Teaching-focused faculty: the supports, structures, and policies that relate to their perceptions of influence on their colleagues’ teaching

Faculty stakeholders report an interest in hiring teaching-focused faculty for their pedagogical expertise which, if shared with colleagues, may substantially improve institutional academic outcomes. Drawing on self-determination theory, we surveyed 260 teaching-focused faculty across nine University of California campuses to identify the institutional supports, structures, and policies that predict faculty influence by satisfying their three basic psychological needs (BPNs): autonomy, competence, and relatedness. Several institutional factors were associated with faculty’s satisfaction of one or more basic psychological needs, and greater need satisfaction, especially relatedness, was associated with stronger perceived influence on colleagues’ teaching. These findings highlight specific institutional supports that administrators can leverage to increase faculty well-being and pedagogical influence.