This was an investigation of organizational response to retrenchment in higher education. The presidents and deans of Washington State's 32 community and technical colleges were surveyed to measure the severity of, as well as the strategic and economic approaches taken to the retrenchment. It was found that although there was a statistically significant association of .69 (p > .05) between colleges that viewed retrenchment as a serious threat and the pursuit of revenue enhancing options, there was also a statistically significant association of 87 (p > .05) between the use of strategic retrenchment plans and a decremental approach. These findings support those in the literature which hold that the political context in which retrenchment ls carried out precludes implementation of strategies that are 1n the best long-term interests of the college. This investigation concludes that development of techniques for protection of administrators from retaliation by the college community during retrenchment episodes may be the most effective way to enhance college response. / Ed. D.

This study was conducted to develop a holistic understanding of distance education by identifying factors and patterns of factors that foster or impede distance education. The Washington State Community and Technical College System provided the context for the investigation of four primary questions: 1. What is the community and technical college perception of distance education? 2. What factors affect the development of distance education? 3. Which factors and factor patterns foster distance education? 4. Which factors and factor patterns impede distance education? A literature review revealed three major themes related to this study: (a) change and transformation in higher education, (b) technology and learning, and (c) distance education. Further understanding of the context for this study was derived from a review of the history of distance education in Washington State. Data were collected from interviews, documents, and participant field observations. Interviews were conducted with one administrator and one practitioner from four community colleges and one technical college. The four community colleges were stratified by location and distance education history. Constant comparative data analysis generated four hypotheses from this study: 1. The five major factors that affect the development of distance education in community and technical colleges are: (a) institutional leadership, (b) technology, (c) support, (d) faculty and department acceptance, and (e) funding. 2. These five major factors are dynamically and interdependently linked to create a "whole" that is greater than the sum of its parts. 3. Distance education in community and technical colleges is advanced by coordinating and balancing these factors, rather than by focusing exclusively on any single factor. 4. Factors that have the potential to foster or impede distance education in the future, but little effect in 1997 include: (a) intellectual property, (b) governance, (c) contracts, (d) policies, and (e) accreditation. This study generated findings with implications for community and technical college distance education leadership, management, and practice. Additional research is warranted. It is recommended that statistical analysis of factors, validated by a modified Delphi panel, be conducted. / Graduation date: 1998

The founders of Cascadia Community College changed faculty role and duties as they designed a new college. The college founders chose which themes of learning reform would be enacted by faculty in this new setting. They determined what elements of traditional roles continued to be important and what new expectations would be articulated. They decided what themes would become the center of faculty role in the creation of the new college. The study seeks to establish the themes of reform that were adopted by this college and how the founders expected those reforms to reside in, change, and influence faculty role. Through interviews with founding college members, the researcher, herself a participant in the founding of the college, triangulated the voices of the key participants with the publications of the new college that were related to faculty role. Themes that emerged from the study were outcomes, interdisciplinarity, organization and structure, innovation, technology, global/multicultural perspectives, complexity, and expectation for traits. A new view of expanded faculty role expectations is explored. This role is reflective of many themes seen in reform literature involving tenets of the learning college, the shift from teaching to learning, and outcomes-grounded teaching. A model is presented to explain the interrelatedness of the themes and the new perspective on teaching in the reformed college. / Graduation date: 2004