and every faculty and staff member brings something valuable to this community — your experience, your ideas, your perspective, and your care. The Employee Engagement Survey is one way the university listens in return. Your feedback will help Texas State understand what is working, where we can grow, and how we can build an even stronger workplace together.

Quick Facts:

  • Survey: Gallup Q12 Employee Engagement Survey
  • Who participates: All Active Regular Faculty and Staff
    (Returning Faculty with an active date of May 31, 2026 and Staff with a hire date on or before June 21, 2026)
  • Survey window: September 21–October 2, 2026
  • Access: Survey access will be delivered directly to your TXST email via an individualized link from Gallup
  • Time to complete: About 5–10 minutes

What is this survey?

Texas State is launching its first Gallup Q12 Employee Engagement Survey for faculty and staff this fall. The survey is designed to help the university better understand the employee experience and use that insight to support meaningful action over time.

The Gallup Q12 is a brief, research-based survey that asks employees about key parts of their work experience, including expectations, recognition, support, teamwork, and opportunities to learn and grow. The goal is to better understand the conditions that help people do their best work.

Why does it matter?

Texas State is growing and evolving, and the university wants to understand how that experience feels for the people who make this work possible every day. 

This survey gives Texas State practical tools to improve the employee experience and strengthen our workplace. The Gallup Q12 focuses on the conditions that help people do their best work – not just how satisfied they feel – so the results point to specific actions leaders and teams can take, and help them make informed decisions about where to invest for the greatest impact.

This is not just about collecting feedback. It is about listening, learning, and taking action so Texas State can continue building a workplace where people feel supported, connected, and able to thrive.

When can you share your voice?

The Employee Engagement Survey will take place this fall. More information and reminders will be shared as the survey window gets closer.

Timeline items

  • September 21–October 2, 2026: Survey open
  • Late fall 2026: Results reviewed and shared in summary form
  • After results are shared: Team conversations and action planning begin

How your responses are protected

The survey is administered by Gallup, an external partner. All survey data is managed entirely by Gallup on external servers, not on TXST infrastructure.

Texas State does not receive individual responses. Gallup shares results with the university only in aggregate form, and reports are available only when there are enough responses to protect confidentiality. If your immediate team has fewer than four respondents, your data is automatically rolled up into a larger, broader aggregate report, so individual voices are permanently protected. 

This approach helps create the trust employees need to respond honestly and openly. Clear communication about confidentiality is an important part of making feedback meaningful.

How your feedback leads to action

Once the survey window closes, Gallup will analyze the confidential data and provide aggregated summary results to Texas State.  

This survey is not a "checkbox" exercise or a report card for supervisors—it is a diagnostic tool for continuous improvement. Because managers influence roughly 70% of the team experience, but do not control the entire environment, action planning is a shared responsibility. HR Business Partners will partner directly with divisional leadership to guide localized action planning, bringing together collaborative groups of supervisors and individual contributors to co-create practical solutions.  

The survey is the start of an ongoing conversation, not the end of one. To ensure real follow-through and track our progress over time, Texas State will resurvey every two years as part of our sustained commitment to our campus culture.  

The Process at a Glance:

  1. You share your feedback (Confidential & managed off-site)  
  2. Texas State reviews aggregate results (Guided by HR Business Partners)  
  3. Teams co-create action plans (Leadership + individual contributors working together)

FAQs

Expand FAQ List

  • The Employee Engagement Survey is a short questionnaire that asks faculty and staff about key parts of their work experience. Texas State is using Gallup’s Q12 framework to better understand what helps employees feel supported, connected, and able to do their best work.

  • We often use "satisfaction" and "engagement" interchangeably, but they represent different levels of connection to our work:

    • Workplace Satisfaction (Passive): Being comfortable with pay, benefits, and facilities, but remaining psychologically unattached to team outcomes.
    • Employee Engagement (Active): Having a sense of purpose, feeling valued, knowing your opinions count, and having opportunities to grow. Engaged employees directly drive our strategic mission and our students' success.

  • Texas State is committed to building a workplace where people can contribute, grow, and thrive. As the university continues to grow, this survey will help leaders better understand the employee experience and identify where support, resources, or changes may be needed.

  • All active regular faculty (with an active date of May 31, 2026) and staff (with a hire date on or before June 21, 2026) will be invited to take the survey. Hearing from employees across the university helps create a more complete picture of the Texas State experience.

  • The survey will be open from September 21 through October 2, 2026. Employees will receive an email from Gallup containing a survey invitation and reminder messages during that time.

  • Most employees can complete the survey in about 5–10 minutes. The survey is designed to be brief and focused.

  • Participation is voluntary, but it is strongly encouraged. The more voices Texas State hears, the more useful and representative the results will be.

  • Yes. Gallup administers the survey and provides results to Texas State only in summary form. Individual responses are not shared with the university.

  • Gallup will provide aggregated results to Texas State leadership. Leaders and managers may receive reports for their areas when there are enough responses to protect confidentiality.

  • If a team does not have enough responses to protect confidentiality, results will be combined into a larger reporting group. Any team with fewer than four respondents will have their data is automatically rolled up into a larger, broader aggregate report, so individual voices are permanently protected. 

  • After the survey closes, Gallup will analyze responses and share aggregated results with Texas State. Here is how results will turn into action:  

    • Confidential Analysis: Gallup compiles aggregate reports—individual responses are never shared, and small teams are combined to protect privacy.  
    • Guided Support: HR Business Partners will partner directly with divisional leaders to guide local planning.  
    • Collaborative Planning: Divisional teams (including supervisors and individual contributors) will meet to discuss feedback and co-create practical solutions together.

  • Yes. This first survey will help establish a baseline, and future surveys may be used to measure progress over time.