Faculty Satisfaction Survey Reports (COACHE)

COACHE logoTo assess how satisfied our faculty members are in their work as researchers, teachers, and members of the UC Davis community, UC Davis participated in the COACHE (Collaborative on Academic Careers in Higher Education) Faculty Job Satisfaction Survey in 2012-13, 2016-17, and again in 2020-2021. The COACHE Survey is administered annually by the Harvard Graduate School of Education to hundreds of Institutions of higher education and is designed to measure faculty members' satisfaction with the many dimensions of their work - from their research, teaching, and service activities to the work-life, health and retirement benefits; from the merit and promotion system to academic leadership and shared governance; and from support for interdisciplinary and collaborative work to the collegiality of their department. This letter sent by Provost and Executive Vice Chancellor Mary Croughan encourages all faculty to participate in this COACHE survey. 

Faculty should have already received a personalized email from coachefaculty@opinioncast.com. This survey was open through April 12, 2021. 

IMPORTANT DATES:

  • Winter 2021                Survey disseminated to faculty through COACHE
  • April 12, 2021              Survey closes
  • November 2022          Results disseminated

The 2020-21 survey data will allow us to track our progress on the many areas of strength and weakness that were identified in 2016-17. This 2021 survey will now allow us to not only see what progress has been made to resolve earlier problems, but which ones are now on the minds of our faculty that we need to be aware of in our process of striving for continual improvement, including impacts of the current pandemic. We will disseminate those results on this webpage and in other interactive venues starting Fall 2022.

We are appreciative of our UC Davis COACHE 2020-21 Advisory Committee, whose members provided excellent feedback and guidance for this survey process. Those members includes:

  • Steve Chatman, Data Manager, Academic Affairs 
  • Thomas Lee, Associate Dean, College of Letters & Science 
  • Lorena Oropeza, Interim Associate Vice Chancellor for Academic Diversity, Office of DEI
  • Kim Shauman, Professor, Department of Sociology 
  • Leigh Ann Simmons, Department Chair, Professor, Department of Human Ecology 
  • Binnie Singh, Assistant Vice Provost, Academic Affairs 
  • Tamara Swaab, Professor, Department of Psychology 
  • Jose Torres, Chair, Academic Senate Committee on Affirmative Action and Diversity, Professor
  • Richard Tucker, Academic Senate Chair, Professor 
  • Zeljka Smit-McBride, Academic Federation Chair 

The results from our 2016-17 survey proved to be a unique and powerful tool to inform policy and program development. A few examples illustrate the utility and impact of the results of our 2016-17 survey:

  • Worked with deans to use our results to improve campus programs.
  • Now providing more mentoring and guidance to associate professors, who had clearly expressed concern about their progress and increased university service workload after gaining tenure or security of employment while trying to balance work life needs.
  • Used findings about Step Plus to inform the review in 2020-21, with the goal of making our advancement processes and expectations of faculty more transparent and equitable across the colleges and schools, and placing greater recognition on outstanding service and instruction.
  • Making campus leadership training more accessible to interested faculty.  

If you have any questions or concerns about this survey, please contact Brian Darnell and Cathy Wu at aadatamanagers@ucdavis.edu, or COACHE at coachefaculty@abtassociates.com. 

Learn more about this survey at Harvard's main webpage.