UA Faculty Survey Results

AkronAAUP Survey Reveals Increasingly Negative Faculty Sentiment

More than 80% of reporting faculty are not confident in University of Akron leadership.

AKRON, Ohio – May 2, 2016 – A recent AkronAAUP survey of the faculty indicates even less confidence in University of Akron leadership than was measured by a similar survey during the fall semester. More than 75% of bargaining unit faculty responded to the online survey, the results of which reflect faculty sentiment across academic areas.

“In spite of overwhelming faculty support for our new contract, on every issue measured, faculty have more negative views of UA than they had just 7 months ago,” says AkronAAUP President and Professor of Sociology, John Zipp. “Approximately 9 out of every 10 faculty believe that the university is worse off than it was two years ago, that the public sees the University more negatively, that shared governance is not working well on our campus, and that they have little confidence in the direction the leadership is taking the university.”

	SURVEY QUESTION	FALL 2015			SPRING 2016

	Would you say that the university is better off … or is it worse off?	72.2%	Worse Off		90.1%	Worse Off
	Would you say that your department or school is better or worse off …?	73.1%	Worse Off		77.4%	Worse Off
	How about your students? Would you say that they are better or worse off?	47.2% 39.2%	Worse Off About Same		63.0% 26.5%	Worse Off About Same
	Do you agree or disagree with the following statement? “Shared governance is working well at The University of Akron.”	81.3%	Disagree		85.8%	Disagree
	Do you have confidence in the university’s strategic planning and budgeting process?	79.7%	No		88.3%	No
	Are you confident that President Scarborough is leading the university in a positive direction?	72.2%	No		89.3%	No
	Are you confident that the Board of Trustees has been upholding its responsibilities?	78.1%	No		87.9%	No
	Do you believe that President Scarborough values the learning and scholarship mission of the University?				80.8%	No
	Thinking about your interactions within the broader community of NE Ohio, do you think that UA is seen as doing better or worse than it was doing two years ago?				92.2 %	Worse Off

The Faculty Senate voted no confidence in the President at its meeting on February 4th. Since then, he has made no public comment responding to the concerns expressed in the preamble to the Senate’s no confidence motion. Do you feel that is appropriate?				84.9% No. The President has waited too long to respond.
There have been many public views expressed about President Scarborough and his plan for the University. Some say that the President just needs more time to fully implement his plan for the University. Others say that there has been enough time, and the plan is not working. How do you feel about the President’s plans?				80.0% There has been enough time. The plan is not working. We must change course; the longer we wait, the worse the damage will be.

Note: the questions that do not have results for Fall 2015 were not asked in that survey.

More than 75% of bargaining unit faculty completed the survey, and it is broadly representative of fulltime faculty across campus.

College	% of College Faculty Responding
Buchtel College of Arts and Sciences	77%
College of Applied Science and Technology	73%
College of Business Administration	67%
College of Engineering	67%
College of Health Professions	82%
College of Polymer Science and	40%
Polymer Engineering
Lebron James Family Foundation College of Education	77%
University Libraries	80%
Wayne College	77%
Developmental Programs	64%
CAMPUSWIDE RESPONSE RATE	73%