Provost Betty Stewart proposed a new faculty survey at the Faculty Senate meeting on Aug. 22. Stewart asked the Faculty Senate to endorse the use of the Higher Education Research Institute as an efficient means for the provost “to make data-driven decisions, to identify academic concerns on campus, and to provide a foundation for the establishment of a mutually agreed upon academic agenda,” Stewart explained during the meeting.
On Sept. 12, faculty senators will decide if they endorse the UCLA-administered survey, and if they do, the provost will cover the cost, which Stewart has estimated will be between $2,000 and $3,000 depending on the number of participants.
“As the new provost, I want to get to know the faculty,” Stewart said. “Obviously I can’t go out and meet 300 faculty members, so a survey would be an easier way to gather information about my faculty.”
Stewart said universities across the country have participated in the HERI ever since it was established by UCLA in 1984.
“Because it has been in existence for so long, it has been standardized and normed so that when our faculty at Midwestern complete the survey, if it’s approved, that will allow me to gather data about which things are valuable to them,” Stewart said. “I can also compare it to faculty at similar institutions.”
Stewart said this would allow her to see where our faculty stands compared to similarly sized liberal arts universities.
“If I see that we are above norm in some areas or below norm in other areas, that gives me a point to start addressing issues with the faculty,” Stewart said. “If I’m going to do a good job fostering a healthy faculty, I need to know where the issues are and this allows me to get to those issues faster.”
Chair of the Faculty Senate David Carlston, assistant professor of psychology, said he likes that the HERI is handled completely off-campus.
“Surveys can be used to demonstrate pretty much whatever you want, and there’s potential to discredit the findings of a survey based on the source of that survey,” Carlston said.
Carlston said the HERI not only provides a service as a third-party measurement of faculty satisfaction, but also aids in UCLA’s own research of the national academic landscape.
“There are a lot of demographic questions about the faculty, some of which are very personal,” Carlston said. “Questions about political leanings and things along those lines that I can’t imagine will be useful locally, but it will be useful to [UCLA] nationally.”
Carlston said he is aware of the concerns raised by some faculty members about the more personal questions listed on the HERI, which asks participants to indicate the importance of “integrating spirituality into my life” or “how would you characterize your political views?”
“I would skip any demographic question that you are uncomfortable with,” Carlston said. “My political persuasions have no effect on the number of research publications I have or the amount of time that I spend doing student development.”
Carlston said there are also concerns that faculty members will be identified based on these demographics even though the HERI is an anonymous survey.
“I know that some folks are worried about being identified through some of that information but that data is kept off campus,” Carlston said. “When those results come back, nobody will have that ability to match the demographics with the actual responses so I wouldn’t worry so much about that.”
Carlston and Stewart both said if the faculty does endorse the survey that it is imperative that as many faculty members as possible participate.
“I would like to get a good sample size,” Stewart said. “If I don’t know what the issues are then I won’t have a very good understanding of where to start in addressing those issues.”
Carlston said it is absolutely necessary that the faculty take the time to complete the HERI if the senate approves of it this Thursday.
“One of the worst case scenarios is you have a low response rate which means you don’t have much confidence in what you get back,” Carlston said. “It becomes useless as a tool.”
Despite these concerns, Carlston said he is hopeful that the HERI will have a positive affect on the faculty, and in turn, the students as well.
“Nobody wants a stressed out professor writing their exam,” Carlston said, “so if you can modify the workplace so that the faculty are happier in general then the students are going to end up getting an even better product than they are now.”
Stewart said the survey would allow her to prioritize the most pressing issues to the faculty, improving their welfare and the welfare of the university as a whole.
“Faculty are vital to the educational experience,” Stewart said. “If we can address issues that show up in the faculty then it is going to trickle down to the students because we’re going to have a healthier faculty so they will be able to work better with the students, I believe.”