COACHE: Faculty Job Satisfaction Survey

The Collaborative on Academic Careers in Higher Education (COACHE) Faculty Job Satisfaction Survey

Your voice mattered!

Faculty members are the hallmark of Illinois State University and identifying ways to support you is important to our institution's mission. Our success depends on our ability to attract, retain, and support faculty, so we want to be intentional about efforts to invest in you!

Survey Overview

In Spring 2022, Illinois State University partnered with the Collaborative on Academic Careers in Higher Education (COACHE) based in the Harvard Graduate School of Education to administer our Faculty Job Satisfaction Survey. COACHE helps institutions study the work lives of faculty, assess the academic workplace broadly, and provide data that can support decision-making related to faculty members' professional lives and performance. The COACHE data affords administrators and faculty an opportunity to examine data and explore differences for the overall faculty and across faculty subgroups.

Survey Results

Forty-eight percent of Illinois State University’s faculty members completed the online survey, and the results are in! Our results provide great insights into what Illinois State University faculty think about working here. Browse this Preview Report to see an overview of Illinois State University’s results, comparisons across faculty ranks, and comparisons with other institutions. You’ll find a number of key results visual summaries related to each benchmark and responses to consider that can strengthen the work environment.

Download the Report

Benchmarks

COACHE summarizes each survey theme using a “benchmark,” which comprises the mean of several five-point Likert-scale survey questions that share a common theme. The COACHE benchmarks reflect themes that are curated based on research and ability to effect change.

These themes include:

• Nature of Work
  • Research
  • Service
  • Teaching
• Facilities and Work Resources
• Personal and Family Policies
• Health and Retirement Benefits
• Interdisciplinary Work
• Collaboration
• Mentoring
• Tenure Policies
  • Tenure Expectations: Clarity
• Promotion to Full
• Leadership
  • Senior
  • Divisional
  • Departmental
  • Faculty
• Governance
  • Trust
  • Shared Sense of Purpose
  • Understanding the Issue at Hand
  • Adaptability
  • Productivity
• Department
  • Collegiality
  • Engagement
  • Quality
• Appreciation and Recognition

Peer Institutions

Illinois State University's five comparison institutions:

• Baylor University
• Clemson University
• Kent State University
• Old Dominion University
• University of North Carolina-Charlotte

Overall, the COACHE Faculty Job Satisfaction Survey confirmed that Illinois State University is an institution with many strengths and opportunities for growth.

Areas of strength for Illinois State University

The best aspects of working at Illinois State University include:

• Quality of colleagues
• Support of colleagues
• Cost of living
• Academic freedom

When compared to peer institutions, Illinois State University demonstrates the following "Strengths":

• Leadership: Divisional
• Promotion to Full

Opportunities for growth at Illinois State University

Themes identified as the worst aspects of working at Illinois State University:

• Compensation
• Lack of support for research/creative work
• Too much service/too many assignments

When compared to peer institutions, the following "Concerns" were identified about Illinois State University:

• Appreciation and Recognition
• Departmental Collegiality
• Leadership: Departmental
• Leadership: Faculty
• Leadership: Senior
• Nature of Work: Service
• Nature of Work: Teaching

Next Steps

Now that the survey has been completed, the Office of the Provost will launch a priority-setting COACHE Action Committee to identify areas where we need to focus, and a strategy committee to determine how we can take steps to address these areas.

History

Read about the initial process of bringing the COACHE survey to Illinois State University.