Key points:
- Investing in faculty success is an investment in an institution’s future
- Faculty success software creates a hub for faculty activity data to support faculty development and engagement
- See related article: How to support new diverse faculty at your institution
Student and institutional success begin with faculty. Faculty are the heart and soul of higher education, and their success ensures their knowledge and experiences will be passed on to their students. With mounting pressure on administrators to ensure positive student outcomes and provide transparency into how faculty are offered contracts, promotions, and tenure, institutions are looking for ways to improve and support faculty success. But how do colleges and universities guarantee faculty have the support needed to be successful?
Leveraging technology to capture and track faculty accomplishments is an excellent place to start. It’s difficult to maintain current and accurate data when there isn’t a centralized system that holds faculty credentials, research, teaching, and service activity. In many cases, faculty data is stored disparately across multiple departments using spreadsheets or stand-alone systems requiring significant time from both administrators and faculty to manually compile data necessary for a multitude of initiatives. This presents a significant, yet solvable, obstacle that foundationally undermines success. Removing the obstacle returns the focus where it should be – on the faculty and students.
Faculty engagement and development
A significant part of advancing faculty success is supporting faculty engagement and professional development. According to consulting and research firm Gallup, faculty who are more engaged are less likely to depart from their institution and are more committed to student success. Additionally, any opportunity an institution has to support faculty professional development is critical, as the American Council on Education found that 90 percent of higher education faculty members find professional development to be important for their careers and for improving student outcomes. Up-to-date and consumable data is required to support both aspects of faculty success adequately, but many colleges and universities often lack the necessary tools to gather and understand their faculty’s achievements, success, and opportunities.
Brian Robinson, Senior Vice President of Product at Watermark, is a seasoned leader in software product management, operations, and design. Passionate about student learning and success, he excels at developing teams and driving growth. Brian holds a Master of Arts in Organizational Communication from Texas State University and served as an adjunct Business Communication faculty member at his alma mater.
- Entry-level IT: Clearing misconceptions in the AI era - August 26, 2026
- To rebuild adult learner confidence, universities must first earn their trust - August 24, 2026
- Schools are building AI rules before they know the destination - August 17, 2026