July 14, 2009
Ms. Leslie Kelly called the meeting to order at 10:30 a.m.
Ms. Linda Williams asked that the committee's goals and budget for 2009 - 2010 be added to the agenda after Mr. Herbert's discussion on ways to improve next year's customer satisfaction survey.
Mr. Larry Kauffman motioned to approve the today's agenda and the minutes of the May 5th call. Ms. Kelly seconded the motion. All were in favor.
Dr. Jim Herbert, a rehabilitation professor at Penn State for the past 23 years, participated with members on the call today. Dr. Herbert is a statistician and researcher. Dr. Herbert had been given our survey by a former council member, Dr. Brandon Hunt. Dr. Herbert had some suggestions for improvement to the survey and agreed to participate in our conference calls. Dr. Herbert had several comments regarding the survey including the low response rate. Dr. Herbert suggested that the more methods we have of getting the survey out to OVR customers the better. He suggests keeping survey simple due to varying reading skill levels. Rather than yes/no questions, it might be better to have finer discrimination of choice such as definitely false, mostly false, definitely true and mostly true. Also, have a comments section for all questions.
He stated that a survey longer than five minutes tends to decrease number of responses, so keep it short. Dr. Herbert suggested we ask what we are trying to measure and what is critical to know as we develop our questions. Dr. Herbert stated one question he likes to ask on a survey is "Did you feel valued; were you treated with respect?"
Mr. Kauffman stated he would like to see the survey kept to one page if possible. Mr. Kauffman also mentioned the need to get a good sample of all customers in all categories. He stated we need the full range of customers who have had contact with OVR. Members discussed trying to get more involvement with the district offices, CACs, CILs, etc. to get the surveys out.
The survey will also be on the PaRC website year round now to try and reach more people. Members also would like to get information about the PaRC and the survey included in the initial paperwork given to new OVR customers by the counselors. The committee would be willing to pay for printing, postage, etc. needed. Members plan to discuss this with Mr. Gannon. A letter will be sent to Mr. Gannon discussing the various ideas that came out of this call. Dr. Herbert will be emailing the committee members some additional information to review that may be helpful as we work on the survey. Ms. Williams suggested checking out what other states are doing on the National Coalition of SRCs conference calls. It was also suggested that the analysis of the customer satisfaction survey be included in the annual report each year.
Members reviewed the goals that were developed by Mr. Kauffman. See the goals and bullets of specifics below. Members decided to keep the budget at $15,050 in order to successfully complete their goals.
Goal #1: Conduct an independent assessment of OVR customer satisfaction.
Goal #2: Partner with OVR on the state-wide Comprehensive Needs Assessment Survey.
In regards to the statewide needs assessment that is completed every three years with OVR, it was suggested that the process be started earlier, so it is not rushed and to find out the OVR staff that will be involved ahead of time. Members felt that if started earlier more people could be reached.
Ms. Leslie Kelly motioned to approve the goals and budget for 2009 - 2010 as discussed on today's call. Mr. Larry Kauffman seconded the motion. All were in favor.
Members decided to wait to schedule another meeting at this time. Staff will poll members at a later date for the next call. On the next call members want to start working on revising the survey questions and rating scale.
The meeting adjourned at 12:10 p.m.
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