2011-2012 COACHEFaculty Job Satisfaction Survey:

Associate Professors

Associate Professors Community MeetingOctober 30, 2013

Nancy Whelchel, Associate Director for Survey ResearchBetsy Brown, Vice Provost for Faculty Affairs

Why COACHE?To systematically collect information from our faculty to help NC State assess (and improve!) the quality of work life

– Nature of work in research, teaching, and service– Resources to support faculty work– Tenure and promotion policies and practices– Leadership and governance– Department collegiality, quality, and engagement– Benefits, compensation, and work/life– Interdisciplinary work and collaboration– Mentoring– Appreciation and recognition

•Get peer comparisons [pre-tenured/tenured faculty only]– Clemson, Kansas State, Purdue, SUNY-Albany, Univ Tennessee

•Ongoing Assessment (participate every three years; next in AY14-15)

When and Who? • October 2011 – January 2012• Population:

– Pre-tenure and tenured faculty– Non-tenure track faculty (part of pilot study; no COACHE peer comparisons)– Full-time– Hired prior to July 1, 2011– Not in terminal year after being denied tenure– (Reports/Presentations exclude those working in the Libraries)

Response Rate

Population Respondents

Resp RateN % N %

NC State Overall 1,749   997   57%

Tenure Track Status

Non-Tenure Track 432 25% 197 20% 46%

Pre-Tenured 247 14% 145 15% 59%

Tenured 1,115 64% 655 66% 59%

Rank (Pre-Tenured/Tenured only)

Assistant 234 17% 137 17% 59%

Associate 426 31% 247 31% 58%

Full 702 52% 416 52% 59%

Gender (Associate Professors only)          

Male 299 70% 163 66% 55% Female 127 30% 84 34% 66% Race/Ethnicity (Associate Professors only)         White 324 76% 191 77% 59% Faculty of Color 102 24% 56 23% 55%

Reports on Results(See http://www2.acs.ncsu.edu/UPA/archives/survey/reports/coache/coache.ay11_12.toc.htm)

• Faculty overall (pre-tenured, tenured, non-tenure track combined)• Pre-tenure & tenured faculty

– Overall & by gender, race/ethnicity, tenure status, rank– Compared to COACHE peers– Compared to results from previous COACHE surveys (pre-tenure only)

• Non-tenure track faculty– Overall & by gender, race/ethnicity, college– Compared to pre-tenure & tenured faculty (combined)

Methods

• Items typically ask for ‘agreement’ or ‘satisfaction’ with a particular statement or area of work

• Responses based on a 5-point scale• Higher numbers represent more positive or favorable

opinions• Reporting on average ratings• “Notable difference” between groups exist when the

difference in averages rating is +/- 0.25.

PROFILE OF ASSOCIATE PROFESSOR SURVEY RESPONDENTS

Professional Life

• Year earning Assoc Prof Rank at NCSU

– 10% 2011 (current year)– 9% 2010 (1 year prior)– 21% 2008 or 2009 (2-3 yrs prior)– 19% 2006 or 2007 (4-5 yrs prior)– 10% 2005 or 2004 (6-7 yrs prior)– 6% 2003 or 2002 (8-9 yrs prior)– 25% 2001 or earlier (10+ yrs prior)

• Administrative Service– 87% None– 13% Yes

• 64% Center/Program Director• 25% Department Head/Chair,

Associate/Assistant Head/Chair• 11% Other

Personal Life

• Marital Status– 6% Single– 86% Married/Civil Union – 2% Unmarried, living w/ partner– 6% Divorced, separated, widowed

• Spouse/Partner Employment Status

– 17% Not employed & not seeking– 8% Not employed but seeking

employment– 15% Employed at NCSU– 60% Employed elsewhere

• Family Obligations– 20% Infants, toddlers, or pre-school age

children who live with you at least half the year

– 41% Elementary, middle, or high school age children who live with you at least half the year

– 8% Children 18 or over who live with you at least half the year

– 13% Children away at college for whom you are financially responsible

– 2% Elders for whom you are providing ongoing care for more than 3 hours a week

– 4% A disabled or ill family member– 35% None of the above

SUMMARY OF RESULTS FOR ASSOCIATE PROFESSORS

Associate Professors’Overall Satisfaction Working at NC State• 92% would recommend their department as a place for Associate Professors to work

(48% ‘strongly’)• 69% are satisfied with their department as a place to work (24% ‘very’)• 60% are satisfied with NC State as a place to work (14% ‘very’)• 63% agree they would choose to work at NC State if starting over (30% ‘strongly’)• 48% intend to stay at NCSU for another ten years or more• Best thing about working at NC State?

– 39% “Geographic location”– 26% “Quality of colleagues”– 19% “Academic freedom”– 16% “My sense of fit here”– 15% “Support of colleagues”– 11% “Opportunities to collaborate with colleagues”– 10% “Quality of graduate students”– 10% “Cost of living”

Associate Professors’Overall Dissatisfaction with NC State• Worst things about working at NC State?

– 38% “Compensation”– 16% “Lack of support for research/creative work”– 11% “Too much service/too many assignments”– 9% “Support of colleagues”– 9% “Quality of graduate students”– 10% “My lack of fit here”

• Reasons for leaving?– 26% Improve salary/benefits– 15% Retire– 13% Find an employer who provides more resources in support of my work – 12% Work at an institution whose priorities match my own

NC State Associate Professors’Most Favorably Rated Aspects of Work(Average = 4.0 or higher)

• Nature of Work– Discretion over course content (4.40)– Influence over focus of research (4.19)– Level of courses taught (4.07)

• Facilities and resources– Library resources (4.17)

• Mentoring– Importance of mentoring within the department (4.27) – Being a mentor is fulfilling (4.04)

NC State Associate Professors’Least Favorably Rated Aspects of Work(Average = 2.75 or lower)• Nature of Work

– Availability of course release for research (2.67)

– Support for faculty in leadership roles (2.70)• Compensation/Benefits

– Health benefits for family (2.18)– Tuition waivers, remission, exchange (2.23)– Housing benefits (2.29)– Childcare (2.29)– Salary (2.64)– Spousal/partner hiring program (2.68)– Health benefits for self (2.73)

• Mentoring– Support for faculty to be good mentors (2.10)– Mentoring of associate faculty (2.28)

• Interdisciplinary Work– Facilities are conducive to interdisciplinary work

(2.47)– Interdisciplinary work is rewarded in promotion

(2.53)– Budgets encourage interdisciplinary work (2.54)– Interdisciplinary work is rewarded in merit (2.55)– Departments know how to evaluate

interdisciplinary work (2.71)• Governance

– Priorities are acted on consistently (2.51)– Dean’s support in adapting to change (2.53) – Priorities are stated consistently (2.71)

• Department Life– Department addresses sub-standard

performance (2.70)

NC State Associate Professors’ Benchmarks vsAssociate Professors at Peer Institutions

• NC State Assoc Profs ranked 1st or 2nd among peers on:

• Nature of work• Service• Teaching• Facilities and work resources• Interdisciplinary work• Collaboration• Mentoring• Promotion• Department Quality

• NC State Assoc Profs ranked 5th or 6th among peers on:

– Health and retirement benefits– Departmental engagement

NC State Associate Professors vs Peers:Individual Items Rated Relatively Lower(NC State ranked 5th or 6th)

• Influence over focus of research• Clerical/administrative support• Tuition waivers, remission,

exchange• Childcare• Health benefits for self• Health benefits for family• Retirement benefits• Salary• Recognition from the Dean

• Effectiveness of mentoring outside the institution

• Amount of personal interaction w/ pre-tenured faculty in dept

• How well you fit• Discussions of undergrad student

learning• Discussions of effective use of

technology• Amount of professional

interaction with tenured faculty

NC State Associate Professors vs NC State Full Professors

• Associate Professors gave notably more favorable ratings than Full Professors on only a few items

• Eldercare (2.87 vs 2.51)• Importance of mentoring outside department (3.46 vs 3.17)• Importance of mentoring outside the institution (3.67 vs 3.40)

NC State Associate Professor vs NC State Full Professors cont.

Associate Professors gave notably less favorable ratings than Full Professors on most items, especially for*:

•Promotion– Reasonableness of expectations for promotion

(3.46 vs 4.14)– Department culture encourages promotion (3.45

vs 4.26)– Clarity of

• Time frame for promotion (3.06 vs 4.00)• Promotion process (3.56 vs 4.33)• Body of evidence for promotion (3.56 vs 4.24)• Promotion criteria (3.54 vs 4.17)• Promotion standards (3.28 vs 3.84)

• Nature of work– Ability to balance

teaching/research/service (3.15 vs 3.59)

• Mentoring/Collaboration– Mentoring of associate faculty (2.28 vs 2.94)– Support for faculty to be good mentors (2.10 vs

2.51)– Opportunities for collaboration within

department (3.65 vs 3.91)

* Items with at least a 0.40 difference

SHARING THE RESULTS / DISCUSSION

Sharing the Results• Presentations to

– Provost– Vice Provosts– Deans’ Council– Faculty Senate– Faculty Well Being Administrative Advisory Committee– Lifelong Faculty Involvement Standing Committee– University Diversity Advisory Committee– NTT Community Group– Department Heads (Workshop on Department Climate)– Associate Professors Community Group – Others as requested

• Reports posted to UPA website• Bulletin article (January 3, 2013)

Issues of Concern(Provost/ Deans/Dept Heads/Senate)

– Promotion– Mentoring– Workload– Support for interdisciplinary work– Compensation/benefits

Discussion

• Questions?• Comments?• Discussion?