Faculty in Higher Education Survey Methodology, 2023-24
CUPA-HR has been collecting data on higher ed faculty since 1982. The data collection period for CUPA-HR’s Faculty in Higher Education Survey ran from November 1, 2023, to January 18, 2024. The survey was conducted through Surveys Online.[1]
INSTRUCTIONAL PROGRAMS SURVEYED
The instructional programs surveyed are based on the 2020 Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System (IPEDS) Classification of Instructional Programs (CIP).[2] The CIP taxonomy is a hierarchy organized on three levels:
- 2-digit codes (XX) define the most general groupings of related disciplines.
- 4-digit codes (XX.XX) define subdisciplines that have comparable content and objectives.
- 6-digit codes (XX.XXXX) define specific specialties within disciplines.
For example:
42) PSYCHOLOGY. Instructional programs that focus on the scientific study of the behavior of individuals, independently or collectively, and the physical and environmental bases of mental, emotional, and neurological activity.
42.27) Research and Experimental Psychology. Instructional content for this group of programs is defined in codes 42.2701-42.2799.
42.2701) Cognitive Psychology and Psycholinguistics. A program that focuses on the scientific study of the mechanisms and processes of learning and thinking, and associated information encoding, decoding, processing and transmitting systems. Includes instruction in theories of cognition and intelligence; studies of cognitive processes such as memory, sensation, perception, pattern recognition, problem solving, and conceptual thinking; cybernetics; psycholinguistics; and the study of biological and social communications mechanisms and processes.
DATA COLLECTED
Full-Time Faculty and Department Heads
This year’s survey includes data for 274,317 full-time faculty, including 166,725 tenure-track (TT) faculty; 94,244 non-tenure teaching (NTT) faculty; and 13,348 non-tenure research (NTR) faculty. Among full-time faculty reported, 8,893 were identified as department heads. For each full-time faculty member, the following data were collected:
- Annualized 9-10-month salary (effective date November 1, 2023)
- Tenure type (TT, NTT, or NTR)
- Rank
- professor, associate professor, assistant professor, new assistant professor, and instructor for TT and NTT faculty
- professor, associate professor, assistant professor, new assistant professor, scientist, and postdoctoral scholar for NTR faculty
- Highest degree attained [doctorate (Ph.D., M.D., J.D., or equivalent), master’s, bachelor’s, associate’s]
- H-1B status
- State of residence
- Sex (optional)
- Race/ethnicity (optional)
- Year entered current rank (optional)
- Birth year (optional)
- Whether the faculty member is a department head (if checked, additional data on salary supplements, summer salary, and course relief were collected)
Participants could either enter this data manually online for each faculty member or upload a file containing this data.
Faculty Paid by the Course (Adjunct Faculty)
A total of 379 institutions provided optional aggregate information on pay and pay practices for at least 109,074 pay-per-course (adjunct) faculty.[3] Data collected were:
- Which entity sets the adjunct pay rate (collective bargaining, single unit, department, other)
- Whether and how pay is affected by enrollment in course
- Whether adjunct faculty are paid different rates based on:
- Level of education
- Type of degree program taught (graduate or undergraduate)
- Selected disciplines/courses
- Total number of adjunct faculty
- Average pay per semester credit hour
- Lowest pay per semester credit hour
- Highest pay per semester credit hour
- Total number of credit hours taught by adjunct faculty
Institutional Basics
Basic data on institutional characteristics were collected from all participants:
- Total expenses reported to IPEDS in 2022-23
- Student enrollment (effective date approximately October 15, 2023)
- Faculty size (effective date November 1, 2023) and number of separations in the past year
- Staff size (effective date November 1, 2023) and number of separations in the past year
- Human resources staff size and number of separations in the past year
- CHRO reporting relationship
- Whether collective bargaining exists for the following groups:
- Full-time faculty
- Part-time or adjunct faculty
- Full-time staff
- Graduate students
Basic information on total expenses as well as student, faculty, and staff size were required questions. All other questions were optional.
RESPONDENTS
Respondents were largely human resources and provost office professionals from higher education institutions in the U.S. There were 798 institutions that completed the survey.[4]
CITATION INFORMATION
CUPA-HR. (2024). Faculty in Higher Education Survey, 2023-24 [Data set].
