Female professor sitting at table with students talking

Previous COACHE Findings

The Collaborative on Academic Careers in Higher Education

Background

UVA has administered the COACHE Faculty Job Satisfaction Survey every three to four years since its inception. Knowing our results allows us to gauge the areas where we are improving and where the institution needs to devote attention. This page summarizes the findings and institutional response to the survey conducted in 2016.  

COACHE 2016 Demographics:

All full-time salaried teaching & research faculty (tenured, tenure-track & General) who have worked at UVA for at least one year, except for the School of Medicine as well as senior academic administrators (deans & assoc. deans).

Response rate in 2016: 47% 

What did Faculty Tell us Were the Best and Worst Aspects of Working at UVA?

Box Middle
Worst Aspects of Working at UVA
  1. Compensation
  2. Protections from Service
  3. Support for Research/Creative Work 
  4. Diversity 

What Qualities Were Ranked in the Top and Bottom Third for UVA

Box Left
Top Third
  1. Environment for teaching
  2. Collegiality
  3. Departmental Leadership (LAM)
  4. Divisional Leadership  (new deans) 

We consider those competitive advantages. 

Box Middle
Bottom Third 
  1. Facilities conducive to interdisciplinary work
  2. And 3. Support for obtaining grants (pre- and post-award)
  3. Quality of graduate students to support research 

How Did UVA Respond? 

UVA committed to communicating COACHE results to school leadership and the UVA faculty community, as well as undertaking specific centralized initiatives in addition to school-based actions. These centralized initiatives including dedicated funding for various projects through the Strategic Investment Fund (SIF), as well as:

  • Investment in salaries: BOV commitment to 20th position in AAU

  • Investment in faculty: Cluster hires, ToPs hires, pan-university institutes, hiring diverse and interdisciplinary new faculty

  • Investment in infrastructure:

    • Support for obtaining grants (pre- and post-award) through ResearchUVA, ResearchNet, and 3Cavaliers

    • Pan-University Institutes

    • $22 million in SIF funding for various project infrastructure needs, including facilities conducive to interdisciplinary work, such as the Link Lab

    • School of Data Science; plans for the Ivy corridor and the precincts there

  • Investment in graduate programs: A&S and SEAS graduate programs’ SIF grants; development of “PhD Plus” program

2016 Report to Faculty Senate 

Contact Maïté Brandt-Pearce if you need this information in an accessible format.

Faculty Affairs