Upcoming Changes to Research Participation Fees: Improving Equity and Accessibility

March 30, 2020

Fees for participation in COACHE's Faculty Job Satisfaction Survey have remained essentially unchanged since 2011. Over the past decade, we have launched, among other initiatives, new survey modules on academic governance and faculty leadership; a more secure, interactive reporting platform; strategy workshops and institutes; and data use agreements with dozens of scholars making discoveries that benefit the practice of faculty leadership.

In order to continue serving provosts’ and deans’ needs for COACHE’s rigorous, comprehensive, and comparative data with analytical capabilities appropriate for the digital age, we are changing our fee structure for the Spring 2021 administration of this survey. You can review the new pricing schedule at the bottom of this page.

With this message, we want (1) to explain our guiding principle and (2) to acknowledge our changing circumstances.

  1. In our discussions and models leading up to this change, we prioritized institutional equity above all principles. As a result, many institutions will actually qualify for a lower research participation fee than we have collected since 2011. By our analysis, more than one in four partners will see either a decrease in research participation fees or an increase of less than 5 percent. Any historically black college or university will continue to access all of the components of partnership for under $5,000. The institutions who will see increases tend to be the largest or more affluent institutions in their Carnegie categories. Even so, we think everyone will appreciate the change as reasonable given the improvements in our program while holding fees fixed for so long.
     
  2. Due to the changing assumptions that the current health and economic emergencies are provoking, we have delayed implementation of our updated fee structure. Whereas the update was originally to apply to all colleges and universities enrolling in the 2020-21 cohort of the COACHE Faculty Job Satisfaction Survey, we are now giving institutions three months to review, compare, and choose either the 2011 or the 2020 fee schedule. Prospective partners may opt for whichever suits them best, provided they sign a research participation agreement by July 1, 2020.

 

If you are considering the Faculty Job Satisfaction Survey for your college, university, community college or state system, please review the details on our website and contact the COACHE team to schedule a conversation at coache@gse.harvard.edu.

 

Current Pricing Structure (2011 thru June 30, 2020)

Our current research participation fees are inclusive of all full-time tenure-track faculty. Full-time non-tenure track and/or clinical medical faculty may be added to the survey population for the lower of $15 per record or $7,500 total. All costs may be allocated over all three years of partnership. 

Research and Comprehensive Universities: $35,000 + supplemental fees as incurred.

Baccalaureate Colleges and Small Masters Universities: $17,500 + supplemental fees as incurred.

Associate Colleges: $15,000 + supplemental fees as incurred.

 

Updated Pricing Structure (effective July 1, 2020)

Our updated pricing structure aims to be more sensitive to institutional variation within Carnegie categories. Research participation fees have been lowered across the board, and we are instituting a per record fee for all full-time faculty (inclusive of non-tenure track). Again, costs may be allocated over all three years of partnership and we are happy to work with institutions on a payment schedule that works best for their budgeting needs. 

Research Universities: $25,000 + $20 per record + supplemental fees as incurred. Per record fees will be capped at $25,000. 

Masters Universities: $20,000 + $20 per record + supplemental fees as incurred. Per record fees will be capped at $30,000. 

Baccalaureate Colleges and Specialized Institutions: $15,000 + $20 per record + supplemental fees as incurred.

Associate Colleges: $10,000 + $20 per record + supplemental fees as incurred.

 

For a full pricing breakdown, including supplemental fees, please visit the Faculty Job Satisfaction Survey webpage