Higher Education Research Institute (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.
