COMBS Culture Survey
COMBS Culture Survey
EDI Committee
Embedded Files
COMBS will be running a Culture Survey from Tuesday 22 July until Friday 15th August 2025.
COMBS will be running a Culture Survey from Tuesday 22 July until Friday 15th August 2025.
This survey will run every two years, and is designed to gather perspectives on the current environment within COMBS to foster a more inclusive and productive culture.
This survey will run every two years, and is designed to gather perspectives on the current environment within COMBS to foster a more inclusive and productive culture.
Most importantly, the survey is completely anonymous and will be run by an external organisation. More below.
Most importantly, the survey is completely anonymous and will be run by an external organisation. More below.
Facts at a glance
Facts at a glance
We are asking all COMBS members to complete the survey. This includes Partner Organisations, Industry Partners, Chief Investigators, Associate Investigators, Professional staff, Research staff, Early to Mid Career Researchers and Higher Degree Research students.
We anticipate the survey will take around 10 minutes to complete. We encourage you to take your time and provide thoughtful responses.
To ensure the confidentiality of responses, COMBS has partnered with an external organization (WTW). This partnership ensures that individual responses are not accessible to any COMBS members; only aggregated data will be reviewed. Further details regarding the privacy protection measures are available.
Upon filling out the survey, COMBS members will have the opportunity to receive a COMBS branded hoodie (jumper). A separate form will be used to maintain confidentiality of data.
If you encounter any technical difficulties or have questions about the survey content, please contact Ruth Waterman (ruth.waterman@rmit.edu.au; +61 3 9925 4476).
Read more in our FAQs section below.
Read more in our FAQs section below.
If you have a question not answered below and would like to ask and stay anonymous, please complete this anonymous form. Your answers may then be added to the Frequently Asked Questions below.
Alternatively, contact Ruth, our EDI Coordinator on ruth.waterman@rmit.edu.au or +61 3 9925 4476.
Table of Contents
Table of Contents
Why are we doing the Culture Survey?
Why are we doing the Culture Survey?
COMBS is conducting this culture survey to understand the current strengths and areas for improvement in our centre's culture, particularly regarding inclusion, belonging, scientific excellence, and fostering the next generation of scientists. Your feedback is crucial for developing an operational plan that will lead to meaningful initiatives, policies, procedures, and training to make our centre an even better place to work and thrive.
By completing the survey, you will contribute to:
Identifying systemic barriers: Your input will assist in pinpointing factors that may impede full participation in COMBS activities and research.
Developing targeted solutions: Data from the survey will be used in collaboration with our external partner to formulate strategies addressing identified obstacles.
Promoting comprehensive participation: COMBS aims to cultivate an environment that enables contributions from all members.
We don't know what we don't know, and your voice is crucial in helping us achieve our goal. By sharing your experiences, you'll directly contribute to a COMBS culture where everyone feels they truly belong.
Questions or concerns
Questions or concerns
We understand you might have questions about completing the culture survey, and we want to assure you that your input is incredibly valuable.
Ruth Waterman, our EDI Coordinator, is here to address any concerns you may have about the survey process, data privacy, or how your feedback will be used to shape our future.
Your honest responses are crucial for us to understand our culture and make meaningful improvements, and we're committed to ensuring your comfort and confidentiality throughout.
Please don't hesitate to reach out to Ruth directly with any questions at ruth.waterman@rmit.edu.au or +61 3 9925 4476.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
Is my feedback anonymous and confidential?
Is my feedback anonymous and confidential?
Yes, your responses are completely anonymous and confidential.
Yes, your responses are completely anonymous and confidential.
When you complete the culture survey, your privacy is our top priority. We've partnered with WTW, an independent third party, to ensure your responses remain confidential.
We provide WTW with your name, email, and various demographic themes (e.g., student, location, department). However, when we view the survey results, we can only see aggregated data. This means we'll only see responses for groups of five or more people.
For example, if we filter results by "students in Adelaide who prefer the color purple," but fewer than five individuals meet those criteria, we won't be able to see those specific results. This ensures that no individual can be identified through their responses.
How do I find my personalised link to complete the survey?
How do I find my personalised link to complete the survey?
On Tuesday 22nd July, you should have received an email titled 'COMBS 2025 Culture Survey. In the email click 'Take this Survey'. This is your personalised link to complete the survey. Do NOT forward your email to another COMBS member.
If you can't find the email:
Search your emails for an email from "Willis Towers Watson ( survey.invite@willstowerswatson.com )".
Look in your junk folder.
Email Ruth (Equity, Diversity and Inclusion Coordinator: ruth.waterman@rmit.edu.au) for your personalised link.
Why is my Survey Link personalised?
Why is my Survey Link personalised?
The survey link is personalized to help us send reminders to those who haven't yet completed the survey, ensuring we get as much feedback as possible.Here's how it works:
- Anonymity is guaranteed: While your link is unique to you, COMBS cannot see who has clicked on their link or who has completed the survey.
- WTW manages the system: WTW (Willis Towers Watson), our independent survey provider, has set up the system so that COMBS can only trigger a general reminder email to the overall group of people who haven't yet submitted their survey. COMBS never sees individual completion status.
Who can see my responses?
Who can see my responses?
All data is anonymised. COMBS can review the responses through an online portal. A select group of people will be able to log into the online portal. When we do log onto the portal to view the survey results, we can only see aggregated data. This means we'll only see responses for groups of five or more people.
What will be done with the results?
What will be done with the results?
Once we have the results, we will prepare a report for the COMBS Executive Committee’s Strategic Planning Day. The results will help us create initiatives to better support you as COMBS members.
We are hoping to present a summary of the findings at the Annual Workshop. In our presentation, we plan to share the key findings and also our plan to support our COMBS members.
Ultimately, this data will directly inform our EDI operational plan, leading to new initiatives, policies, procedures, and training aimed at creating a more inclusive and excellent research environment.
How do I get my COMBS hoodie?
How do I get my COMBS hoodie?
Once you have completed the survey, you will be provided a link to a form where you can enter details related to your required style/size.
Once the Survey has closed, the Central Ops team will purchase the hoodies and deliver them to the relevant nodes.
How and why did COMBS choose WTW?
How and why did COMBS choose WTW?
COMBS sought quotes from multiple suppliers and received quotes from four compelling suppliers. We also reached out to Centes of Excellence to understand how they complete their culture survey.
After reviewing multiple suppliers, WTW was chosen because of our contacts understanding of culture for academia, the online platform, benchmarkable questions and their support in creating our operational plan for the EDI Committee, amongst other reasons.
WTW, previously known as Willis Towers Watson, is a global advisory, broking, and solutions company that provides data-driven, insight-led solutions in the areas of people, risk, and capital. It helps clients manage risk, cultivate talent, and optimize benefits. WTW operates in more than 140 countries and serves a diverse range of industries.
WTW also has over 40 years of experience asking surveys!
What is the data retention policy?
What is the data retention policy?
WTW will retain the Client’s (COMBS) survey data used in the Application for up to five years after closing of each survey to accommodate historical trending either as part of a current or a possible future agreement. To maintain system performance, WTW reserves the right to delete all demo, test, and bad/do not use/duplicate projects older than one year. Notwithstanding anything contained herein, WTW shall have the ability to retain Client Information: (a) as required by law, regulation or by rules of a stock exchange; or (b) for archival purposes (i) to enable WTW to comply with its professional standards requirements and substantiate any applicable work product or (ii) with respect to backup media for which selective deletion of files is not feasible, provided however, such Confidential Information remains subject to the terms and conditions of this Agreement.
How are the questions chosen?
How are the questions chosen?
The EDI Committee contracted WTW, an independent company. Firstly, questions on the WTW portal were reviewed. The EDI Committee and COMBS Director Arnan Mitchell then reviewed the proposed questions against the COMBS focus values and the strategic plan.
The EDI Committee then reviewed the questions and WTW provided expert advice on the questions to use in the survey.
EDI Coordinator Ruth Waterman consulted with the OzGrav (a Centre of Excellence in its second term of funding) and fellow EDI Coordinators across Centre's of Excellence.
How are the questions benchmarkable and comparable?
How are the questions benchmarkable and comparable?
The EDI Committee contracted WTW, an independent company. Firstly, questions on the WTW portal were reviewed. The EDI Committee and COMBS Director Arnan Mitchell then reviewed the proposed questions against the COMBS focus values and the strategic plan.
The EDI Committee then reviewed the questions and WTW provided expert advice on the questions to use in the survey.
EDI Coordinator Ruth Waterman consulted with the OzGrav (a Centre of Excellence in its second term of funding) and fellow EDI Coordinators across Centre's of Excellence.
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