What your colleagues think of FFDTI

Dear AAUPers and allies:

ODU’s Faculty Senate survey gathered 558 responses, a response rate of roughly 43%. For those familiar with survey research, this is exceptionally high—far above typical rates for faculty surveys. This point matters. Senior administrators have at times suggested that only a small group of faculty are voicing concerns about the FFDTI and that these voices are not representative of ODU faculty as a whole.

The survey results demonstrate the opposite. With nearly half of all faculty participating, the findings can be understood as broadly representative of faculty sentiment across the university.

The survey also signals something important to the many faculty who have been quietly frustrated—by increased workloads, by being pushed toward pedagogically questionable decisions, and by the steady erosion of autonomy in their own teaching.

You are not alone.

Share this post from ODU-AAUP with colleagues:

The purpose of this present post is to highlight five key takeaways from the recent Faculty Senate survey. These represent some of the most impactful results, and the numbers below are rounded for readability. Faculty who wish to review the full report can find it here. You are encouraged to download and share.

1. Strong opposition to mandates.
Large majorities oppose requiring all distance courses to use the 8-week asynchronous model:

• 72% disagree for undergraduate courses
• 67% disagree for master’s courses

2. Expected harm to academic quality.
Faculty anticipate negative academic outcomes across the board:

• 76% say student learning will worsen
• 77% say degree quality will worsen
• 67% say university reputation will worsen

3. Breakdown in shared governance.
Faculty see the process, not just the format, as the core problem:

• 76% say they were not adequately consulted
• 74% say the process raises academic freedom concerns
• 81% say it raises shared governance concerns

4. Low confidence in leadership.
Faculty doubt institutional leadership on this initiative:

• 58% low confidence in the VP for Digital Transformation
• 55% low confidence in the Provost
• 63% low confidence in the President

5. Support for innovation—when it fits.
Faculty are not rejecting the 8-week format outright:

• 78% say it may be appropriate in some programs
  —but only with proper support, redesign time, and voluntary use.

ODU-AAUP applauds the work done by the Faculty Senate in administering this survey and compiling the results.