Dartmouth was recently recognized as a top academic workplace by the Collaborative on Academic Careers in Higher Education. In COACHE's most recent survey measuring junior faculty job satisfaction, the College achieved "exemplary" status in six out of 12 categories. Out of 78 institutions surveyed, Dartmouth was named as an exemplar in the fourth-highest number of categories.
The COACHE questionnaire was administered to tenure-track faculty members at participating institutions that consented to be identified in the survey. The assessment considers tenure practices, clarity and reasonableness; effectiveness of key mentoring; childcare and leave policies; nature of work in regard to teaching research and support services; work and family balance; satisfaction with compensation; climate, culture, and collegiality; and global satisfaction. The two liberal arts colleges and four universities with the highest mean ratings in each area are selected as exemplars for the category.
Dartmouth achieved exemplary status in satisfaction with compensation, in global satisfaction and in all four categories relating to the nature of work.
Carol Folt, dean of the Faculty, said that she believes a number of factors contribute to the College's top results, especially citing the nature of student-faculty interaction as one of the major positive factors.
"We hear that the junior professors are very satisfied with the student body," Folt said. "They enjoy their teaching and strong, positive relationships with students."
She also credited Dartmouth's faculty recruitment process for selecting candidates who are well-informed about the requirements of their positions.
"We're hiring people who are doing what they want to do, which is to be a teacher and a scholar," Folt said. "They're satisfied because their expectations are being met.
"The size and scale of Dartmouth is also a factor," she said.
She stated that she believes that the low ratio of faculty to library and computing support staff helps to create a collaborative environment well suited for research and teaching.
Bridget Coggins, a professor of government in her second year of teaching at Dartmouth, agreed that the College's small size creates a more pleasing work environment.
"I was a grad student at Ohio State, one of the biggest universities in the country," Coggins said. "It was a really positive transition, moving from some place where you are very unknown to a place where people know each other's names."
Coggins added that, although overall she was satisfied with her position at Dartmouth, she was unsure if her answers to some of the questions posed in the COACHE survey were entirely accurate because she is still relatively new in her position.
"Many of the questions were about tenure," she said. "It is something you are always thinking about, but I anticipate I'll be focusing on it more in my fifth or sixth year."
The COACHE survey is given to all pre-tenure faculty members and does not distinguish among respondents based upon how many years they have been at an institution.
Folt said that although the College was pleased with the results of the survey, her office will look into improving in those areas where Dartmouth was not named as an exemplar. She said that issues relating to faculty perception of department collegialityand helping professors balance work and family are currently priorities.
Aden Evans, an English professor who previously taught at five other institutions, agreed that the College should focus on improving support for professors' families, citing difficulties he had in moving his family to Hanover when he accepted a position at Dartmouth in 2006.
He said also that although Dartmouth was not named as an exemplar in any category relating to tenure, he personally did not see the need for improvement in that area.
Three institutions were ranked as exemplars in more than six categories. Brown University and Stanford University achieved exemplary status in eight areas, and Duke University qualified in seven categories.
