From closing equity gaps to clarifying the process for promotion to improving governance, COACHE partners are using the data and insights from their Faculty Job Satisfaction Surveys to drive progress at their institutions.
The COACHE Faculty Job Satisfaction Survey provides both quantitative and qualitative data for leadership, with a focus on various themes that reflect faculty perspectives on their workplace. These themes include nature of work: research, teaching, and service; tenure and promotion; personal and family policies; and institutional governance, among others.
Below are six examples of how institutions have used their COACHE data to help create positive change:
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Reforming Faculty Governance (Lafayette College)
Streamlining the faculty committee structure to create a greater purpose in governance work — while also leaving more time for teaching and scholarship — was a win-win for Lafayette College. Leadership used results from its Faculty Job Satisfaction Survey to inform its efforts in this area and increase both efficiency and impact. Learn more.
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Supporting Faculty Mentoring (Virginia Tech)
Changes based on Virginia Tech’s Faculty Job Satisfaction survey informed the development, enhancement, or modification of a wide range of programs and policies in eight key areas of institutional change — including a new mentoring grant program for faculty to help them advance their academic and professional career. Learn more.
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Strengthening Inclusivity (Florida International University)
Developing an award-winning program for inclusivity is one of the highly successful ways Florida International University is turning areas of concern for faculty into areas of strength using COACHE data. Leading this work is FIU’s Office to Advance Women, Equity, and Diversity (AWED), established in 2016 through a National Science Foundation ADVANCE Grant. Many of AWED’s programs — as well as the office’s creation — were informed by data collected through two COACHE Faculty Job Satisfaction Surveys. Learn more.
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Improving Decision-Making Processes (University of Denver)
Leveraging the expertise of its director of institutional research, the University of Denver’s Faculty Job Satisfaction Survey included custom survey questions to dig into faculty concerns surrounding departmental processes for decision making. The data revealed correlations between the custom question data and their satisfaction with their departments, leadership, diversity and inclusion, and their esteem for colleagues. The university’s survey team surmised that improving decision-making at the departmental level could also lead to improvements in these other important areas. Actions informed by the survey insights have supported more transparent and equitable decision-making, increased trust, and created new collaborative opportunities. Learn more.
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Increasing Satisfaction across a System & Individual Campuses (City University of New York)
From system-wide change to positive impact across its 25 individual campuses, City University of New York (CUNY) leveraged findings from two Faculty Job Satisfaction Surveys to help improve the faculty experience while building faculty trust. CUNY leadership highlights three particularly noteworthy outcomes that have emerged from the COACHE process at a system-wide level: ensuring more input from faculty on the activities of the Central Office; the charging of a task force to make recommendations about the development of clear guidelines on how research, teaching, and service are considered in tenure and promotion; and negotiating a reduced teaching workload. Learn more.
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Supporting the Next Generation of Faculty (Georgia State University)
Georgia State University’s Commission on the Next Generation of Faculty studied diversity, engagement, and inclusion among the faculty, but needed better data about how faculty assessed GSU’s approach. They were also seeking a process that would offer national benchmarking. In undertaking the COACHE Faculty Job Satisfaction Survey, university administration committed to using the results for campus improvement and that they would not receive any data that would identify individual faculty members based on their response — which built trust and led to a high level of survey participation. The university shared the data as a jumping-off point for many conversations to engage faculty and develop specific actions. Learn more.
If you are interested in learning more about the COACHE Faculty Job Satisfaction Survey and how it can support progress at your institution, contact our team at coache@gse.harvard.edu.
See also: COACHE Data