Marquette is a community of openness, honesty and respect. Through meaningful dialogue, shared governance and a commitment to living out our Catholic, Jesuit mission in all that we do, we continue to work towards our common goal of providing a transformational education for every Marquette student.

Critical to achieving that goal are the many valued contributions of our faculty, who are the lifeblood of the Marquette experience. Recently, some participating (non-tenure track) faculty have raised concerns related to their work at Marquette. In response, a task force was identified in June 2019 to examine the participating faculty experience, with the goal of defining actionable steps to more thoroughly support their many contributions to our university and students.

This task force is comprised of participating faculty as well as representatives from every college and school and the Raynor Library, the Office of the Provost, the Office of Human Resources, the Office of the General Counsel and the Office of Institutional Research and Analysis. It is chaired by Senior Vice Provost Gary Meyer and participating faculty member Pat Loftis, clinical associate professor of Physician Assistant Studies in the College of Health Sciences.

In summer 2019, along with members of the task force, Dr. Meyer hosted five listening sessions with various members of our participating faculty. President Lovell and Acting Provost Ah Yun each attended two sessions. The goal was to hear directly about what is and isn’t working for participating faculty at Marquette and solicit their input about how we can improve together. The task force also asked for and received feedback via an anonymous online feedback form. 

In all, 27 individuals attended one of the listening sessions and 67 provided feedback via the online feedback form. While the responses varied, we learned that at Marquette, participating faculty for the most part enjoy the work they are doing and the impact they are having on their students’ lives. Moreover, Marquette feels like family, with supportive colleagues and department leadership committed to their success and well-being.

Yet concerns related to career stability, compensation, consistency and clarity of role expectations, and voice on matters important to our collective goals and success require dedicated attention and action.

Based on this feedback and additional analysis of internal and peer data, the task force identified five core areas of work – (1) contract terms, (2) compensation and total rewards, (3) performance evaluation and promotion, (4) professional development, and (5) recognition and inclusion – that will be prioritized over the course of this academic year. Staying true to our Ignatian roots, this is work that we are attending to now, with active attentiveness, genuine collaboration and respect for the lived experiences of our faculty.