Thesis (Ph.D.)--University of Nebraska-Lincoln, 2006. / Title from title screen (site viewed on August 25, 2006). PDF text of dissertation: vii, 168 p. : ill. (some col.) ; 4.48Mb. UMI publication number: AAT 3208050. Includes bibliographical references. Also available in microfilm and microfiche format.

This study attempts to determine the Profile and Problems of Part-time Faculty in British Columbia Community Colleges, based on a sampling from six of the fourteen colleges in the province. These institutions were British Columbia Institute of Technology, Capilano College, Douglas College, East Kootenay College, Fraser Valley College, and Vancouver Community College. Each of the six institutions represented a unique combination of characteristics such as age of the college, geographical area covered, multi-campus or single campus, melded or unmelded (i.e. amalgamation of the college with local provincial vocational institutes), and historical usage of part-time faculty. Data for a time analysis were collected from college records which gave the distribution of part-time faculty by semester and by curriculum area for the last three to five years. This helped to determine trends in the use of part-time faculty. A questionnaire was used as the data collection instrument for establishing the profile and problems. It was sent to every part-time faculty member who had taught in the selected colleges for the past two years. The ratio of part-time to full-time faculty in the colleges varied from approximately 0.3:1 to 1.8:1 with an average ratio of 0.7:1. The ratios are highest in the vocational training area (approximately 2:1) followed by the university transfer area (approximately 0.7:1) and the career/technical area, (approximately 0.6:1). There is a significant difference in the ratio of part-time to full-time faculty members among the colleges in the study. Furthermore in almost all other categories differences were significant. This could reflect the autonomy and varying needs of individual colleges. Based on the data gathered in the study the'typical' part-time college faculty member is male; lives within an hour's drive of the college; works in business and commerce as a managerial employee; makes about $24,000 a year from all sources; or makes about $15,000 a year if his principal source of income was from teaching in colleges; would accept an offer of full-time employment in a college if he were given suitable credit for his work experience and academic credentials; is willing to take an appreciable salary cut to teach at a community college to satisfy a career choice; is not now actively looking around for a new job; teaches at only one subject and that one usually repeated while he is at the college; teaches after 4 p.m., but would prefer to teach before 4 p.m.; has at least 8 years of work experience; has at least one teaching credential and a Master's degree; has taught courses at the secondary school level and in adult education programs; teaches a non-laboratory-oriented course with technician assistance available but no marking assistance; is apt to be invited to college professional development programs, but does not attend; is not sure how much non-teaching activities are expected of him; is a member of the college's faculty association but not a voting member unless he teaches at least one-half a load; is paid proportionately less than full-time faculty; is not represented in the college faculty's bargaining unit; usually has a mail box; is as likely as not to have a desk to work at; has his teaching evaluated; and, finally, can be released without cause at the end of his contract or employment period. Officially, the colleges extend the same administration - support services to part-time faculty as to full-time faculty except that they usually do not grant the former the privilege of taking free credit courses. Salaries for part-time faculty are less than for full-time faculty. Credit is seldom given for academic and teaching credentials or for work experience. Pay rates are usually based on the lowest rate of the full-time faculty scale. Among the colleges, there is a significant difference in these pay rates. Increments are not usually given and when they are they plateau at a level below that attainable by full-time faculty. Faculty agreements say very little about part-time faculty beyond defining their category as a teacher. Generally part-time faculty are not officially represented by faculty associations. The recently enacted "British Columbia Colleges and Provincial Institutes Act" may resolve this restriction with some form of province-wide representation. There was no agreement among the colleges on the criteria - for transition from part-time to full-time status. College administrations reported that generally part-time faculty have the same right, if not as ready access to, administrative support services. Part-time faculty at all colleges, are usually unorganized. They do not have positions on faculty association executives and are not members of bargaining committees. Faculty associations seem quite ambivalent about the interests of part-time faculty. There is an obvious community of interest between full-time and part-time faculty but there are equally obvious problems in granting part-time faculty more representation on faculty associations. Part-time faculty are generally defined in terms of full-time faculty. College faculty agreements deal mainly with the interests of full-time faculty. / Education, Faculty of / Educational Studies (EDST), Department of / Graduate

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The purpose of this study was to explore Midwestern Community College (MCC) communication adjunct faculty members’ descriptions of techniques used to prepare for a diverse student population. This research was conducted in order to gain a better understanding of how adjunct faculty members teaching communications courses at MCC understood diversity as it related to their teaching preparations and practices. As an adjunct faculty member at a community college, this study has been enhanced by my own experiences, along with in-depth interviews with other adjunct faculty members from the same institution. Data, interpreted from a Critical Race Theory perspective revealed elements of dysconscious racism and whiteness from some participants. As a result, Culturally Relevant Pedagogy and Inclusive Pedagogy were examined as potential frameworks to guide next-level faculty development programs for adjunct faculty teaching communications courses at a community college. In the absence of such faculty development programs, data did not demonstrate any evolution of preparation strategies as part of the pedagogical practices of adjunct faculty, nor any practices as process of continual improvement for teaching in diverse classrooms. The findings can be used to better understand the complexities of how adjunct faculty understand diversity and how that understanding impacts their teaching preparations and practices. / Department of Educational Studies

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Thesis (Ph. D.)--Illinois State University, 1980. / Title from title page screen, viewed Feb. 21, 2005. Dissertation Committee: J.H. McGrath (chair), John McCarthy, Ronald Halinski, James Hallam, Michael Winchell. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 158-164) and abstract. Also available in print.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, 1994. / Vita. Abstract. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 120-131). Also available via the Internet.

This qualitative case study was created to explore with experienced online adjunct faculty in higher education their perceptions of the ways they learned to stay competent within their discipline to continue to be proficient in their online instruction. Their experience teaching online ranged from five to 17 years and all participants taught online for both private and public institutions. Some participants taught for one institution while others taught for as many as three to six institutions. All participants taught a variety of courses and learned informally to develop the competencies they needed to become proficient in online instruction. The study was based on the following assumptions: a) experienced online adjunct faculty need continuing opportunities for professional and personal development and growth; b) experienced online adjunct faculty need professional development support from their institutions to create experiences that support their professional and personal development growth; c) professional development programs will help adjuncts keep their knowledge and skills current to help them to remain competent in their online instruction to continue to be proficient in their online instruction. The source of data for this study was interviews with 15 experienced online adjuncts who had at least five years of experience teaching online. This research study was designed to explore the competencies experienced online adjuncts (EOAs) perceive they need to remain competent, the way they learn those competencies, and factors that help and hinder them from remaining competent to continue to be proficient in their online instruction. Three major findings revealed that: a) technological and pedagogical competencies were the most important to be proficient in their online instruction; b) EOAs learned these competencies informally, through experiential learning, dialogue with colleagues, trial and error and self-directed learning; c) engaging in the institution’s decision-making process for online instruction helped them to remain competent. The principal recommendations for administrators in institutions of higher education who support EOAs who teach online are to offer meaningful specialized professional development and training, foster practices that acknowledge the expertise of EOAs and compensate them for expenses incurred from the purchase of technology products, and participation in opportunities that advance their competencies. The principal recommendations resulting from this research study for EOAs who gain technological and pedagogical competencies through informal learning to continue to be proficient in their online instruction are to advocate to develop their own professional development and training programs, establish opportunities for collaboration with their colleagues, initiate more interaction with the administrators, and acknowledge their hard work and professional growth in gaining exceptional competencies for their online instruction.

Though professional development interventions are widespread in higher education, administrators often do not formally assess their effectiveness, particularly in relation to teacher self-efficacy. The purposes of this study were to determine if any statistically significant difference existed between the self-efficacy scores of adjunct faculty participants in a community college’s professional development program and nonparticipants and to identify the variables with a statistically significant relationship with self-efficacy. A modified version of the Teachers’ Sense of Efficacy Scale (TSES) was administered to 21 adjunct faculty participants in Lone Star College’s Adjunct Certification Program (ACP) and 312 adjunct faculty not currently participating in the program. A demographic questionnaire development by the researcher was also administered. Independent variables of the demographic questionnaire included gender, ethnicity, age, K-12 teaching experience, highest degree earned, subject taught, years of college teaching experience, and number of courses taught each semester. Paired t-test results indicated statistically significant differences in Efficacy in Instructional Strategies for adjunct participants in the ACP program. No significant differences were found for Efficacy in Student Engagement and Efficacy in Classroom Management. Multiple regression analyses indicated that gender has a statistically significant relationship to Efficacy Instructional Strategies. A statistically significant relationship was found for race for Efficacy in Classroom Management. Finally, analysis also indicated a positive relationship between race and gender for Efficacy in Student Engagement. No other statistically significant relationships were found across the other demographic variables. Findings of this study revealed that the ACP increased teacher self-efficacy across two of the three dimensions of the TSES indicating that the professional development intervention had a positive effect on the efficacy of its participants. The present study contributes to the research on teacher self-efficacy, adjunct faculty and professional development interventions.

The problem of this study was to determine the perceived competencies needed by supervisors in order to supervise instruction conducted by part-time instructors in a junior/community college setting. The study was conducted in three phases. The purpose of phase one of the study was to determine the areas of responsibility and tasks which are appropriately delegated to the supervisors of part-time instructors. To accomplish this purpose, areas of responsibility and tasks were drawn from job descriptions for the position of supervisor of part-time instructors in the Dallas County Community College District. The areas of responsibility and tasks were reworded by the investigator to serve as items in a questionnaire to which participants in the First National Conference on Part-time Instructors in the Community College were asked to respond. Means and standard deviations were determined for each group in relation to each competency statement for both importance and adequacy. All 134 competency statements listed in the questionnaire were rated by all groups as important. All but four of the competencies were rated by all groups as adequately performed by present supervisors. A list of seven competencies which were deemed very important (mean score of 4.50 or more) was presented.