The ultimate faculty survey strategy guide

A quick insight: A faculty survey strategy helps capture distinctive staff perspectives, uncover what matters most and guide meaningful action across academic teams. Clear planning, thoughtful question design and strong communication build trust and higher participation. When insight is linked to visible follow-up and targeted improvement, faculty engagement, collaboration and experience strengthen across the institution.

Running a faculty survey might seem straightforward, but getting meaningful, actionable insight is anything but. 

Academic staff have unique challenges, expectations and roles within the institution. Capturing their true employee experience requires more than a standard approach.

This faculty survey guide is designed for higher education leaders and HR professionals who want to listen better, act smarter and create positive change through faculty feedback. Whether you’re starting your first faculty survey or looking to improve an existing approach, this strategy guide will give you the structure, tools and confidence to get it right.

Related: Bridging the gap: employee experience in higher education

What is a faculty survey?

A faculty survey is a structured employee listening tool used to gather feedback from academic staff about their experiences, perceptions and working conditions within a higher education institution. Unlike course evaluations or student feedback, these surveys are designed specifically to give academic employees a voice, capturing honest insight into how they feel about their roles, departments and the wider institution.

The aim is simple: to collect actionable feedback that supports better decision-making for better, more rewarding workplace experiences. Whether it’s revealing common concerns, identifying areas for improvement or highlighting what’s working well, a faculty survey helps institutions understand the real experiences of their academic employees.

Why faculty surveys make such a real difference

Used in the right way, faculty surveys can have a powerful impact on morale, performance and employee engagement. They can also have a very real impact on student success. Academic employees are at the heart of every university or college. How they feel about their work influences not just their productivity but also the quality of teaching and research across the institution.

Our benchmark data shows that we need to take some meaningful action in this sector. Only 43% of academics feel they can comfortably cope with their workload. Only 48% say they are able to strike the right balance between work and home life and 44% say that their HEI does enough to support their health and wellbeing at work.

Getting to grips with these issues is the first step toward meaningful, constructive change. Faculty surveys allow these issues to be surfaced early and addressed before they lead to serious disengagement issues or attrition.

Beyond individual wellbeing, engaged faculty help drive institutional performance. Staff who feel heard and valued are more likely to contribute ideas, collaborate with colleagues and support students effectively. In turn, this can improve student outcomes, reputation and even league table performance.

Faculty surveys also help universities meet expectations around transparency and accountability. The data can inform internal governance, support quality assurance processes and provide evidence for accreditations.

Types of faculty surveys

There are many different formats faculty surveys can take, each with their own purpose:

• Engagement surveys: These surveys assess how motivated and connected academic staff feel in their work and track changes over time
• Wellbeing surveys: These surveys focus on stress levels, workload and work-life balance
• Diversity and inclusion surveys: This form of survey provides insights into how inclusive and fair the environment feels to different groups
• Pulse/check-in surveys: This is a shorter, more frequent survey to track employee sentiment and monitor trends
• Exit and onboarding surveys: With these surveys, you are able to gather feedback from employees entering or leaving the institution

What to include in a faculty survey

The best faculty surveys are tailored to the academic context and speak directly to the issues faculty care about. Topics might include workload balance, departmental support, access to resources and perceptions of leadership.

Questions should also touch on career progression, internal communication, inclusion and whether academic employees feel recognised for their contributions. By covering these areas, institutions can get a well-rounded picture of faculty experience.

A good faculty survey combines both structured and open-text questions. While the former provides measurable data, the latter gives rich qualitative feedback that adds important context. It’s this mix that leads to more impactful survey results. And, of course, using a tool like our own Prism allows you to make use of the power of AI to instantly interpret and analyse both qualitative and quantitative feedback.

Faculty survey best practices

Running a meaningful faculty survey takes more than just asking the right questions. Thoughtful planning and execution are just as important.

Surveys should be kept anonymous to encourage honesty. If staff feel their responses could be traced back to them, they are less likely to speak freely. Timing matters too. We recommend you avoid launching surveys during exam marking or other high-stress periods.

Keep the survey concise. Aim for 10–15 minutes to complete and make sure every question has a clear purpose. Language should be clear and inclusive, avoiding unnecessary jargon. Where possible, involve faculty representatives or unions in shaping and promoting the survey. This helps build trust and encourages participation.

Related: 7 Ways to improve your HE survey participation rate

How to analyse faculty survey results

Once the responses are in, the real work begins. 

Analysing faculty survey results involves more than checking averages. You need to look for trends, patterns and outliers across different groups and departments.

Segmentation is useful here. Comparing results by department, gender, contract type or years of service can reveal important differences in experience (and is incredibly easy and intuitive with our reporting features). It’s also helpful to look at changes over time, especially if similar surveys have been run previously.

Qualitative comments often provide the “why” behind the numbers. Pairing these insights with quantitative data gives a fuller picture and makes it easier to decide what needs to happen next.

Taking action after a faculty survey

Collecting feedback is only worthwhile if it leads to meaningful change. When faculty surveys don’t lead to visible action, employees lose faith in the process. 

Start by sharing the results openly. A summary of findings should be communicated across the institution with space for questions and discussion. Our talented survey communication team are great when it comes to keeping everyone in-the-loop and invested. Next, work with academic leaders to develop realistic, specific action plans. It’s better to commit to a few meaningful changes than to try and tackle everything at once.

Monitor progress and follow up. Let employees know what’s happening and why. Pulse surveys can help you track how perceptions shift over time. This closes the feedback loop and shows employees that their voices are not only heard but acted upon.

Check out our webinar: How pulse survey insights improve employee experience in Higher Education

Common challenges you’ll encounter (and how to overcome them)

Faculty surveys can face resistance; especially if people feel they’ve seen it all before. Common barriers include:

• Low response rates: Often caused by survey fatigue or unclear communication
• Mistrust in anonymity: Staff may fear their responses aren’t truly confidential
• Lack of visible action: Previous surveys may not have led to meaningful change

To overcome these challenges:

• Make the purpose of the survey clear and meaningful
• Communicate past successes and changes driven by survey results
• Be transparent about data handling and involve a trusted third-party provider like People Insight

Tools for conducting effective faculty surveys

Having the right tools makes the whole process smoother. An intuitive survey platform reduces admin time, improves user experience and gives real-time access to results.

With People Insight’s actionable employee experience platform, institutions can:

• Use sector-specific templates designed for faculty
• Track response rates and trends as they happen
• Analyse segmented data easily
• Build and manage action plans based on the feedback

These features help you move from listening to action quickly and confidently.

For best results, complement faculty surveys with expert guidance

Even the best survey tool can’t replace the value of experience. Expert support can make all the difference, particularly in a sector as unique as higher education.

At People Insight, we’ve worked with over 75 UK higher education institutions, from research-intensive universities to small specialist colleges. Our survey consultants understand the sector and can help tailor every stage of your survey, making it easier to get buy-in, generate actionable insights and create change that matters.

Listening to academic employees is one of the most impactful ways to build a stronger, more inclusive culture. Faculty surveys help higher education institutions turn feedback into practical actions that support wellbeing, performance and trust.

Ready to take the next step? Talk to us about a higher education staff survey designed to give you the insight you need for meaningful change. Let’s amplify employee voice and make it count.