Faculty Exit Interview Guiding Principles

   The University of Texas Houston Health Science Center is committed to improving its working and learning environment, and one source of potentially valuable information to help achieve that goal is departing employees. While information from departing staff is collected by PeopleWorks, the schools gather information from their faculty, and the following guiding principles are to help ensure the quality/consistency of the faculty data. The principles are also intended to help ensure the exit interview process reflects the institutional values of professionalism, collegiality, and compassion.

1. All departing faculty should be asked to provide feedback about their experiences as a UTHSC-Houston faculty member through an exit interview process. The data may be collected through a written survey and/or personal interviews, but, if faculty members feel uncomfortable sharing information in a one on one interview, they should have an opportunity to provide feedback in a written survey.

2. The schools should have primary responsibility for gathering data from departing faculty about the working environment. Each school has a unique culture and organizational structure, and it is the unit that will most directly benefit from and utilize the data gathered. Therefore, the schools should have primary responsibility for gathering the data as well as flexibility in determining what and how data should be collected.

3. Data collected through an exit interview process are confidential and not included in a faculty member's personnel file, and are used only for improving the working environment. The assurance of confidentiality and the fact that it will not become part of a faculty member's personnel file help to ensure the data collected are candid reports about the working environment.

4. Responsibility for conducting the exit interview process should be assigned to a senior administrator. Data collection will be facilitated if faculty members believe the information provided will be reviewed by senior administrators who have the authority and ability to improve the working environment. When one on one interviews are used, it is also critical that the interviewer be trustworthy and have well-developed interviewing/listening skills, and it should be recognized that open-ended questions facilitate data gathering.

5. The data collected should be analyzed to identify trends and strengths weaknesses in the management and operation of the school as well as opportunities for improving the working environment. The trends may highlight effective management strategies that could be expanded as well as potential problems that need to be addressed.

6. The data collected should include both why a faculty member is leaving and what aspects of the working environment helped/hinder performance. Specific topics typically addressed are summarized below, but, at a minimum, the data should include rank, tenure status, faculty track, length of service, gender, ethnicity, and reason(s) for leaving.

• Factors influencing a faculty member's decision to leave - Multiple factors may contribute to a faculty member's decision to leave such as a better career opportunity, salary, working conditions, personal reasons, and/or relocation to another city, and it is important to try to identify the reasons that initially prompted an individual to seek another position. Some factors such as spousal relocation will not be within the institution's sphere of influence, but other factors may provide valuable insights about opportunities for improving the working environment.

• Performance of chairs/division directors/conveners - Department chairs, division directors, and/or conveners play a critical role in shaping a faculty member's professional experience and development, and departing faculty members may provide the schools useful information for improving their performance. Information should be collected about their performance in a variety of areas, and may include: setting goals/expectations; mentoring; evaluating performance; and fostering a collegial working environment.

• Working conditions and environment - A variety of factors impact a faculty member's ability to achieve his/her professional goals and influence his/her attitude towards the institution. These factors should be explored in the exit interview process, and may include such issues as whether the job met his/her expectations. barriers to meeting the demands of the job, and ability to balance competing work and family/personal demands.

• Opportunities for improving the working environment - Departing faculty members also may have insights/ideas about what could be done differently to improve the working and learning environment and should have an opportunity to offer useful suggestions.

Sample exit interview questions are included in Appendix A that may assist schools indeveloping tools for gathering appropriate information from departing faculty.