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This spring, George Mason University full-time faculty can once again make their voices heard by participating in the Collaborative on Academic Careers in Higher Education (COACHE) Faculty Satisfaction Survey, a national survey designed specifically to understand the job satisfaction of instructional and research faculty. The survey launched in early February and will be open until early April.
Results from prior cycles of the COACH survey (2019, 2022) allowed George Mason to focus on areas of growth around promotion and tenure, recognition and appreciation, faculty mentoring, and salary and compensation. Headway continues to be made on these efforts in part due to the robust data from the COACHE survey.
In the 2025 survey, all full-time tenure-line and instructional faculty will report their satisfaction with their experiences at George Mason across several domains including reappointment, promotion and tenure; the nature of their work, inclusive of teaching, research, and service; shared governance; and the general climate, culture, and level of collegiality.
“It is critical that we continue to gain insight into how faculty feel that we are doing, as an institution, in helping them meet their professional goals,” said Kim Eby, vice provost for faculty affairs and development and cochair of the Mason COACHE Faculty Engagement Initiative. “Our strong response rates in the past not only gave us confidence in the findings, but quite frankly served as a call to action to make improvements in several areas. George Mason cannot meet our strategic goals and aspirations for student success and R1 growth without continuing to support and invest in our faculty.”
The confidential survey is administered by COACHE, a national research-practice partnership in the Harvard Graduate School of Education that dedicated to improving outcomes in faculty recruitment, development, and retention. Under COACHE, more than 250 colleges, universities, and state systems have strengthened their capacity to identify the drivers of faculty success and implement informed changes, including multiple Virginia schools and R1 institutions.
Harvard COACHE will provide a summary report and findings to George Mason in the summer. The Mason COACHE Leadership team, a group of faculty and administrators from across the campus—including representatives from multiple colleges and schools—will facilitate engaging the George Mason community in reviewing the findings and drafting those action plans.
Supriya Baily, a professor in the College of Education and Human Development, is cochair of the COACHE Leadership Team. “Our action plans have provided tangible ways for departments, local academic units and university administrators to change practice and update policy,” she said. “In this critical time, hearing from faculty members about what matters to them can have a profound effect on how George Mason shapes priorities moving forward.”