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GVSU Findings from the 2013-14 HERI Faculty Survey |
Philip Batty Director of Institutional Analysis December 2014 |
PLEASE READ: The 2013-14 survey experienced a variety of administrative and technical irregularities that may affect the validity of the results. I do not recommend interpreting the results or trends at face value without carefully considering the following. In April 2014, all benefit-eligible GVSU faculty members were invited via e-mail to complete the online questionnaire. Unfortunately, there were significant technical problems with the 3rd-party vendor that HERI contracted to host the survey, and I received numerous reports from GVSU faculty members who could not access the questionnaires. HERI was unable to resolve the issues, and eventually contracted with an alternative provider to collect the data beginning in May. Between the poor timing (past surveys were distributed over the Dec.-Jan. break or very early in the Winter semester) and the technical problems, response rates were low. Of the 1,125 GVSU invitees, 260 responded (23%). This is below the GVSU participation rates from previous years (29% in 2010), and well below the estimated national response rate of 37%.
The respondent population is roughly representative of the invited faculty in terms of gender and ethnic background. However, it is significantly biased with regard to tenure status (27% of tenured faculty responded, vs. 14% of visiting/affiliate faculty), age (28% of those born before 1956 responded, vs. 15% of those born later), and college (the number of respondents claiming to be from "health-related" departments is 8% of the faculty count for CHP and KCN; other fields are reported at frequencies consistent with a response rate of about 20%).
Contents of Available Reports (roughly in ascending order of detail):
A. Overview and Table of Contents (this document)
o Introduction and Cautionary Note
o Contents of Available Reports
· Faculty Development and Support
· Pedagogy
· Community Service and Integration
· Advising
· Salaries
C. HERI Constructs Report -- Excel file with graphs and scores for HERI-defined multi-item scales
o CIRP Construct Mean Reports
· How to Read the CIRP Construct Mean Reports
· Student-Centered Pedagogy
· Undergraduate Education Goal: Personal Development
· Scholarly Productivity
· Civic Minded Practice
· Civic Minded Values
· Job Satisfaction: Workplace
· Job Satisfaction: Compensation
· Institutional Priority: Commitment to Diversity
· Career Related Stress
· Institutional Priority: Civic Engagement
· Institutional Priority: Increase Prestige
· Social Agency
o CIRP Construct Percentage Reports
· How to Read the CIRP Construct Percentage Reports
· Student-Centered Pedagogy
· Undergraduate Education Goal: Personal Development
· Scholarly Productivity
· Civic Minded Practice
· Civic Minded Values
· Job Satisfaction: Workplace
· Job Satisfaction: Compensation
· Career Related Stress
· Institutional Priority: Commitment to Diversity
· Institutional Priority: Civic Engagement
· Institutional Priority: Increase Prestige
· Social Agency
D. HERI Powerpoint Summary for GVSU -- Canned HERI report highlighting selected GVSU results
E. HERI Themes Report -- Excel file with detailed GVSU results grouped by general subject
o How to Read the CIRP Theme Reports
o Professional Practice: Teaching
o Professional Practice: Scholarship
o Professional Practice: Service
o Institutional Support and Resources
o Goals for Undergraduate Education
o Diversity
o Satisfaction
o Institutional Priorities
o Interaction with Students
o Habits of Mind
o Health and Wellness
o Relationship with Administration
F. HERI Institutional Profile Report -- Excel file with GVSU results for all items
o How to Read the Institutional Profile Reports
o Nationally Normed Comparison Group Data
· Full-time Undergraduate Faculty
· All Respondents
o Additional Comparison Group Data
· Part-time Undergraduate Faculty
· Full-time Academic Administrators
· Graduate Only Faculty
· Other Respondents
o Module Reports
· Advising Module
· Campus Climate Module
· Sexual Orientation Module
· Spirituality Module
· STEM Module
o List of Participating Institutions
Summary of Results:
The following statements compare the responses of GVSU participants to those of other participating full-time undergraduate faculty at highly selective public four-year colleges with zero or very few doctoral programs (unless otherwise noted). Given the low response rates and apparent biases noted above, extrapolating the findings to non-participating faculty should only be done with caution. All differences reported are statistically significant (p<0.05). Effect size is an indicator of the practical significance of a statistically significant association. In the tables below and in the HERI spreadsheets, it is computed as a modified version of Cohen's d. For these data, any effect size with an absolute value below 0.2 would be considered small; any effect size above 0.5 represents a strong relationship. For binary response data, an odds ratio is presented below.
Diversity: GVSU respondents indicated a strong institutional commitment to diversity, but report both positive and negative impressions of actual campus conditions. Some selected examples:
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Effect Size |
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Indicate how important you believe each priority listed below is at your college or university: To promote gender diversity in the faculty and administration |
2.61 |
2.38 |
0.27 |
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Indicate the extent to which you agree or disagree with each of the following: There is a lot of campus racial conflict here |
1.93 |
1.71 |
0.29 |
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Indicate the extent to which you agree or disagree with the following statements. This institution: Has campus administrators who regularly speak about the value of diversity |
3.44 |
3.06* |
0.46 |
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How satisfied are you with the following aspects of your institution? Racial/ethnic diversity of the student body |
2.74 |
3.12* |
-0.36 |
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* peer values are for all respondents to the optional "Campus Climate" supplemental questions |
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There are many more examples -- mostly positive, but some negative. Please see sheet 1F of the HERI Themes Report, sheet 1I of the HERI Constructs Report, and sheet 3B of the HERI Profile Report for more details.
Scholarly Productivity: GVSU respondents reported more published scholarship than peers. For example:
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Effect Size |
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Scholarly Productivity [HERI construct] |
50.7 |
49.3 |
0.20 |
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In the past two years, how many of your professional writings have been published or accepted for publication? [ordinal scale, not actual count] |
2.18 |
1.98 |
0.20 |
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During the present term, how many hours per week on average do you actually spend on each of the following activities? Research and scholarly writing [ordinal scale, not actual hours] |
2.79 |
2.54 |
0.18 |
For additional details please see sheet 1B of the HERI Themes Report and sheet 1C of the HERI Constructs Report.
Faculty Development and Support: Respondents from GVSU indicated high access to development resources and satisfaction with some support functions:
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Effect Size |
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Indicate the extent to which you agree or disagree with each of the following: There is adequate support for faculty development |
2.84 |
2.59 |
0.26 |
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Have you engaged in any of the following professional development opportunities at your institution? Paid sabbatical leave |
18.1% |
12.2% |
O.R. = 1.48 |
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Indicate how well each of the following describes your college or university: Faculty are rewarded for being good teachers |
2.18 |
2.07 |
0.15 |
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How satisfied are you with the following aspects of your job? Clerical/administrative support |
2.99 |
2.84 |
0.15 |
At the same time, GVSU respondents expressed dissatisfaction with relationships within the department:
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Effect Size |
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How satisfied are you with the following aspects of your job? Freedom to determine course content |
3.36 |
3.50 |
-0.19 |
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Please rate your satisfaction with your department in each area: |
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Collegiality among faculty |
3.60 |
3.93* |
-0.30 |
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Tolerance of different faculty opinions and beliefs |
3.41 |
3.82* |
-0.38 |
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Representation of women and racial/ethnic minorities |
3.45 |
3.72* |
-0.24 |
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* peer values are for all respondents to the optional "Campus Climate" supplemental questions |
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Please see sheet 1D of the HERI Themes Report and 3B of the HERI Profile Report for more details.
Pedagogy: Across many, many items related to pedagogy, GVSU respondents are not distinguishable (on average) from peer respondents for most items. Following are the statistically significant exceptions:
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Effect Size |
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During the past two years, have you engaged in any of the following activities? Taught an exclusively web-based course at this institution |
6.5% |
23.5% |
O.R. = 0.28 |
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In how many of the courses that you teach do you use each of the following? |
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Cooperative learning (small groups) |
3.14 |
2.98 |
0.16 |
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Rubric-based assessment |
3.04 |
2.79 |
0.24 |
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How frequently do you incorporate the following forms of technology into your courses? Online homework or virtual labs |
1.75 |
1.89 |
-0.17 |
For additional details please see sheet 1A of the HERI Themes Report and sheet 1A of the HERI Constructs Report.
Community Service and Integration: As with pedagogy, GVSU respondents are in step with the comparison group for many items related to community service. However, they're less likely to say they've taught a "service learning course", and they perceive GVSU as being particularly oriented to collaborating with businesses and community groups.
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Effect Size |
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During the past two years, have you engaged in any of the following activities? Taught a service learning course |
13.7% |
19.8% |
O.R. = 0.69 |
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Indicate how important you believe each priority listed below is at your college or university: |
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To strengthen links with the for-profit, corporate sector |
2.53 |
2.21 |
0.36 |
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To create and sustain partnerships with surrounding communities |
2.73 |
2.58 |
0.18 |
Additional details can be found in sheets 1D & 1E of the HERI Constructs Report, and in the HERI Profile Report.
Advising: GVSU respondents average more advisees than the comparison group [statistical significance not tested because variance unknown], but report less engagement in many advising activities.
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Effect Size |
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During the present term, how many hours per week on average do you actually spend on each of the following activities? Advising and counseling of students [ordinal scale, not actual hours] |
2.30 |
2.42 |
-0.14 |
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How many undergraduates do you advise? |
28.1 |
19.7* |
N/A |
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During the past year, how often have you done each of the following with your advisees? [ordinal scale, not count] |
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Informed them of important deadlines |
2.14 |
2.36* |
-0.31 |
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Discussed academic performance |
2.19 |
2.32* |
-0.19 |
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Took action to help students with personal difficulties |
1.78 |
1.92* |
-0.21 |
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* peer values are for all respondents to the optional "Advising" supplemental questions |
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Please see sheet 1D of the HERI Themes Report and 3A of the HERI Profile Report for more details.
Salaries: GVSU respondents report more satisfaction with their pay than peers.
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Effect Size |
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How satisfied are you with the following aspects of your job? |
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Salary |
2.52 |
2.20 |
0.35 |
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Retirement benefits |
3.03 |
2.90 |
0.16 |
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Please indicate the extent to which each of the following has been a source of stress for you during the last two years: Personal finances |
1.66 |
1.79 |
-0.18 |