Two years ago, we mounted a survey of full-time faculty on the main campus and the Qatar campus, using a web-based questionnaire organized by the Harvard School of Education. In doing this, we joined Johns Hopkins University, Duke University, Tulane University, University of Rochester, University of Arizona, and University of Virginia, among others.
The survey is called the Collaborative on Academic Careers in Higher Education (COACHE) Survey. The areas covered by the survey include the research environment and institutional support; teaching load and student quality; nature and distribution of service responsibilities; facilities and work resources; personal and family policies; health and retirement benefits; interdisciplinary work and collaboration; mentoring; tenure and promotion opportunities, clarity and reasonableness; recruitment and retention, and institutional governance and leadership.
As provost, I found the systematic measurement very useful. Use of the Harvard team to conduct the survey allowed us to assure faculty that administrators, like the provost, would never be able to associate answers with individual faculty members. Only statistical summaries of data are available to the provost’s office, deans, or unit heads.
We sought transparency by giving several presentations on the results of the survey to faculty throughout campus. Our use of the statistical summaries went beyond just reporting them. We found the survey so valuable that we shaped the agenda of the provost’s office based on the results of the survey. We mounted focus groups to get richer, qualitative information about important domains. We designed and implemented improvements in areas where we saw major problems.
We want to continue using feedback directly from faculty, based on these measures, to hold ourselves accountable for the responsibilities of the provost’s office. We want to see whether things are getting better, staying the same, or getting worse.
For that reason, faculty will be asked by the Harvard group to answer a few questions, once again. This will allow us to compare current assessments of faculty with the results from the 2013-2014 academic year. (This year, Medical Center faculty will also be asked to participate, and separate statistical summaries will be provided for that campus.)
The support of the Georgetown faculty for the survey last time exceeded that of the vast majority of other campuses using the instrument. We were a national leader in the percentage of faculty who responded. Such completion rates increase the certainty that statistical results represent the full faculty. Hence, we were confident that we could use the 2014 results to guide real actions.
We wish to continue to guide our actions by faculty input. If you receive a request for the survey, please take the time to complete it.
At a time when the next Campus Plan is being discussed it would be very appropriate to consult the faculty about the physical plans of the University, and the needs for academic infrastructure for the next 15 years (classrooms, library facilities, labs and research facilities, faculty office space, faculty lounge, etc.) Also, to what extent they feel present academic infrastructures are adequate or inadequate. Since the neighbors and students are being consulted, it is only fair that the faculty be consulted too.
Provost Groves, what were the results of the previous COACHE Georgetown Faculty Survey?
You refer above to presentations made to faculty. Have the findings ever been shared with students, parents and alumni?
If so, where can we find them?
If not, I would urge you to consider doing so now in some appropriate fashion. We are all in this together. We should all know both our successes and shortcomings, and work together on the latter.
Bill Kuncik
Georgetown MALS Program
Great to get faculty input. And good to get medical faculty input too.