When the statistical summaries of the responses to the second UFF-UF Faculty Climate Survey were published in spring 2014, we indicated that a more detailed analysis of the narrative responses would be forthcoming in the fall. It is now available here.
The analysis highlights a number of common themes in the narrative responses: low faculty morale; a sense of starvation and consequent decline in strength and vitality of core teaching and research programs; a breakdown in shared governance and faculty consultation; the administration’s lack of appreciation for the faculty’s expertise, judgment, hard work, cooperation and collective action; and lack of accountability of the administration.
The problems documented by the 2013 and 2014 Faculty Climate Surveys are serious but not insurmountable. UF will soon have new leadership. We hope that the new administration will work with faculty to create a climate more supportive of principles of shared governance and administrative accountability. We believe these matters are central to making UF attractive to top scholars and researchers and to making UF a place to which faculty will be happy to devote their talents, energies, and careers.