Letter to all staff

In the period from 20 May to 31 May 2019, a comprehensive national survey of bullying and harassment among staff in universities and colleges will be carried out, and our institution is part of the survey.

Why are we doing this?

Until now there has been little knowledge about the extent of bullying and harassment in the higher education sector. The ARK intervention programme asks questions concerning the work environment but does not ask explicitly about bullying and harassment.

We take bullying and harassment seriously and are conducting this survey in order to gather data. The collected data will provide the basis for measures to help prevent and follow up cases of bullying and harassment.

Greater awareness of the issue will hopefully lower the threshold for reporting unwanted incidents and ensure that everyone is familiar with our reporting procedures.

We are asking you to participate

Your participation is important to ensure that the information collected by the survey is as reliable and accurate as possible. A survey is only useful if the response rate is high. We hope everyone responds as frankly as possible and, in that fashion, contributes to the gathering of reliable and accurate information. All responses are equally important even if you have not experienced any form of bullying or harassment.

You are anonymous

The survey is anonymous and is conducted at a national level. No names are given and the link between the e-mail address and responses will be deleted immediately after the survey is completed. No staff at individual institutions have access to the data. The collected data and subsequent analysis will be managed by Ipsos Norway. Ipsos read and analyse the data in a way that ensures anonymity in compliance with the personal data protection legislation.

What about the results?

This is a national survey and the results will be presented in June. A national-level report will be produced. Universities and colleges receive a report at institutional level. This means that we will receive results for the whole university, but not at Faculty or department level. The survey results will attract attention both at the national and local level.

Helpline

If you need someone to talk to in connection with this issue, a helpline will be in operation for the duration of the survey. The Clinic for Crisis Psychology in Bergen is responsible for the helpline. Their phone number can be found on the questionnaire. You can also contact your immediate manager, the Division of Human Resources, and/or the university healthcare provider.

The survey – not a whistleblowing system

If you have experienced bullying or harassment in the workplace, we ask you to report it and follow our complaints procedures. Reporting through the survey is not possible since it is anonymous, and no one can track who responded in what way.

Kind regards

Rektor Dag Rune Olsen