2020 SURVEY RESPONSE RATES

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2021 COACHE Dashboard 

Status	Recommendation	Notes
Addressed	Continue DEl efforts, to closely examine policies that inhibit the recruitment and retention of diverse faculty, especially faculty of color.	Through the work of the Vice Provost for Strategic Initiatives and Global Affairs, we have continued to identify opportunities to recruit diverse faculty. Programs such as Be a Part of the Change invited potential candidates to campus to learn more about JMU or our participation in the Southern Regional Educational Board Insitute on Teaching and Mentoring as a recruiter. These efforts also occur within the colleges through Diversity Champions and Associate Deans.
Addressed	Address policies across the university that inhibit recruitment and retention of diverse faculty, with deep levels of wide representation of faculty involvement in shaping new policy or revising existing policies.	During the Spring of 2024, representatives of the Provost's Office and the Faculty Senate collaborated to update the Academic Affairs Guidelines for Recruiting and Hiring Instructional Faculty. This document includes best practices in creating a position description and strategies to attract a broad candidate pool. The document is malleable, and faculty are provided an avenue to offer feedback for future iterations. Further, the Provost's office created a companion training to complement the guidelines, including a module on mitigating bias.
Addressed	Faculty Senate and Administration working collaboratively to shape the institution's vision.	Through the work of the Shared Governance Committee, the Faculty Senate and the Administration are working much more closely together. The creation of the Shared Governance statement is evidence of this. It is now standard practice for the Faculty Senate and the Provost's office to jointly appoint committee chairs and members to divisional committees and working groups.
Addressed	Senior and Divisional leadership is encouraged to improve in asreas such as communication flow within and across Academic Affairs to ensure that messages faculty receive are consistent from senior administrators and college/unit leaders.	Leaders within academic affairs are striving to increase communication efficiently within the divison. Since this iteration of the COACHE survey, Academic Affairs names a Chief Communications Officer for the division and more recently, the Provost has increased communication directly with faculty through weekly messages and other notifications.
Addressed	Pursue leadership development opportunities for leaders who engage with faculty, such as Deans, Associate Deans, and central administration, to develop and foster facilitative and effective listening skills.	Within the Office of Faculty Affairs and Curriculum, several programs have been created to increase the leadership development of academic leaders and faculty with a desire for leadership positions in the future. Examples such as the Aspire program, A-Dean meetings, and the regular AUH meetings provide opportunities for leadership development. Leaders are also provided access to external platforms such as Academic Impressions, NCFDD, and other opportunities through organizations like APLU and AAC&U.
Addressed	Disseminating the findings of all childcare committees or task forces (as since 2013) to investigate the creation of an on-campus, full-time childcare center.	While the previous reports appear to be unavailable, a childcare needs study was completed in 2023. As a result of that study, JMU's Young Children's program is expanding to a section center sna dJMU faculty and Staff will be given priority slots.
Addressed	Creating an employee resource website for childcare benefits and policies.	JMU does not provide childcare benefits. However, Human Resources maintains a webpage with benefits information: humanresources benefits Additionally, as a result of the childcare needs study completed in 2023, JMU's Young Children's program is expanding to a second center, and JMU faculty and Staff will be given priority slots.
Addressed	Examining the continued need for telework options (such as remote/online teaching), especially for faculty with childcare needs as well as faculty with medical conditions, disabilities, and elder care needs.	The telework policy was revised in October 2022: JMU Policies 1332.
Addressed	Involve faculty in shaping the university identity by engaging in ongoing and regular focus groups about what R2 means for JMU.	The faculty and academic leaders were asked to reflect on what being an R2 university means for them. This culminated in a guiding statement from the Provost's Office.
Addressed	Provide ongoing leadership development and mentoring for college and division leaders to improve the climate for faculty, including the development and nurturing of healthy interpersonal interactions, effective listening, and building consensus around important issues.	Academic leaders receive regular mentoring and guidance. The Provost's Office also established the Aspire Program for emerging leaders. The division also supports participation in external leadership programs, such as the Senior Leadership Seminar and Academic Chairpersons Conference.
Addressed	Clearly-defined terms and membership of faculty committees that are consistent across the university, while protecting the unique identity and integrity of departmental identities.	In the context of instructional faculty hiring, terms and membership of committees are specified in the Hiring Guidelines. Additional guidelines are at the discretion of the colleges and academic units.
Addressed	Faculty and Administrators co-chair all task forces, with equitable representation of faculty.	This has since become standard practice and is supported in the Shared Governance Taskforce 2023 Report.
Addressed	Clear communication and listening to faculty, especially faculty from underrepresented minority groups, should be at the center of leadership priority.	The provost regularly meets with the speaker of the Faculty Senate, members of the provost's staff attend Senate meetings, and deans meet with the faculty senators from their colleges. Under Provost Coltman's leadership, many units established shared equity leaders.
Addressed	Offer leadership development opportunities for faculty and administrators to improve the quality and depth of dialogues where various voices and perspectives can be heard.	CFI offers programming in the area. This is also a component of the Aspire Program. Leadership development is also supported routinely by the colleges and the Provost's Office.
Addressed	Improving transperancey in regularly reporting the ratio of and representation of instructional faculty versus administration for decisions that impact faculty.	These figures are calculated and published annually. For more information, please contact the office of Faculty Affairs and Curriculum.
Addressed	Continued membership for JMU in the Mid Atlantic Higher Education Recruitment Consortium (HERC), an organization focused on Dual Career issues in our region.	JMU was a HERC member for three years (2012-2015). The university considered rejoining the consortium, but with fewer than 1% of applicants applying for positions at JMU or learning about JMU through the HERC site, leadership determined not to maintain membership. This was addressed as a part of the 2017 Recommendations. HR has formed partnerships with neighboring institutions to facilitate dual career opportunities.
Addressed	In faculty searches, providing clear communication on current state constraints on tuition remission, exchange, and waiver options. Search committees and department heads must be clear during interviews and negotiations of job offers that this benefit is not currently available.	This information is provided upon request. Additional information is available from Human Resources:  Tuition assistance
In Queue	Continued resources that incentivize and value interdisciplinary work, such as seed money for faculty to pursue collaborative grant opportunities, focused time for interdisciplinary and collaborative writing, and valued efforts of interdisciplinary and collaborative work as recognized in faculty evaluations are recommended.
In Queue	Regularly-scheduled town hall meetings at the university level, where division leaders from Academic Affairs and other Divisions (such as Finance and Administration & Enrollment Management) receive feedback from faculty.
In Queue	Providing more opportunities for faculty involvement, especially from underrepresented minority groups, so there is broad representation of faculty with varied perspectives. This may include ongoing focus groups of faculty from underrepresented groups providing perspectives in a non-threatening, deliberative space.
In Queue	Explore models that facilitate faculty voices being heard beyond Academic Affairs, whereas workloads may be related to budget implications.
In Queue	Expand access and support for spouses and partners in local hiring (beyond JMU) through the University Career Center (UCC)
In Progress	Examine the extent to which faculty productivity and workload expectations are comparable to other institutions in the R2 category, to be proactive in shaping institutional identity.	During the Fall of 2023, the Vice Provost for Faculty Affairs and Curriculum released a report examining the current workload practices at JMU. Following this report, a cohort of departments was formed to examine equitable workloads in the context of our current R2 status. This work is ongoing.
In Progress	A focus on specific mentoring to support creative work and scholarship for all faculty as JMU moves into R2 status is a need.	Academic Council spent a significant amount of time working through faculty comments during the summer of 2023. Currently a coherent vision and path forward is being developed. Please know that the commitment to teaching remains a guiding star for JMU as we navigate the R2 space
In Progress	Address faculty concerns about compensation, especially regarding overall workloads, merit pay, and base pay as related to market value. Within the benchmark of Compensation and Benefits, it should be noted that the majority of faculty comments within this theme pertained to compensation and not benefits.	Compensation and workload continue to concern faculty and JMU administration. The Compensation Advisory Council has indicated that JMU faculty salaries remain below the 50th percentile relative to our peers, and a report published by the Vice Provost for Faculty Affairs and Curriculum identified areas for JMU to address workload inequities. To the latter, the Vice Provost has created a workload process to help departments address workload inequities. To the former, JMU continues to work with the state legislature to address these issues. Most pressing has been to address compression and inversion concerns.
In Progress	Address policies across the university that may inhibit promotion, tenure, and career enhancement for faculty from underrepresented minority groups.	The Associate Vice Provosts within the office of Faculty Affairs and Curriculum conducted an extensive review of university policies and departmental documents to identify barriers that would impede faculty success in the areas of promotion, tenure, and career enhancement. this review is ongoing and findings are being provided to the provost's office as well as other leaders in academic affairs.
In Progress	Create a better structure for defining shared governance across the university, where consensus is built across and within colleges and divisions.	This is a stated priority of the Provost as indicated in his 2024 opening address. This will further complement the work of the Joint Taskforce on Shared Governance. In the Spring of 2025, it was announced that a statement on Shared Governance was jointly endorsed by The Faculty Senate, Academic Council, and President King. Further steps are being taken to provide information and resources to further the conversation around shared governance and allow faculty and adminstrators to work together.
In Progress	Alignment of governance processes across colleges and divisions to address ambiguity in faculty roles.	This is a stated priority of the Provost as indicated in his 2024 opening address. This will further complement the work of the Joint Taskforce on Shared Governance. In the Spring of 2025, it was announced that a statement on Shared Governance was jointly endorsed by The Faculty Senate, Academic Council, and President King. Further steps are being taken to provide information and resources to further the conversation around shared governance and allow faculty and adminstrators to work together.
In Progress	Faculty should lead the development of the handbook content, with administrator input and feedback.	At the beginning of the 2024-25 AY, the handbook revision committee began their work soliciting feedback and suggestions from stakeholders across campus. The committee was jointly appointed by The Faculty Senate and the Provost's office and their work is ongoing.
In Progress	Address equity and weights of teaching, research and service loads across campus.	During the Fall of 2023, the Vice Provost for Faculty Affairs and Curriculum released a report examining the current workload practices at JMU. Following this report, a cohort of departments was formed to examine equitable workloads in the context of our current R2 status. This work is ongoing.
In Progress	Create a well-defined and supportive spousal/dual career policy at the university-wide level for hiring within JMU.	The Provost’s Faculty Diversity Council studied this issue at length, and produced a carefully documented white paper that reviews what our peer institutions are doing, and made policy recommendations for Academic Affairs. The Provost will use those recommendations as guidelines in future opportunity hires, and promote awareness of how diversity and inclusion can be enhanced through enlightened practices.

 

2017 COACHE Dashboard