Through its surveys and reports, the Collaborative on Academic Careers in Higher Education has stressed the importance of a wide variety of policies -- and not just those about pay and benefits -- in attracting and keeping young faculty talent. The project's new list of "exemplary" higher education employers offers further evidence of that theme.

Based on surveys of junior professors about various policies and attitudes at their colleges, the project continues to identify some well known liberal arts colleges and research universities in that group, but also to find plenty of regional institutions that are finding ways that don't require mega-endowments to keep their younger professors happy.

Generally, private colleges dominate the list in categories related to compensation or other categories where finances would be a major factor. But on qualities related to the clarity of procedures (a category many junior faculty members take very seriously), publics tend to do much better.

The Harvard University-based collaborative -- known by its acronym, COACHE -- has become an influential player in discussions of how to make colleges more "family friendly" and how institutions should prepare for a generation of professors who may not accept the traditional hierarchical model of many academic departments.

Much of COACHE's work is done through surveys of junior professors at various institutions, with colleges receiving their own results and comparative data. The release of the top institutions in various categories is one of the few instances in which the project publicly praises institutions -- and is intended to identify places that others might consult to improve various policies.

And given that young faculty members are telling COACHE researchers that they care about more than prestige and money, the list may provide examples of particularly ideal institutions for some prospective employees.

"We're hoping that as more institutions sign on, junior faculty start asking [potential employers] the question: What's your COACHE profile?" said Kiernan Mathews, assistant director of the program.

The new results are based on surveys conducted at 78 colleges and universities, up from 52 last year. This year's results come from two years of data (where available) instead of just one. Many of the additions are among a new group in the study: master's level universities. In the past, the study has focused on research universities and liberal arts colleges. Mathews said that the master's institutions were welcomed because they are as likely, if not more likely, to hire young faculty members as are other sectors. Several California State University System campuses participating for the first time did well enough to earn "exemplary" status.

"University of North Carolina Pembroke and California State San Marcos are right in there with Stanford and Duke," Mathews said.

The numbers of participants in the survey continues to grow -- currently there are more than 100 institutions involved for the next iteration. Currently, they are all four-year institutions, but Mathews said that COACHE is in discussion with community colleges about conducting surveys in that sector as well.

The exemplary list is made up of the top two liberal arts colleges (among 22) and the top four universities (among 56), based on the faculty surveys. The institutions are listed alphabetically. But institutions with ratings that were within .05 of the second (or fourth) institution were also included, so some categories have more than the expected number of designated institutions. Brown and Stanford Universities achieved exemplary status in 8 of 12 categories, while Duke University was outstanding in seven categories. Three colleges (Bowdoin, Davidson and Kenyon) achieved exemplary status in five categories.

Exemplary Institutions in COACHE Survey of Junior Faculty Members' Satisfaction