» The Chapman Experience

Chapman University is committed to making positive changes for students, faculty and staff. We do this by creating a framework we call The Chapman Experience. The Chapman Experience lives within us and through us. It encompasses every interaction, every day.

Through our work with Disney Institute, we are learning more about our strengths and opportunities related to elevating the student and employee experience at Chapman. Our goal is to use this information to continue to refine The Chapman Experience.

Research Methodology

Objectives

• Provide a snapshot of Chapman at the present time to get a "pulse check."
• Inform where to prioritize opportunities in our work with Disney Institute over the next two years.

Process

• Using qualitative and quantitative measures, we reached a large selection of internal and external stakeholders including: undergraduate students, graduate students, faculty, staff, administration, trustees, parents, and alumni.
  • Qualitative: 50+ people interviewed
  • Quantitative: 2,450 people surveyed

Global Themes

• Employee Care & Recognition 
• Leadership Behavior
• Communications

Download Chapman Experience Research Summary (PDF)

From the Office of the President, Daniele C. Struppa, Ph,D,

As I shared in my last message to the campus, the Chapman University Senior Staff spent two days with the Disney Institute this past week to kick-start our work to enhance the Chapman Experience. We reviewed the findings of the research study performed by the Disney Institute during the fall and evaluated our next steps forward.

First, the findings were eye-opening. Several key themes came through very clearly from the Chapman Family and these themes will drive our process over the next two to three years.

You told us that we need to communicate better, do a better job of recognizing the hard work of our faculty and staff, and provide more consistency in Chapman leadership. The Senior Staff agrees and we are developing work teams to address each of these themes. 

Over the next several weeks, we will identify the members of the work teams whose charge is to involve and engage the campus in this problem solving. Our goal is to identify how we want to improve the experience for our faculty and staff, which in turn will help elevate the experience for our students, alumni, parents, visitors, and friends.

In an effort to immediately improve communication, I’m hosting regular open forums to provide face-to-face updates on the Chapman Experience process, the Strategic Plan progress, and institutional updates as they happen. More importantly, this is your time to let me know what is on your mind and to ask questions. 

The first Presidential Forum is on Wednesday, April 11 from 12 – 1:30 p.m. in the SchoolsFirst Federal Credit Union Conference Suite, Argyros Forum, Room 209 A & B. 

 I look forward to more discussion as this process begins.

This email was sent to the entire Chapman Family.

As a member of the Chapman Family, you have the power to help shape the future. Chapman University has partnered with the Disney Institute to help us in our journey toward service excellence and the Chapman Experience. 

Our first step is an electronic survey which will identify the experience within our University. The survey will be entirely managed by Disney Institute and all input will be completely anonymous.  The information you provide goes directly back to the Institute for compilation and analysis. We hope you will be honest and forthcoming with your answers and thoughts and help us start this journey.

The survey is easy to navigate and will take 10 minutes to complete. It is open now and will remain open until December 22. 

Take the Chapman Experience Survey Now »

Thank you for your feedback and participation in this important work.

Every interaction a current or future stakeholder has with us is an opportunity for Chapman to build brand loyalty and to consistently and intentionally deliver an exceptional experience to the members of the Chapman Family: students, staff, faculty, alumni, donors, board members and friends.

We want to make Chapman a place people fight to get into, don’t want to leave, love to support, and never forget.

We are collaborating with Disney Institute to learn from their best practices and years of experience in leadership, service and employee engagement.

The data is being compiled by a third-party vendor of Disney Institute. All responses are anonymous. Disney Institute will be sharing the strongest themes with senior leadership on March 27 and 28 to help identify our priorities.

President Struppa and his Senior Staff will attend the session. To be successful, this will require leadership to operational the values and vision by which the University thrives. We will review and assess everything to determine how well it supports a service-minded environment and one dedicated to continuous improvement. This process will result in the creation of Work Teams designed to address these opportunities.

Each Work Team will focus on a global theme from the discovery process. They will be responsible for gathering input and ideas from all stakeholders on their respective topic. There will be more information on these Teams in April.

The Champion(s) provide support to the Work Teams to ensure improvements and opportunities are addressed.

Continue to contribute to The Chapman Experience! There is no specific action at this time.