Faculty Satisfaction Survey

George Mason COACHE Faculty Engagement Initiative

Since 2018, George Mason University has been working on the COACHE Faculty Engagement Initiative to use the Faculty Satisfaction Survey to assess specific areas relevant to the work lives of instructional/research faculty. The George Mason COACHE Leadership Team (COACHE LT), comprised faculty and campus leaders, oversees the Harvard COACHE partnership and serves as liaisons to the broader campus community.

The Faculty Satisfaction Survey was administered in both spring 2019 spring 2022 to all full-time faculty, affording the opportunity to assess the impact of the actions the George Mason community has taken as well as to learn more about current and emerging issues experienced by George Mason full-time faculty. Each survey administration Harvard COACHE provides a Preview Report and the COACHE LT also reviews the data and creates an Executive Summary.

As liaisons to the broader George Mason community, the COACHE LT actively shares results with the community and engages faculty and academic leadership in considering potential strategic actions in response to the findings. The COACHE Faculty Satisfaction Survey results and associated reports from spring 2019 and spring 2022 are available to all full-time faculty.

Results can be accessed here. For a sneak preview, check out our Infographic! 

Why should I complete the COACHE Faculty Satisfaction Survey?

George Mason needs to know what you think of your work experience - the level of support you are receiving at work, the reasonableness of your workload and performance expectations, the clarity of promotion criteria and processes, the collegiality of your department, and more. Without this information, it is difficult to identify our areas of strength as well as areas that can and should be improved.

Our strong response rates in the past not only gives us confidence in the findings, but also serves as a call to action to make improvements in a number of areas. For example, senior leadership has prioritized salary and compensation and there is still the need for ongoing efforts in this area. The Office of the Provost has created online resources and guidance for reappointment, renewal, promotion, and tenure, and must continue to work with academic units to ensure transparent, clear guidance. Mason has begun to develop programs that provide faculty mentoring and mentoring support, yet there remains more to do to ensure mentoring opportunities for faculty across ranks and appointment type.

Because this survey directly addresses issues that can impact policies and strategic planning, it is imperative that you make your views known. George Mason invested in this partnership with Harvard COACHE because we will continue to use the information to strengthen faculty well-being and success. We have to understand how you view your work lives here at George Mason. Moreover, we cannot meet our institutional goals and aspirations for student success without continuing to support and invest in you – our faculty.

Survey Administration and Data

COACHE collects data confidentially, only using identities to send reminders to non-respondents, which are not revealed to George Mason. The COACHE team at Harvard analyzes the data and provides our COACHE LT with a Preview Report. The Office of Institutional Effectiveness and Planning (OIEP) leadership are data administrators for this project at George Mason and received the data in de-identified form. These records are held in OIEP and no one in a supervisory or evaluative capacity has access to individual responses. OIEP leadership can do analysis of the individual-level data, but only aggregate results are shared with administrators and faculty, and only when there is a sufficient number (at least five) of responses to protect the anonymity of respondents. The de-identified data could be used for future research without additional consent from participants. For information on Mason IRB credentials, please reference IRBNet: 1364078-1. 

Please reach out with any additional questions to Faculty Affairs and Development or the COACHE team.