Results from the 2021-2022 COACHE Survey & Focus Groups
 

 Areas of Strength 

• 72% agreement among UNT faculty that leadership visibly supports diversity
• 62% satisfaction among professional faculty with dean's communication of priorities
• 64% satisfaction among Pre-Tenure faculty with dean's stated priorities

The majority of UNT faculty, professional faculty, and pre-tenure faculty endorse positive statements about UNT’s senior leadership. Seventy-two percent agree UNT’s leadership visibly supports diversity, while more than 60% report satisfaction with their dean’s communication and stated priorities.

UNT faculty (overall) and Associate professors particularly report more satisfaction than faculty and Associate faculty at peer institutions with every aspect of the Chief Academic Officer's leadership, from pace of decision-making* to stating priorities* and communicating priorities.*

 Other Areas of Strength 

The majority of Pre-Tenure faculty report satisfaction with every aspect of chairs' leadership from pace of decision-making (72%) to stating (70%) and communicating priorities (70%), ensuring faculty input (72%), and fairly evaluating their work (74%).

 Areas of Growth 

• 43% of URM faculty report priorities stated consistently*
• 35% of URM faculty report priorities acted on consistently*
• 43% of URM faculty report chairs support adapting for change*

Fewer URM faculty agreed that UNT leadership states priorities consistently (43%)* and acts on them consistently (35%)* and that chairs support adaptations to change (43%).*

                    Recommendations and Resources                    

The UNT COACHE Steering Committee noted that UNT faculty’s views on the priorities and decision-making at higher levels of senior leadership are generally stronger compared to our peer institutions and COACHE cohort, while lower levels of confidence were noted for divisional, departmental, and faculty-faculty leadership. Faculty were less satisfied with leadership’s communication of priorities, for fairness in evaluating work, and with how to fulfill the requirements for R1 status while remaining student-centered. To address these areas, the following is recommended:

• Identify methods to improve equity in assignment, recognition, and evaluation of work, including service. In particular, provide recognition and the assigning of value for the unrecognized work of URM faculty (URM student mentoring, etc.).
• Review the consistency of the application and alignment to university and unit-level policies on professional faculty opportunities for advancement.
• Address concerns from professional faculty about increasing teaching and service workloads and concerns about overall climate between tenure-track and professional faculty groups. Identify best practices from units on campus where professional faculty indicated higher satisfaction within their units.
• The UNT Faculty Leadership Fellows program dedicated to developing leaders capable of catalyzing and sustaining change.
• The UNT System Leadership Development Resources includes an array of leadership training opportunities.

*= UNT Outshines Peers

NOTE: FOC = Faculty of color (non-White faculty); Professional faculty = Faculty who are not on the tenure track; URM = Underrepresented minority (Black and Latinx)