Surveying Faculty Needs During a Pandemic: Teaching, Research, and Self-care while Working Remotely

Abstract

The need to work remotely during the spring and summer of 2020 caused unprecedented changes to the way faculty members approached teaching, research, and self-care. In response, the University of XXXX conducted a university-wide survey to gauge the best ways to support faculty during the COVID-19 pandemic. Faculty reported that they felt successful transitioning their face-to-face course content online but saw a drop in student engagement. While almost all lab activity ceased, most faculty were able to sustain some aspects of their research but struggled to support student research assistants. Finally, faculty were able to find a good work/life balance while working remotely but had trouble maintaining community connection with colleagues in their department, college, and across the university. Using the results from this survey, staff members from the Center for the Enhancement of Teaching and Learning (CET&L) and the Faculty Enrichment Center (FEC) contributed to a Best Practices Guidebook to address the concerns faculty raised during the survey.