Faculty members of color have higher rates of dissatisfaction with MU, according to a recent university survey.

While most results were positive, faculty of color had higher rates of ‘neutral’ or ‘not satisfied’ responses.

These were among the findings of the Collaborative on Academic Careers in Higher Education (COACHE), a faculty-driven, research initiative based at Harvard University, which administered a survey between late 2012 and early 2013 to gauge the needs and satisfaction of the MU faculty.

Out of 1,195 faculty at MU at the time, 608 responded to the survey — 132 of whom were of color and 476 were white.

When asked to rank “MU as a place to work,” 57 percent of faculty of color responded with “very satisfied” or “satisfied,” 24 percent with a neutral response and 19 percent with “dissatisfied” or “very dissatisfied.”

Out of the white participants, 70 percent were satisfied, 15 percent neutral and 14 percent dissatisfied.

Faculty Council Chairman Craig Roberts said it is currently unknown what causes the higher rates of dissatisfaction, but he said he hopes to determine what it is.

“MU needs to look at what is causing this dissatisfaction and see if they can address it,” Roberts said. “I don’t detect it as racism in the MU faculty; it’s something else, and we need to figure out what it is.”

Interim Provost Ken Dean said that COACHE gave MU the opportunity to survey all MU faculty, including non-tenure track faculty.

“We felt like it would be a much more representative group because it’s everyone now, not just tenured and pre-tenure faculty,” Dean said

COACHE recommended that MU create a faculty committee to analyze the results, which were divided between tenured, pre-tenure and non-tenure track faculty members, Dean said.

Jeni Hart, associate professor of educational leadership and a member of the committee that analyzed the results, said MU’s results were similar to other universities around the country: results were mostly positive, but showed lower satisfaction rates among female faculty and faculty of color compared to their white male colleagues.

“Our faculty as a whole is a pretty satisfied bunch,” Hart said. “However, it is important to note that this was a snapshot in time, and the results today might look a little different.”

Roberts said the Faculty Council has already started discussing how to address the issue.

“The ivory tower is not the ebony tower,” Roberts said. “We need to find out why and fix it.”

Tara Warne, senior research analyst and a member of the committee, said the committee identified promotion, mentoring and professional development as areas which need the most improvement.

Hart said a faculty member’s specific department or college is what is most important to them, and efforts to make change should be focused at those levels as well as the campus level.

Deans were given reports of their own colleges and were encouraged to have discussions with faculty about making improvements at both the college and department levels, Dean said.

“In the weeks and months ahead, I will continue to check with each dean on what they’re doing with recommendations and actions,” he said.

Dean said the results were also shared with the UM System’s human resources department to give them an idea of what concerns the faculty have.

“We want to increase those who are satisfied and decrease those who are dissatisfied,” he said. “In general, the results were pretty good, but there’s always room for improvement.”

Warne said the plan is to conduct another survey in 2016 and make improvements before that time.