The Collaborative on Academic Careers in Higher Education (COACHE) Faculty Job Satisfaction Survey, conducted by Harvard Graduate School of Education, has been used at IU Bloomington since 2005. It is the only national survey exclusively focused on faculty job satisfaction. This survey evaluates multiple aspects of faculty satisfaction, including experience with teaching, research and service, institutional resources, governance, and clarity regarding tenure and promotion.
This effort is sponsored by the Office of the Provost in partnership with Bloomington Faculty Council.
IUB has participated in the COACHE survey every three years (most recent participations are 2013, 2016, 2019, and 2023). Historically, the Office of the Vice Provost for Faculty and Academic Affairs has led the effort in using the results to understand faculty satisfaction over time, improve faculty development programs, and evaluate the impact of institutional policies.
IUB receives both de-identified individual-level raw data and detailed reports and analyses from the COACHE team. Additionally, COACHE enables comparisons between IUB and selected peer institutions.
The COACHE Job Satisfaction Survey is a three-year partnership between IUB and the Harvard team. A steering committee that consists of representatives from the Bloomington Faculty Council and individual schools will oversee the process.
Information about committee members will be added as it becomes available.
Timeline
Year 1 (AY 2025-2026): The survey population is sent to COACHE, and the survey will be live between February and April 2026. The committee will serve as ambassadors, communicating with faculty members about the COACHE survey and encourage participation to ensure all voices are heard.
Year 2 (AY 2026-2027): Sub-committees will review the COACHE results (typically returned to IUB in early fall), disseminate results, as well as identifying approximately two to three priority areas. Committee members will have access to peer comparisons, overall mean scores, and results for different demographic groups. Committee members will recommend priorities for action and develop strategies for addressing these priorities.
Year 3 (AY 2027-2028): the committee will oversee the implementation of action plans for the identified priority areas.
Survey Population and Time Window
In spring 2026, the COACHE survey invitation will be sent to IUB faculty members. The survey population includes full-time faculty: tenure-line faculty of all ranks, non-tenure-line faculty in the ranks of Clinical faculty, Lecturer, Professor of Practice, and Research Scientist. Per COACHE requirement, the following groups are excluded in the population:
Faculty who have been employed for at least one year in a faculty role at IU Bloomington at the time of the survey launch and who were in their terminal year after being denied tenure.
Academic administrators at the school and campus-level (e.g., associate dean, associate vice provost) will be excluded. Department and unit heads (e.g., department chair, center director) are included.
Frequently Asked Questions
Yes, IUB has participated in the COACHE survey every three years (most recent participations are 2013, 2016, 2019, and 2023).
Summary reports, presentations, and a dashboard from the most recent survey cycles are available here. An IU login is required to access the dashboard.
Access to the COACHE dashboard is limited to full-time faculty members at IUB, as they are the target population of the survey.
IUB uses COACHE results to inform decision-making in programs and initiatives related to faculty success and development. Here are some examples:
The Initiative for the Advancement of Women was established based on the committee review of the COACHE 2016 survey results, with the goal to promote professional development and social networking among women-identifying faculty. The Recent Tenured Working Group program was created in response to associate professors’ needs of support in career advancement after tenure.
Clarity of tenure policies and tenure expectations emerged as areas of concern in COACHE 2019 peer comparison results. In response, OVPFAA has created the Promotion and Tenure workshops to address questions about the overall process and specific ranks. In 2023, these areas have become identified strengths.
To address the need of effective mentoring on campus, as reflected in COACHE 2023 results, Methods and Practices to Succeed (MAPS) program was developed. This small-group program provides structure and accountability for faculty in developing and achieving their research, teaching, and service goals. The Faculty-to-Faculty (F2F) program was also expanded to support a broad vision for faculty mentoring.
In COACHE 2019, participants in the Scholarly Writing Program reported a strong sense of belonging to IUB, reinforcing continued support for the program to serve faculty across disciplines and at all stages of the writing process.
In both COACHE 2019 and 2023, respondents expressed a need for academic leadership training – particularly in articulating and communicating priorities and ensuring faculty input in decision-making. The Academic Leadership Series was therefore created to provide training and foster community among department chairs, associate deans, and other administrators.
In previous survey cycles, committees or working groups were typically formed after IUB received the data from COACHE to review the results. This time, a campus committee will be established before the survey is launched and will carry a three-year commitment—from start to finish—to promote faculty engagement in survey participation, identify areas for improvement, and implement recommended actions.
The COACHE survey is sponsored by the Office of the Provost in partnership with the Bloomington Faculty Council.
The Collaborative on Academic Careers in Higher Education (COACHE) instrument is designed to survey the job satisfaction of full-time faculty members and does not include a module for part-time faculty.
The survey focuses on the three core pillars of faculty life—teaching, research, and service—and many of its questions are not applicable to the professional experiences of postdocs, research associates, or academic specialists.
Yes, the survey is confidential. Each participant receives a unique, confidential link to take the survey.
All results are presented in aggregate form to protect the identities of individuals and small groups. Neither COACHE nor IUB will report on groups with fewer than five respondents.
IUB receives detailed reports and analyses from the COACHE team, as well as de-identified individual-level raw data. The de-identified individual-level raw data is only accessible by the Director for Faculty Analytics at the Office of the Vice Provost for Faculty and Academic Affairs (OVPFAA), per the participation agreement with Harvard. Qualitative responses are redacted by COACHE and are detached from all demographic variables before returned to IUB.
Do you have a question about COACHE that is not listed above? Please email us at vpfaa@iu.edu.
