HERI 2023 Faculty Survey Results

The Higher Education Research Institute (HERI) Faculty Survey was administered to faculty Spring 2023. The final report is available for review.

During Spring 2024, a working group was convened to review the findings for full-time faculty. The results from the working group are posted.

Below are the key findings from the working group, organized by the survey's themes:

• Theme A (Goals for Undergraduate Education) – Faculty respondents generally agreed the questions under this theme represented their role as faculty. Women tended to agree more strongly to these questions, indicating a gap in perception of faculty roles between the binary gender designations.
• Theme B (Health and Wellness) – Faculty respondents generally indicated lower levels of stress in key areas compared to the two comparison groups; notably, 63.9% of faculty strongly or somewhat agreed they have a healthy work/life balance.
• Themes C, D, E (Professional Practice) – Faculty respondents generally agreed research and service were important; however, faculty also highlighted difficulties securing funding for research. Over half of faculty respondents frequently indicated utilizing the various teaching techniques highlighted in Theme E. Additionally, despite 76.0% of faculty believing community service to be important, 67.6% of faculty indicated not incorporating community service into their classes.
• Theme F (COVID-19) – Faculty respondents largely agreed campus leadership provided an appropriate response to the pandemic, with 93.4% of respondents either Strongly or Somewhat Agreeing. Primary stressors during the pandemic were the health (both mental and physical) of loved ones and the respondents themselves.
• Theme G (Diversity) – Faculty respondents largely agreed it was their role to enhance students' knowledge of and appreciation for other racial/ethnic groups, with 88.8% either Strongly or Somewhat Agreeing. A notable challenge identified, however, was respondents indicating they felt there is a lot of campus racial conflict at Washburn.
• Theme H (Institutional Support and Resources) – Faculty respondents generally indicated feeling valued at the department level, with >85% indicating their teaching and/or service was valued. Conversely, only 23.8% of faculty had been formally recognized for outstanding teaching at Washburn.
• Theme I (Interaction with Students) – Faculty respondents are generally more active in interacting with students than the comparison institutions, despite 84.7% of faculty indicating students had been a significant source of stress.
• Theme J (Habits of Mind) – Faculty respondents generally reported engaging students in the behaviors and traits associated with academic success, such as asking questions in class and accepting mistakes as part of the learning process.
• Theme K (Institutional Priorities) – Faculty respondents generally agreed with the priorities highlighted in this theme, and notably often did so with a statistically significant difference than the comparison institutions. The areas of highest agreement were preparing students for the workplace and developing their leadership abilities.
• Theme L (Relationship with Administration) – Faculty respondents generally felt administrators consider faculty concerns when making policy. 68.5% either Strongly or Somewhat Agreed, with women agreeing more strongly overall than men. Conversely, 43.8% of faculty felt they are typically at odds with campus administration (this was, however, less than the comparison institutions).
• Theme M (Overall Satisfaction) – Faculty respondents' satisfaction with salary and health benefits were comparable to the comparison institutions with 37.5% and 72.6 % indicating they were Satisfied or Very Satisfied, respectively. Additionally, most faculty respondents (80.3%) indicated they would still come to this institution if given the choice.