Summary

Faculty perceived that they have the greatest ability to influence curriculum decisions and the selection of new faculty members and graduate students within their units, while they felt least able to influence class sizes, course loads, and two financial decisions within their units: resource allocation generally and annual merit pay increases specifically. Library faculty, as well as CFS faculty to a lesser extent, believe that they have a greater ability to influence their unit than do their colleagues in other schools. Management faculty, on the other hand, feel that they have less influence than average regarding several issues. By rank, assistant professors perceive that they have the least ability to influence unit decisions while professors perceive that they have the most influence.

To summarize the questions focusing on one’s unit head, a clear majority of faculty perceived that their unit head demonstrates integrity, shows respect for them, and has adequate fiscal resource management skills. They were less likely to agree that their unit head is an effective fundraiser or has adequate human resource management skills. Education, Library, and Veterinary Medicine faculty were less satisfied than average with a number of characteristics of their unit heads, while Consumer and Family Sciences and Science faculty were more satisfied than average with their unit heads on a number of factors. Females tended to be substantially less satisfied with their unit heads than males.

Finally, with regards to the University Senate, two thirds of the faculty agreed that they are familiar with the University Senate’s role at Purdue and just over half believed that their views are represented through the Senate. Full professors and Caucasians were the most likely to be familiar with the Senate’s role at Purdue and Caucasians were more likely than Asian Americans and underrepresented minorities to believe that the Senate represented their views.