Making UMass Amherst a better place to work, live, and thrive
OFD engages in faculty satisfaction research to inform our evidence-based programming and provide recommendations, tools, and advocacy for positive institutional change. We lead the COACHE Steering Committee and survey process on campus, conduct onboarding surveys in partnership with Assessment, Survey, and Effectiveness Research (ASER), and engage in additional faculty satisfaction research based on identified needs. Massachusetts Society of Professors (MSP) conducts exit interviews and confers annually with OFD about results; anyone who is leaving UMass or would like more information should contact the MSP directly: @email
Collaborative on Academic Careers in Higher Education (COACHE)
UMass Amherst wants to make our campus a place where faculty work, thrive, and achieve. To assess and improve institutional supports and structures that are key to faculty recruitment, retention, and success, UMass Amherst has partnered with the Collaborative on Academic Careers in Higher Education (COACHE), a research initiative based at the Harvard Graduate School of Education.
Mid-Career Reports
OFD offers reports, tools, and research for navigating and supporting Mid-Career faculty through transitions and promotion.
Available Reports & Tools:
- Mid-Career Report 2020: Transitions & Promotion: How to Support Mid-Career Faculty
- Mid-Career Report 2018: Mid-Career Malaise and Interventions: Scope of Problem, Intervention and Prevention Ideas, and Responses from College Leadership
- Mentoring Plan for Promotion: A Tool to Support Timely Career Guidance and Mentoring for Associate Professors
Web access to these reports coming soon—please email @email for a copy of a report during our website transition. For additional resources, events, and information for Mid-Career Faculty, check out our Supporting Mid-Career Faculty & Librarians program.
New Faculty Onboarding Reports
These reports summarize the new hire experiences of first-and second-year faculty at UMass Amherst, with an eye toward identifying areas for improvement in faculty onboarding.
Available Report:
- New Faculty Onboarding Survey 2019
OFD will publish an updated New Faculty Onboarding Survey in AY 2024-25.
Web access to these reports coming soon—please email @email for a copy of a report during our website transition. For additional resources, events, and information for Early Career Faculty, check out our Supporting Early Career Faculty & Librarians program.