No description available.

This phenomenological qualitative research study sought to gain insight into the socialization experiences of new vocational technical faculty. Ten Louisiana vocational technical faculty members were interviewed face-to-face. The interviews were audiotaped, transcribed, and analyzed to discover how these new vocational technical faculty members transitioned from industry to academe. Data analysis revealed that participants in the study experienced a similar transitional process into the technical college as twoyear and four-year faculty into community colleges and universities. Like their two-year and four-year counterparts, the participants experienced similar challenges related to their new teaching positions, such as balancing heavy workloads, maintaining industry contacts, and interacting with administration, faculty and students. Similarly, they tended to value teaching, collegial relationships with other faculty and their interactions with students. However, some of the challenges were unique to their new positions as Louisiana vocational technical instructors. These faculty members experienced an anticipatory phase that prepared them for the workplace rather than academe. Many of the participants experienced notable levels of stress as they transitioned from industry to the technical college. The stress seemed to be related to their lack of pedagogical knowledge of teaching and the issues of forging a new academic persona. This research found that new vocational technical faculty members enjoyed formal professional development activities that were discipline specific and advanced their knowledge of their craft. The study also explored the use of Menges' (1999) Model of Faculty Academic Life as it related to the new vocational technical instructor experiences, role conceptualization, and resources that would help the faculty grow and develop as instructors. Through their shared experiences and stories the researcher identified the needs of this subpopulation and made recommendations for future studies.

No description available.

As many of the founding full-time community college faculty began to retire, colleges across the nation intensified their full-time faculty recruitment and retention efforts. They began to replace the retiring full-time faculty with the new generation faculty cohort. The purpose of this study was to understand the role that a comprehensive orientation program played in the socialization process of new community college faculty. Additionally, the study examined the choice of orientation tactics used to socialize the new faculty. Relying on the reported socialization experiences of seven full-time faculty members from six of the seven colleges that comprised a community college district, the study explored how an orientation program facilitated their adjustment process. Finally, the researcher sought to identify ways to improve full-time community college faculty socialization experience. Most of the faculty in this study, although having no specific training to teach at the community college, were able to build relationships outside their individual colleges, acquired new skills, and gained access to valuable district resources, as a result of their participation in a yearlong comprehensive orientation program. Three significant findings resulted from this study. The first major significant finding of this study was that the incorporation of a social apparatus, such as the “retreat” into an orientation program, facilitated group cohesion and identity among the new faculty. The social structure of the retreat provided new faculty with an opportunity to connect with one another at an emotional level. They were able to expand their social networks beyond their immediate colleges. A second significant finding was that faculty became more confident and comfortable in their teaching roles as a result of the skills they acquired following their completion of the comprehensive orientation program. The monthly sessions, which were held every 4th Friday provided the faculty the opportunity to acquire and develop new skills to effectively discharge their responsibilities. The third major finding of this study was that because faculty had access to district resources, to develop their skills, they became more closely tied to their institutions. Finally, recommendations are made to improve new faculty socialization experience during their adjustment process. / text

No description available.