Faculty Job Satisfaction Survey FAQs

The survey launched in February 2021 and closed mid-April 2021.

All full-time faculty employed by UTA in fall 2020.

The Faculty Job Satisfaction Survey is distinctive to the work of faculty and dives deeply into the issues that matter most to faculty. Support for teaching, research, service, shared governance, and appreciation and recognition for work are just some of the topics covered. The survey is designed pragmatically, with every question linking to practical campus issues.

UTA achieved a 60% completion rate on the survey, surpassing the survey steering committee’s lofty goal of 55% completion and representing the highest completion rate among the cohort of universities that conducted the COACHE survey during the same term.

All publicly available reports are anonymized. The Faculty Senate is the only on-campus entity that holds the full data set. Even within the raw data set, responses are aggregated in units of five so individual faculty and departments cannot be identified.

Your data will not be sold. It will only be used outside UTA as part of the COACHE research partnership project. COACHE collects and analyzes data under the highest research standards, using it to provide “comparative, actionable insights on what faculty need to do their best work” and then sharing these insights back with a “community of practice in academic affairs who are … committed to making academic leadership more adaptive and governance more strategic.”

Empowered by the Faculty Senate, the COACHE Survey Steering Committee and Evaluation, Review, and Initiatives Committee are using the survey results to drive strategic planning, inform University leadership about issues identified in the survey, and advocate for change and improvement in faculty working conditions. Check the Evaluation, Review, and Initiatives Committee page and the COACHE Survey Results page for updates.

Yes, the Faculty Senate provides periodic status updates via email and posts updates to the Evaluation, Review, and Initiatives Committee page and the COACHE Survey Results page. If you are not currently receiving the email updates and would like to, email linsey.nazir@uta.edu.

The survey cost approximately $44,500 and was paid for by the Office of the President. The cost breakdown is $35,000 (base fee) plus $7,500 (to include non-tenure track faculty in the survey) plus $1,500 (custom questions) plus $500 (five additional pass-through variables).

Taking the time to develop and execute a robust survey about the faculty workplace would take months of staff and faculty time. In addition, the data yielded by such a survey would not be as powerful as that provided by the COACHE survey for a number of reasons. The COACHE survey has been used and tested many times, so the information it provides is statistically significant. COACHE also provides robust comparative data in its reporting and analytics including the option to self-select five peer comparison institutions. The COACHE reporting platform provides powerful diagnostics which are intuitive and professional. Most importantly, COACHE continues to work with partners for two years after data collection to interpret results, disseminate the findings, and develop policy solutions. The potential of this data to add value to the institution is large.

Please contact Jacqueline Fay with additional questions.