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2024-2025 COACHE report and recommendations

The Faculty Success Office actively engages in surveys to gauge faculty satisfaction in pursuit of continuous improvement. Among the comprehensive surveys we have undertaken, the Collaborative on Academic Careers in Higher Education (COACHE) Faculty Job Satisfaction Survey is one of the most impactful initiatives in enhancing the faculty job experience.

The COACHE survey project assesses twenty-five (25) benchmarks of full-time faculty satisfaction with the academic workplace, notably around the clarity and reasonableness of the tenure process; work/personal responsibilities; workload and support for teaching and research; climate, culture, and collegiality on campus; and global satisfaction and compensation and benefits. The data is then separated into the seven (7) categories that further describe the variables necessary for faculty job satisfaction. A complete description of the COACHE Benchmarks and items can be found in Appendix C.

  • Nature of Work
  • Professional Support
  • Professional Development
  • Tenure and Promotion
  • Leadership
  • Shared Governance
  • Departmental Climate
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The COACHE results provide each participating institution with a formal Provost’s report containing internal and external comparative analyses highlighting each institution’s strengths and opportunities for improvement. UNT has participated in the COACHE survey every three years since 2009 and has used the results to improve policy, processes, and resources to improve our faculty work satisfaction. A few of the ways UNT faculty have benefited from the COACHE results over time include:

  • Improved workload equity and transparency in university policy and unit guidelines
  • Expanded resources and policy changes for professional-track faculty
  • Supported the creation of the UNT Faculty Lounge
  • Ensured regular faculty salary market studies
  • Included resources to support departmental climate (e.g., Crucial Conversations, chair training, faculty leadership development)
  

Peer Institutions

COACHE provides peer and cohort comparisons as part of the UNT analysis. UNT’s peer group was selected by reviewing IPEDS data (2024) to identify similar four-year doctoral institutions in student size, demographics, Carnegie Status (R1), and that recently completed the COACHE survey. For 2024, these included:
  • Florida International University (2024)
  • Georgia State University: Atlanta (2023)
  • University of Central Florida (2024)
  • University of Texas at El Paso (2023)
  • Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University (2023)
The comparison cohort includes 85 COACHE partner institutions whose faculty size and organizational characteristics are similar to UNT's. The COACHE methodology and the peer and cohort institution list are in Appendix D.