In the winter of 1995, Oberlin College participated in a national survey of college and university faculty sponsored by the Higher Education Research Institute (HERI) - the same group that administers the Survey of American Freshmen in which we have participated for the last 25 years. A summary of the national results were published in a recent issue of the Chronicle of Higher Education.

Fifty-one percent of Oberlin faculty completed and returned the survey. That compares quite favorably to the 41% response rate nationally. The survey included questions on social-political views, time-diaries, course evaluation methods, publishing activity , stress levels and other items relevant to the life of a faculty member. Generally speaking, Oberlin faculty tend have a greater interest in research, spend less time teaching and advising, publish more, experience more stress, have more liberal views and are more likely to have tenure than their national counterparts. Summarized here will be satisfaction levels, goals for undergraduates and general perceptions of life at Oberlin College with comparisons between Oberlin and the national group and within Oberlin by division.

Satisfaction Levels

Generally speaking, our faculty are very satisfied with aspects related to working conditions but tend to be less satisfied with social relationships. When compared with the national group, the difference in satisfaction with social relationships is quite striking.

Percent Responding Satisfied or Very Satisfied	Conservatory	A&S	Nonsectarian 4-yr Colleges
Visibility for jobs	52%	39%	42%
Social relations with faculty	34%	49%	66%
Salary and fringe benefits	71%	56%	50%
Opportunities for scholarly pursuits	67%	59%	48%
Relationships with administration	89%	60%	62%
Professional relations with faculty	67%	66%	77%
Teaching load	66%	66%	58%
Opportunities to develop new ideas	70%	71%	74%
Working conditions	96%	73%	73%
Overall job satisfaction	82%	80%	76%
Job security	78%	82%	71%
Competency of colleagues	71%	84%	80%
Quality of students	74%	85%	55%
Autonomy and independence	96%	89%	89%
Undergrad course assignments	93%	89%	85%

Given the different traditions of the two divisions, it is not surprising to see differences in individual items between the Conservatory and College faculties. The largest differences are with working conditions, relationships with administration, salary (all higher) and social relationships (lower). Overall job satisfaction is about the same.

Goals for Undergraduates

Oberlin has recently undertaken a comprehensive program of outcomes assessment as part of the requirements for our re-accreditation in 1998. Assessment is naturally a very goal- centered process and departments have been hard at work developing goals for majors and non-majors and identifying ways by which achievement of those goals can be measured. In this survey, faculty are asked to rate the importance of general goals for undergraduates. Compared to the national group, Oberlin faculty tend to place less importance on the development of social, moral and emotional values. Our tradition of preparing students for graduate education is clearly represented here, and to an even greater extent in the Conservatory. There we also see the professional school and classical traditions coming through strongly.

Percent Responding Very Important or Essential	Conservatory	A&S	Nonsectarian 4-yr Colleges
Prepare for family living	4%	7%	21%
Teach classics of Western civilization	69%	27%	33%
Instill commitment to community service	27%	28%	39%
Enhance out-of-class experience	35%	30%	45%
Provide for emotional development	52%	35%	43%
Develop moral character	45%	43%	64%
Help develop personal values	63%	46%	65%
Prepare for responsible citizenship	37%	47%	63%
Prepare for employment	74%	50%	66%
Enhance self-understanding	66%	59%	66%
Prepare for graduate education	85%	69%	57%
Increase self-directed learning	100%	97%	93%
Develop ability to think clearly	100%	100%	100%

Faculty Perceptions of Oberlin

Faculty were asked to rate how descriptive of their institution the following statements are. It is here that we see the largest differences between Oberlin and the national sample - very likely an indication of the differences in competitive position and educational tradition. Nonetheless, the lower rating for faculty respect compared to the national group is disturbing and worthy of additional follow-up. There is little difference between divisions in that rating.

Percent Responding Very Descriptive	Conservatory	A&S	Nonsectarian 4-yr Colleges
Most students treated like numbers	4%	0%	2%
Little student/faculty contact	0%	1%	2%
Intercollegiate sports overemphasized	0%	1%	10%
Students don't socialize regularly	0%	1%	1%
Social activities over-emphasized	4%	2%	13%

Percent Responding Very Descriptive	Conservatory	A&S	Nonsectarian 4-yr Colleges
Faculty at odds with administration	4%	5%	14%
Faculty rewarded for good teaching	12%	10%	20%
Great conformity among students	4%	12%	28%
Faculty respect each other	27%	29%	39%
Institution committed to help minorities	54%	44%	34%
Opportunities for student participation in community service	38%	45%	36%
Easy to see faculty outside of office hours	50%	68%	58%
Most students are very bright	73%	70%	19%

I am grateful to the faculty who took time out of their busy days to complete this rather lengthy survey. They can take heart in the fact that my office is inflicting similar pain on students and alumni as we try to assess the effectiveness of our academic and social programs and generally the effect that the Oberlin experience has on our students.

Obviously these tables represent a very small portion of the survey. Readers desiring a more complete summary may either contact my office (I have limited hard-copies for distribution) or download a full set of tables on the web by pointing their browser to the Institutional Research Home Page (http://peacock.adm.oberlin.edu/ir.html) and selecting the "Faculty Profile" link. Your bonus for taking the cyber-route will be having access to a wealth of outcomes-related information and other data about Oberlin, our faculty and our students.