UB will once again be participating in the Collaborative on Academic Careers in Higher Education (COACHE) survey of faculty career satisfaction.

This national research survey, operated from the Harvard Graduate School of Education and specifically designed for full-time faculty, assesses faculty views on an important range of university policies, practices and working conditions in order to provide institutions with valuable feedback and benchmarking data.

Provost Charles F. Zukoski and Vice Provost for Faculty Affairs Robert Granfield say the participation of UB faculty is especially important as the university strives to attract and retain the most outstanding scholars, artists, teachers and clinicians; enhance the satisfaction of all faculty; and continue to make UB a great place to build an academic career.

This is the third time UB will be participating in the COACHE survey; the last COACHE survey was administered in 2011. UB’s participation has contributed to the development of improved policies and programs in areas that enhance faculty career success and satisfaction, including tenure-clock extensions, mentoring, work/life balance, equity and inclusion, communication of tenure and promotion processes and expectations, dual academic couple hiring support and research support services, among other initiatives. This year, all full-time faculty are included in the survey, allowing non-tenure track and clinical faculty, in addition to tenured and tenure-track faculty, to have their voices heard on this large scale.

Participation involves completing a 25-minute, web-based survey; COACHE (coachefaculty@opinioncast.com) will email a unique link to the survey to each faculty member in the coming days. COACHE will not use any name or email address for any purpose except this study, and it guarantees the confidentiality of responses to the survey. More information about the COACHE survey and UB’s participation in it is available online. Those with questions may contact Granfield via email or at 645-3594, or contact COACHE directly.

The meaningfulness of the COACHE survey depends on broad faculty participation. Faculty response is critical to this important endeavor, and Zukoski and Granfield thank faculty in advance for taking the time to complete the survey so UB can learn from their views and experiences.