UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. — Penn State faculty members are invited to engage in finalizing the University Action Plan that identifies strategies to address the four priorities that emerged from the Collaborative on Academic Careers in Higher Education (COACHE) Faculty Job Satisfaction survey findings in January. The COACHE steering committee has developed a draft University Action Plan that identifies strategies to address the priorities and is seeking faculty feedback on this plan. Faculty can provide feedback by completing an anonymous form or by participating in one of three upcoming listening sessions.
The four interconnected priority areas of focus, as announced in January, and draft strategies for addressing the priorities are as follows:
Priority Area 1: Cultivating Trust through University Action
This priority area reflects faculty members’ strong confidence in departmental leadership contrasted with concerns about transparency, communication and alignment between senior leadership’s stated priorities and faculty experiences.
Draft strategy to address this priority area: Enhancing Transparency of Decision Processes
The goal of this strategy is to develop more opportunities for leaders to communicate directly with faculty; enhance internal communication methods and content directed toward faculty members; and establish visible processes that show how faculty input is considered in decisions and communicate outcomes, including when recommendations cannot be adopted and the rationale.
Priority Area 2: Strengthening Faculty–Administration Collaboration
This priority area underscores the need for more meaningful faculty input, as low scores in governance point to a desire for clearer shared purpose and more transparent decision-making.
Draft strategies to address this priority area: Defining and Celebrating Shared Governance and Enhancing Faculty Voice
The goal of these strategies is to develop common definitions of shared governance, enhance communication on shared governance topics, and develop improved methods for faculty to communicate with department, college, and senior leadership.
Priority Area 3: Removing Barriers to Faculty Productivity and Success
This priority area considers concerns about administrative burden, complex systems and uneven workloads that hinder faculty effectiveness. Taken together, these themes present an opportunity for Penn State to strengthen trust, deepen collaboration, reduce barriers and more fully recognize the faculty whose work drives the University’s mission.
Draft strategies to address this priority area: Reduce Administrative Burden and Improve Access to Information and Resources
The goal of these strategies is to enable faculty to focus on the work that only they can do by reducing unnecessary administrative tasks and clarifying expectations about faculty roles. In addition, the aim is to address the complexity and fragmentation of institutional knowledge by improving how information, resources, and processes are communicated and discovered.
Priority Area 4: Recognizing and Appreciating Faculty
This area emerged as another priority, with many — particularly those from underrepresented groups or carrying heavy advising and service loads — feeling undervalued by senior leadership.
Draft strategies to address this priority area: Retain and Value Faculty through Meaningful Rewards and Career Support; Expand Faculty Recognition Across All Forms of Work; and Improve Transparency and Equity in Evaluation, Workload and Advancement
The goal of these strategies is to prioritize competitive, transparent and performance-based compensation and recognition as key tools for retaining faculty talent; build a culture in which faculty contributions are consistently acknowledged and valued across teaching, research and creative activity, service, advising and mentoring; and strengthen trust by clarifying expectations and decision-making processes related to workload, evaluation and advancement.
Complete details about each of the draft strategies, including specific proposed tasks to accomplish each strategy, are available on the COACHE website.
Faculty invited to share feedback
Faculty are asked to submit their feedback on the above draft strategies by completing an online form. Submissions can be made anonymously and will be accepted through April 12.
Listening sessions
Additionally, the Penn State COACHE steering committee invites faculty to participate in one of three upcoming listening sessions. The hour-long sessions will be an opportunity for faculty to engage and provide feedback on the above draft strategies to address the priority areas.
The listening sessions will be held:
- Noon to 1 p.m. on Thursday, April 2, via Zoom
- 11 a.m. to noon on Tuesday, April 7, via Zoom
- 3-4 p.m. on Friday, April 10, via Zoom
The agenda and format for each session will be the same, so faculty need only to attend one of the three sessions. Registration is not required.
Next steps: Finalize plans, begin implementation in year three, and repeat survey in 2028
Following the feedback period, the COACHE steering committee will review the input from faculty, finalize the University Action Plan and share it with University senior leadership for implementation. The COACHE steering committee plans to share the final University Action Plan with the Penn State community at the beginning of the fall semester to kick off year three of the COACHE process. Both the University Action Plan and individual unit action plans will be put into motion in fall 2026. Ongoing updates will be shared throughout the process.
Penn State plans to repeat the COACHE Faculty Job Satisfaction Survey in 2028, to build on progress made following the 2025 survey and continually gain valuable insight into the experiences of Penn State faculty over time. The follow-up survey will assess progress and achievements related to action plans and University priorities and will help inform future direction.
About the COACHE survey
A joint effort of the Office of the Executive Vice President and Provost and the University Faculty Senate, the COACHE Faculty Job Satisfaction Survey was open to all eligible full-time faculty during the spring 2025 semester. The survey is designed to provide insights into the experiences of faculty members across Penn State, identify areas of potential improvement, strengthen community and drive positive change at the campus, college and department levels. Topics covered by the survey included shared governance; engagement; collegiality; recruitment and retention; appreciation and recognition; interdisciplinary work; institutional leadership; resources and support; and promotion and tenure.
Sharing out the survey results in fall 2025 kicked off the second year of the three-year process, during which the University-wide steering committee and unit committees reviewed the results, gathered additional feedback from faculty and recommended priorities for action. In year three, beginning fall 2026, the University Action Plan will be implemented, the COACHE committee will engage with peer institutions and begin to evaluate progress.
More information is available on the COACHE website and questions can be emailed to coache@psu.edu.