As of Monday, March 19, the College of Health and Human Services has the highest participation rate for the COACHE Faculty Satisfaction Survey with a nearly 41 percent response rate.
The Cato College of Education has a 38 percent completion rate, followed by the College of Arts + Architecture (36.5 percent), College of Liberal Arts & Sciences (34 percent), Lee College of Engineering (25.3 percent), College of Computing and Informatics (24.3 percent) and the Belk College of Business (20 percent).
The UNC Charlotte Office of Academic Affairs looks closely at the results of the COACHE survey and uses the data to determine in which areas the institution is doing a good job in meeting faculty needs and to inform strategies to address areas of concern. In addition to evaluating faculty perceptions of climate at UNC Charlotte, the COACHE data allows faculty members to compare measures of faculty climate satisfaction at their institution with a number of peer institutions.
As a direct result of faculty responses in previous COACHE surveys, UNC Charlotte has implemented a number of improvements to address faculty concerns. For example:
Faculty asked for more clarity around the promotion and tenure process.
UNC Charlotte responded by:
- Revising the Tenure and Promotion Document and the Academic Personnel Handbook sections on tenure to improve clarity and transparency
- Establishing faculty mentoring programs and faculty forums to provide clarity and support around promotion to full professor
- Creating programs through ADVANCE FADO to facilitate faculty development at ALL stages of the faculty career pathway
Faculty asked for increased opportunities for faculty voices to be heard and more rigorous support services for faculty.
UNC Charlotte responded by:
- Creating the Ombuds Office, which has been expanded recently to include the role of an Associate Faculty Ombuds to address the needs of both full-time and part-time faculty members increasing tuition support for graduate students
- Development of Advancing University Research Administration (AURA) to implement research administration process and system improvements
- Creating career progression opportunities for non-tenure track faculty
- Increasing research support for social science disciplines
Faculty asked for more equity around faculty compensation and enhanced recognition for faculty accomplishments.
UNC Charlotte responded by:
- Benchmarking faculty salaries and committed institutional funds for faculty raises
- Raising minimum salary for lecturers and part-time faculty
- Recognizing community engagement both in the Faculty Handbook and through creation of The Provost’s Award for Community Engagement
- Implementing the Thank You Card Project, an initiative where Chancellor Philip L. Dubois sends thank you cards to faculty and staff members based upon nominations from last year’s graduating seniors
To participate, faculty members will complete a 30-minute, web-based survey; faculty members have received unique links to the survey via email from COACHE (coachefaculty@opinioncast.com). COACHE will not use names or email addresses for any purposes other than this research.
To encourage participation, each college is providing an incentive to faculty to complete the survey.
If faculty participation in each college reaches a particular level, all faculty in the college will be entered into a raffle for prizes listed:
- Belk College of Business
- College of Arts + Architecture
- College of Health and Human Services
- College of Liberal Arts & Sciences
- College of Computing and Informatics
A 50 percent participation rate: one iPad (with case), at 70 percent participation rate: $1,000 in travel funds.
- Cato College of Education:
A 50 percent participation rate: $600 in travel funds to be used either this year or next; 70 percent participation rate, $1,000 in travel funds
- William States Lee College of Engineering
A 50 percent participation rate: $600 in travel funds
More information about the 2018 COACHE survey and previous COACHE survey results are posted on the ADVANCE website. Direct questions about this survey to Yvette Huet at ymhuet@uncc.edu or 704-687-8696, or email COACHE at coachefaculty@abtassoc.com.