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Examining Faculty Departure and Retention at Small Liberal Arts Colleges

by Sara Polsky

woman carrying box out of officeThe departure of a single faculty member can cause a significant ripple in the pond of a liberal arts college, as one person’s departure has the potential to impact the community when it comes to teaching, institutional governance, and morale to a degree not seen at larger institutions. Most research up until this point, however, has focused on departures at larger institutions.... Read more about Examining Faculty Departure and Retention at Small Liberal Arts Colleges

2020 Year in Review: Responding to a Year of Change, Refocusing on Equity

2020 Year in ReviewToday we are pleased to announce COACHE’s latest annual report. Like many institutions and organizations, COACHE had to quickly adapt our work in 2020 to advance existing priorities while also responding to the unique challenges of the COVID-19 pandemic. We called attention to how COVID-19 has impacted the faculty community we serve, and re-oriented our work toward equity in a new way. We also shifted some of the ways we do our work—which is why you’re reading this annual report online, instead of in print!... Read more about 2020 Year in Review: Responding to a Year of Change, Refocusing on Equity

Measuring Trust on Campus: Using the Faculty Job Satisfaction Survey to Improve a Key Element of Shared Governance

faculty shaking handsby Sara Polsky

The COVID-19 pandemic has made questions of trust between faculty and institutional leadership more urgent than ever, as the events of the last year have increased the distance, literally and figuratively, between faculty members and administrators.

COACHE’s Faculty Job Satisfaction Survey partners often use the survey—from pre-launch to sharing the survey results—to raise and address issues of trust on campus.

... Read more about Measuring Trust on Campus: Using the Faculty Job Satisfaction Survey to Improve a Key Element of Shared Governance

Navigating Change as a Provost or Dean: In Conversation with Two-time College President Barry Mills

by Sara Polsky
 
Seminar on Leadership of the Faculty participant speakingThe Seminar on Leadership of the Faculty—a COACHE program run in partnership with the Harvard Institutes on Higher Education—offers deans and provosts from institutions across the world an opportunity to learn from experts and each other about how to lead institutions creatively through periods of change. At one seminar, Barry Mills, former president of Bowdoin College, former interim chancellor of the University of Massachusetts Boston, and a consultant to a variety of institutions, joined attendees to discuss navigating the competing priorities of campus leadership as a dean or provost.... Read more about Navigating Change as a Provost or Dean: In Conversation with Two-time College President Barry Mills

When Perceptions of Diversity Don’t Match Progress: New Analysis from the Faculty Job Satisfaction Survey

by Kiernan Mathews, Todd Benson, Sara Polsky, and Lauren Scungio

Diverse group of faculty speakingSince 2005, the Collaborative on Academic Careers in Higher Education’s (COACHE) Faculty Job Satisfaction Survey has been systematically listening to faculty and, campus by campus, revealing inequities in the faculty experience. The survey results illuminate disparities in perceptions about the academic workplace between faculty of different racial and ethnic backgrounds—and also demonstrate, amid a nationwide conversation about inclusion, that white faculty’s perception of diversity and inclusion efforts on campus still outpaces genuine progress.

... Read more about When Perceptions of Diversity Don’t Match Progress: New Analysis from the Faculty Job Satisfaction Survey

Recognizing Faculty with Disabilities: Data and Considerations from the Faculty Job Satisfaction Survey [Infographic]

Disability Infographic Blog Image COACHE’s Faculty Job Satisfaction Survey provides academic affairs leaders with valuable information on their faculty’s experience in the workplace. The insights gained through the customized, adaptive report helps senior leaders identify areas of improvement and take meaningful action.

The survey provides insights into a number of themes, but over the past two years, COACHE has incorporated a new set of questions related to disability status:... Read more about Recognizing Faculty with Disabilities: Data and Considerations from the Faculty Job Satisfaction Survey [Infographic]

The Post-Virus Professoriate: Retrenched, or Reinvented?

by Kiernan Mathews

Harvard University gates with ivyThe Chronicle Review recently published a forum on the future of the academic work force. I found it to be a grim look at trends in the professoriate. Even the thought leaders I have always counted on for optimism had only some scraps of it to share. Although urgent priorities at COACHE kept me from meeting the editor’s deadline, I decided to share here my hope for tomorrow’s faculty—in the hands of today’s faculty.

Childcare for Faculty: The Babar in the Room

by Kiernan Mathews

working parents with infantI was recently contacted by Colleen Flaherty at Inside Higher Ed about plans for meeting the childcare needs of faculty now and in the coming months. After casting around for an answer, I’ve found very little to share with her--and that absence of a plan might end up being the story.  

With this post, I wanted to share a report of my (thin) findings, float a local solution—just a sketch of a solution, really—and invite reactions, hare-brained schemes or better ideas from you academic leaders who are in the thick of it.... Read more about Childcare for Faculty: The Babar in the Room

What is the Role of University Staff in Shared Governance?

by Kiernan Mathews

staff engaged in tug of warI recently asked a forum of faculty affairs leaders about university governance beyond their boards and faculty. When we talk about “shared governance” in higher ed, what does that mean for staff? What influence do they have on the direction of the institution? 

The question has a special urgency this summer as faculty were afforded (or fought for) some flexibility in coming back to campus and getting work done during the pandemic. What voice, what power (if any) do staff have in the decisions being made right now to continue, or reinvent, the work of the university?... Read more about What is the Role of University Staff in Shared Governance?

Reflections on What Would Have Been the Third Annual Seminar on Leadership of the Faculty

by Kiernan Mathews

Seminar on Leadership of the Faculty scholar imagesLast week, I was supposed to have launched the third annual Seminar on Leadership of the Faculty, the institute I host at Harvard for provosts, vice provosts for faculty, and deans. The curriculum included three extraordinary scholars with exactly the equity agenda that academic leaders need right now.... Read more about Reflections on What Would Have Been the Third Annual Seminar on Leadership of the Faculty

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