COACHE Frequently Asked Questions

  • The Collaborative on Academic Careers in Higher Education (COACHE) is a research-practice partnership that is operated out of Harvard University’s Graduate School of Education and is “dedicated to the discovery of and insight into the postsecondary faculty experience.” COACHE developed a Faculty Satisfaction Survey that it has been administering for the past decade which provides Fordham with another means to inform strategies aimed at improving faculty recruitment, satisfaction, success, and retention. 

    By engaging with COACHE, Fordham has the opportunity to benchmark the experience of our faculty members within the University and through a national context by comparing our results against a COACHE-identified cohort of 85 institutions and five Fordham-selected peer institutions: Georgetown University, Lehigh University, Saint John’s University, Stony Brook University, and the University of Denver. 

    Participating in COACHE is a three-year partnership, providing Fordham with ongoing research and the opportunity to receive regular consultations on how to make sense of - and take action from - the results of the survey.

    For more information, click here.

  • Individuals employed at Fordham in Fall 2023 as tenured, pre-tenure and full-time, non-tenure track faculty were invited to participate in the survey in Spring 2024. Faculty hired for the first time in 2023 and those in visiting roles were not included.

  • COACHE has provided Fordham with a university-wide summary report, which faculty may access by clicking here.

  • Raw data are accessible only to Jeannine Pinto, Director of the Office of Institutional Research and Assessment (OIRA), and select members of the OIRA staff. 

  • Yes. Individual's responses for the survey were collected by COACHE, which securely hosts and holds all the data. Identified data has not been shared with Fordham.

  • The data that Fordham received has been made anonymous, without any individually-identifiable information attached to records. Neither your responses, nor your participation in school and unit-level discussions, will have any impact on your employment at Fordham.

  • The COACHE Steering Committee has been charged with reviewing the survey data, suggesting ways to share the results, and proposing short- and long-term priorities through which the administration can address faculty concerns expressed in the survey.

    The COACHE Steering Committee is currently reviewing preliminary results, and will conduct first engagements with departments, schools and units before the end of the spring 2025 semester. 

  • The office of the Provost appointed a COACHE Steering Committee in December 2024 comprised of full time members of the faculty. To view the committee membership, click here.

    The Steering Committee is being assisted by Bill Colona, Special Assistant to the Provost.

    Any member of the Fordham community may contact the COACHE Steering Committee by sending an email to Bill at COACHE@fordham.edu.