DRAFT FOR DISCUSSION
FACULTY PROFILE
May 2007
Drew Clark, Director, Office of Institutional Research and Assessment
Messina & Graham
Faculty Profile Summary
• AU has almost 1,200 faculty, with a student-faculty ratio that ranks 8th among SREB peers.
Chart 1. The number of faculty is almost unchanged from 1995-96.
• The Colleges of Liberal Arts, Engineering, Agriculture, and Science & Mathematics have the
largest faculties, reflecting the teaching requirement of the core curriculum as well as
undergraduate enrollment by college. Chart 2
• Almost 71 percent of AU full-time traditional faculty had tenure in 2005, the highest fraction
among SREB peers. Chart 3. AU has a smaller fraction of contingent faculty than SREB
peers. Chart 4
• AU has a higher fraction of full professors now than 10 years ago (42 percent versus 34
percent). Chart 5
• 82 full professors have 30+ years of service – about 17 percent of all full professors. Chart 6.
A little over 5 percent of the faculty are age 65 and over, and another 28 percent are age 5564. Auburn will need to recruit a significant number of faculty to replace retirees over the next
decade. Chart 7
2
Faculty Profile Summary (continued)
• The percentage of women faculty has risen from 22 percent to almost 29 percent in the past
decade. Since 43 percent of assistant professors are women, over time promotions should
lead towards greater gender balance. Chart 8
• Auburn’s faculty salaries are generally lower than the average of regional public research
university peers. Chart 9
• A listing of recently hired faculty shows that Auburn is attracting academics from solid, national
institutions. Chart 10
• Junior faculty are more satisfied with Auburn than faculty at peer institutions, according to a
2006 survey. Chart 11
3
AU has almost 1,200 faculty with a student-faculty ratio that ranks 8th
among SREB peers
FTE Students per Full-Time Instructional Faculty Member – Fall 2005
Chart 1
27.3
27.6
24.3
SREB Peer Group
Median = 20.5
15.8
SREB Rank
16.9
Clemson
UTN
2
4
18.1
18.1
UGA Auburn
7
8
20.0
20.1
USC
VA
Tech
13
15
21.7
22.1
Texas
A&M
UMS
UAL
FL
State
UFL
18
20
22
23
18.2
GA
Tech
9
17
Source: IPEDS Surveys of Enrollment and Employees by Assigned Position
4
The Colleges with the largest faculties reflect the teaching requirement of the
core curriculum as well as undergraduate enrollment by College
Faculty Distribution by College/School – Fall 2005
Chart 2
100% = 1,166
24%
13%
13%
13%
9%
7%
7%
4%
4%
3%
Liberal
Arts
Eng.
Agric. Science Vet.
& Math
Ed.
Bus.
2%
1%
Arch. Human Pharm. Forest. Nurs.
Sciences
5
AU has the highest percentage of full-time tenured faculty among SREB
peers
Percentage of Full-time Traditional Faculty with Tenure at
Selected SREB Universities – Fall 2005
70.6%
68.6% 67.9%
Chart 3
66.4%
SREB Peer Group
Median = 59.9%
60.6% 60.0% 59.8% 59.0% 56.8% 55.2%
53.8%
46.5%
Auburn UGA
UFL
VA
Tech
Texas
A&M
UAL
GA Clemson
Tech
Source: IPEDS Survey of Employees by Assigned Position, 2005
USC
UTN
FL
State
UMS
6
AU has a smaller fraction of contingent faculty than SREB peers
Chart 4
Full-time Non-Tenure Track Faculty as Percentage of Total Full-Time Faculty
at Selected SREB Universities – Fall 2005
28.3%
19.1%
16.9% 17.3%
SREB Peer Group
Median = 17.4%
20.0%
17.8%
14.5% 14.9%
9.6%
10.3% 10.5%
4.6%
UFL
UGA
Auburn
GA
Tech
UAL
VA
Tech
USC
Source: IPEDS Survey of Employees by Assigned Position, 2005
Texas Clemson FL
A&M
State
UTN
UMS
7
AU has a higher fraction of full professors now than 10 years ago
Distribution of Full-Time Faculty by Rank – 1995-96 and 2005-06
Chart 5
42%
36%
34%
30%
1995-96
2005-06
23%
20%
5% 6%
2% 2%
Professor
Assoc.
Professor
Asst.
Professor
Instructor
Visiting
8
82 full professors have 30+ years of service
Distribution of Full-time Full Professors by Years of Service 2005-06
Chart 6
100% = 492
28%
20%
17%
14%
13%
4%
4%
Years of Service
0-4
5-9
10-14
15-19
20-24
25-29
30+
Number of Faculty
22
20
63
136
100
69
82
9
With over 33 percent of the faculty age 55 and over, Auburn will need to
recruit a significant number of faculty to replace retirees over the next decade
Distribution of Full-time Faculty by Age 2005-06
Chart 7
100% = 1,176
33.7%
28.3%
22.6%
10.2%
5.1%
0.1%
Age
Below 25
25-34
35-44
45-54
55-64
65+
10
The percentage of women faculty has risen from 22 percent to almost 29
percent in the past decade. Over time, promotion of junior faculty should
lead towards greater gender balance
Distribution of Full-Time Faculty by Rank and Gender 2005-06
100% =
1,176
492
355
Chart 8
237
43%
31%
29%
14%
Total
Faculty
Professor
Assoc.
Professor
Asst.
Professor
11
Auburn’s faculty salaries are lower than the average of regional peers
Full-Time Average Faculty Salaries Compared to
Regional Peers 2005-06
$95,439
Chart 9
$98,770
$68,050 $69,938
$59,807 $61,394
AU
Peers
$41,202
$31,655
Professor
Assoc.
Professor
Source: Oklahoma State University Survey
Asst.
Professor
Instructor
12
A listing of recently hired faculty shows that Auburn is attracting academics
from solid, national institutions
Illustrative Examples of Faculty Starting Between 12/1/04 and 10/31/05
DEPARTMENT
Aerospace Engineering
Chart 10
GRADUATE DEGREE INSTITUTION
Ohio State University
Texas A&M University
University of Maryland
Chemical Engineering
Rice University
Civil Engineering
Duke University
Computer Science and Software Engineering
Princeton University
Mechanical Engineering
University of Tokyo
Biological Sciences
Northwestern University
History
Rice University
Wayne State University
Mathematics and Statistics
Purdue University
University of Alabama
13
Auburn’s junior faculty are more satisfied than those at peer institutions
AU Junior Faculty Satisfaction Compared to Five Peer Universities*
Measured as a Percentage of Questions by Thematic Cluster 2006
Nature of
Work
Tenure
Expectations
Chart 11
67%
68%
AU Faculty More
Satisfied
Policies &
Practices
AU Faculty Less
Satisfied
73%
No Difference in
Satisfaction
Global
Satisfaction
Climate, Culture, &
Collegiality
80%
92%
* Clemson, Iowa State, Kansas State, North Carolina State, and Texas Tech
Source: 2006 Harvard/COACHE Survey of Tenure-Track Faculty
14
Strategic Implications
• Build on existing strengths that have won recognition for Auburn as a great place for
faculty to do academic work
• Continue positive trends in building a diverse faculty
• Develop and evaluate a plan for addressing imbalances in the faculty seniority profile
• Determine the size and type of faculty that will best help Auburn achieve its emerging
strategic goals for Instruction, Research, and Extension / Outreach
• Align faculty hiring, assignments, expectations and rewards with the University’s
strategic plan
15