Faculty Senate Survey
Full Report
Faculty Recruitment, Retention, and
Welfare Committee
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Peter Beling
Jack Brown
Melvin Butler
Sheila Crowe
Jennifer Harvey
Nicholas Kuhn
Daniel Lefkowitz
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Pamela Norris
Blaine Norum
Susan McKinnon
Jeffrey Rossman
Julie Turner
Gwenneth West
Jonathon Schyner
(Office of Inst
Assess & Studies)
Methodology/Response
• 3,447 faculty asked
to complete survey
• 3/29/07-6/1/07
• 2,086 responded
(61%)
• Highest responders
– College A&S
– Sch of Nursing
– Asst Prof tenure
track
Survey: 3 Sections
• Collegiality, Academic Community,
and Charlottesville Community
• Faculty Priorities- Administrative,
Research, and Teaching
• Benefits- Existing and Possible
additional benefits
Collegiality
• 77.7% of faculty agree or strongly
agree that UVa is collegial
– Varied widely by school and dept
– Comments:
• Poor leadership a major source of
discord
Collegiality
• Goal: Improve leadership at the dept and school
level
– Action item: Provide leadership training and
mentoring programs for new Chairs and Deans
– Action item: Provide 360° feedback (from peers,
those who supervise, and those who are supervised)
to Chairs and Deans regarding leadership
– Action item: Chairs should be required to provide an
annual review for all faculty (tenured/eligible and
General) regarding performance and goals for the
future. The Deans should hold Chairs accountable
for providing annual reviews.
Diversity
• Women and minority faculty rate
importance of diversity higher than
other faculty
• Comments:
– Commitment to diversity appears
somewhat superficial, without true
commitment to political or sexual
diversity
Diversity
• Goal: Commit to improving diversity of the
University, in race, gender, sexual orientation,
and political perspective
– Action item: Develop a plan of action with specific
achievable goals for dealing with problems related to
diversity, eliminate discrimination, and the
development of mechanisms for identifying and
dealing with the sources and effects of
discrimination that will transform the atmosphere of
UVa to one that embraces diversity with zerotolerance of discrimination.
– Action item: Commit significant resources to the
recruitment, mentoring, and retention of a diverse
faculty.
Academic Community
• Highest satisfaction
– Undergraduate
students
– Departmental
faculty
– Faculty of their
school
– Departmental
reputation
• Highest dissatisfaction
– Support for their
discipline within
the University
– Efforts to retain
valued faculty
– Support for their
dept within their
school
Academic Community
• Goal: Improve vertical interaction and
communication between University
administration, Schools, and Departments.
– Action item: Encourage attendance of
University administration at School
meetings and Deans at Department
meetings at least once annually to
acknowledge contributions and create an
open forum for discussion of concerns.
Charlottesville Community
• Strong positive in recruitment and retention
• Small size limits ability to recruit diverse
faculty. Recruitment would improve with
rail service to metropolitan centers.
• Increasing concerns regarding cost of
housing and living relative to faculty
salaries (Benefits section)
• Traffic is bad
Charlottesville Community
• Goal: Improve communication and
coordination of development with local, state,
and possibly Federal government.
– Action item: The Provost’s office should work with
city and county planning agencies to improve traffic
in and around the University. This may also involve
University faculty if appropriate.
– Action item: The Provost’s office should
communicate with State and Federal authorities the
importance of convenient and reliable passenger rail
service to Richmond and Washington, D.C. for the
development of the University and work toward
accomplishing this goal.
Faculty Priorities: Administrative
• Highest Priorities
– Transparent administrative policies
– Streamlined administrative policies
– Facility improvements
– Increased office staff support
Faculty Priorities: Administrative
• Goal: Improve transparency in admin policies
– Action item: Increase involvement of faculty in admin decisions (e.g.
Board of Visitors, Cabinet, Future of the University, etc.).
– Action item: Make financial plans available for faculty review and
potentially involve business and/or economics faculty in the development of
financial plans.
– Action item: Develop and enforce clearly written policies on sabbatical,
salary, and leave.
– Action item: Review the Promotions and Tenure process across
Grounds. Work to improve transparency in the process, which should be
supportive and educational. Feedback regarding P&T should be available a
year or two (or earlier) before the candidate portfolio is due to be submitted
in order to allow the candidate to address potential problems in advance.
This could be provided by the Chair or department or school P&T
committee.
– Action item: Develop a space accounting plan as well as clear future
plans for offices and other Dept spaces, including location and renovation
Faculty Priorities: Administrative
• Goal: Streamline administrative policies
– Action item: Realize and respond to faculty
difficulties in the use of Oracle and eVA
– Action item: Develop an environment of
customer service in Human Resources.
Improve responsiveness of Human
Resources to faculty needs by sitting in
on actual hiring processes in
Departments.
Faculty Priorities: Administrative
• Goal: Address facility improvement and
increased office support concerns
– Action item: Perform an inventory of
offices. Integrate office space into
planning of new space and renovations of
current space.
– Action item: Develop a training program
for administrative assistants.
Faculty Priorities: Research
• Highest Priorities
– Additional support for graduate
students
– Additional support for travel to
meetings and conferences in the
U.S. and abroad
– Additional items…
Faculty Priorities: Research
• Goal: Improve graduate student recruitment
– Action item: Raise graduate stipends to
competitive levels, including summer
stipends
• Goal: Provide additional support for travel
in the U.S. and abroad
– Action item: Establish funds for travel to
meetings both in the U.S. and abroad
– Action item: Develop clear written policies
for access to travel funds
Faculty Priorities: Teaching
• Highest Priorities
– Additional support for teaching and
course development
– Cluster of additional priorities
related to renovations, space, IT
support, and recruitment of diverse
students
Faculty Priorities: Teaching
• Goal: Provide additional resources for
teaching and course development
Establish Department
level grants for new course
development
– Action item:
Faculty Priorities: Teaching
• Goal: Address remaining teaching concerns
– Action item: Establish a policy defining appropriate
workloads for teaching assistants, with the goal of
decreasing loads that are frequently too high
– Action item: Raise Teaching Assistant stipends.
– Action item: Perform inventory of classroom
conditions. Develop, implement, and communicate a
plan for classroom renovation, including ITC, to take
place over the next five years. Involve the Teaching
Resource Center in the design/implementation of new
classrooms.
– Action item: Provide support at the Provost level for
team-teaching across schools
Benefits: Existing
• Highest satisfaction
– Retirement
programs
– 403(b) Savings
– 403(b) Matching
• Least satisfaction
– Salary
– Dental
– Discount vision
– Pre-tax parking
– Exercise/health
programs
Benefits: Existing
• Goal: Improve existing faculty benefits
– Action item: Establish a plan to increase faculty salaries
in order to be competitive with other institutions and to
catch up with increases in the costs of living and
housing
– Action item: Improve overall health care benefits,
including addressing concerns with Southern Health,
control of premiums, and maintenance of benefits.
Revamp vision/eye care and dental programs
– Action item: Increase employer contribution to
retirement and to 403B matching accounts
– Action item: Increase number and quality of child care
facilities, particularly in hospital complex area. Faculty
do not expect subsidy, but need these facilities to be
available.
Benefits: Existing
• Goal: Improve communication and
responsiveness
– Action item: Improve communication of
benefits information to faculty
– Action item: Develop role of Benefit’s
office as advocates of faculty in
addressing concerns regarding vendors of
services, such as changes in Mental
Health Providers, reducing paperwork,
etc.
Additional Benefits
• Committee favors menu of benefits
• Highest priorities
– Tuition benefit
– Subsidized parking
– Subsidized health/wellness
programs
Additional Benefits
• Goal: Increase faculty benefits with
improved flexibility to suit faculty needs
during different life phases.
– Action item: Increase the pool of resources
available for faculty support through
philanthropy or other sources
– Action item: Develop a menu plan for
benefits so that faculty can tailor benefits
to suit their needs
Additional Benefits
• Goal: Develop a tuition benefit for faculty
dependents
Investigate how other
institutions provide and support this
benefit
Action item: Use this information to
develop a program at UVa
– Action item:
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Additional Benefits
• Goal: Improve parking situation
– Action item: Eliminate or subsidize parking fees.
At a minimum, scale fees to salary
– Action item: Develop an environment of
customer service in Parking and Transportation
and create an open positive dialog with faculty
– Action item: Earmark Parking & Transportation
revenues to initiatives that will provide
convenient transportation alternatives to private
cars
Additional Benefits
• Goal: Develop a strong Health and Wellness
Program for faculty
– Action item: Eliminate or subsidize fees for
UVa exercise facilities
– Action item: Develop a portion of exercise
facilities (or their hours) oriented to
faculty rather than students, or provide
discount for community exercise facilities
Subanalyses
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Rank
General Faculty
Gender
Minority
School (see report)
– Department (sent to Chairs)
Analysis by Rank
• Assistant professor priorities
– Cost of housing
– Availability of childcare facilities
– Diversity of community
– Proximity to major metropolitan
centers
– Support for teaching assistants
Analysis by Rank
• Goal: Specifically improve recruitment and
retention of Assistant professors
– Action item: Facilitate improved transportation
to Richmond and Washington
– Action item: Provide additional support for
teaching assistants
– Action item: Increase availability of quality
childcare facilities
– Action item: Develop housing allowance and/or
purchasing partnerships
Analysis by Rank
• Assoc/Professor priority
– Additional graduate student support
• Goal: Specifically improve recruitment and
retention of Associate professors and
Professors
– Action item: Develop a tuition benefit
program for faculty dependents
– Action item: Increase support for graduate
students
Analysis of General Faculty
• Greatest differences in Academic
Community section
• Comments: Caste system, fewer rights
and privileges, held in lower regard
Analysis of General Faculty
• Less likely to agree
that
– UVa is collegial
– their research is
valued
– their participation
in dept governance
is valued and
encouraged
• Less satisfied with
– Support for their
personal acad
priorities
– Support of career
development
– Fairness of the
review and
promotion process
Analysis of General Faculty
• Goal: Acknowledge the important role of
General faculty in the operation of the
University
– Action item: Develop written
administrative policies for General
faculty on such matters as their role in
department governance, annual review
and performance evaluation, promotion
criteria, and reasonable expectation of
continued employment.
Analysis by Gender
• Women faculty less satisfied with
– Diversity of faculty
– Non-discriminatory efforts
– Mentoring
– Support for personal acad priorities
– Fairness of review and promotion
process
Analysis by Gender
• Goal: Specifically improve recruitment and
retention of women faculty members
– Action item: Develop an action plan to eliminate discrimination,
including the development of mechanisms for identifying and dealing with
the sources and effects of discrimination and transforming the atmosphere
of UVa to zero-tolerance of discrimination.
– Action item: Improve transparency in administrative policies
– Action item: Ensure that faculty benefit needs are met, since this may
be a high priority for women faculty.
– Action item: Facilitate the placement of childcare facilities in and near
the UVa campus (this would not require subsidies)
– Action item: Improve flexibility of family and medical leave options
Analysis by Minority Identification
• Minority faculty
less likely to agree
that:
– UVa is a diverse
community
– Diversity is
valued by their
dept
• Less satisfied with:
– Diversity of
faculty
– Nondiscriminatory
efforts
– Efforts to retain
valued faculty
Analysis by Minority Identification
• Goal: Specifically improve recruitment and
retention of minority faculty members
– Action item: Develop a plan of action that includes
specific achievable goals for dealing with problems
related to diversity and commit significant resources
to the recruitment, mentoring, and retention of a
diverse faculty.
– Action item: Facilitate improved transportation to
Richmond and Washington
– Action item: Facilitate improved city transportation
– Action item: Provide spousal/partner employment
assistance in recruitment of faculty
Next Steps
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Presentation/discussion with Deans 3/19
Women’s Leadership Council 3/14
Benefits committee 3/25
Request volunteers (at least one) from each
school to discuss results with their Dean
– Make plans to implement goals and
action plans