The purpose of this research was to examine the socialization experiences of new family and consumer sciences teacher educators, including their interpretations of career preparation, their first job, socialization during the first year, continuing socialization and career development, and respondents' recommendations for improving the socialization process. Organizational socialization provided the theory base. Telephone and personal interviews were conducted with ten female family and consumer sciences teacher educators who held positions in comprehensive and research institutions across the country. The constant comparison method was used for analysis of the data. Results of the study revealed that graduate school professors provided the role modeling participants believed was crucial in preparing them for their future career. Participants who had challenging and relevant coursework and opportunities for a variety of professional experiences during graduate school felt they were well prepared for their faculty roles. However participants for whom this was not the case felt their transition to a faculty role was much more of an overwhelming and unhappy experience. New faculty orientation sessions and career development facilitated success at the university level, while department chairs and faculty peers provided support at the department level. Inhibitors of respondents' success included feelings of being overwhelmed with their workload, inability to balance professional and personal lives, and department pressure to conduct research and publish articles. Overall, participants indicated that lack of time was the primary inhibitor of their success. In spite of the overwhelming feelings of confusion, frustration, stress, and unhappiness during their first year in their new role, respondents reported that their second year was more positive. Implications for improved practice include examining graduate program coursework to ensure relevance and application and including opportunities for increased responsibility in professional experiences related to teaching, research, and professional service. Departments with new faculty should provide opportunities for new faculty to meet both formally and informally with the department chair to discuss policies related to promotion and tenure. Further research could be done to examine the socialization experiences of new faculty in other areas of family and consumer sciences and vocational education to determine similarities or differences. / Ph. D.

Community college instructors confront many challenges, teaching increasingly diverse students in their classrooms. This study's purpose was to enhance educational literature on diversity, and assist community college faculty in personal self-reflection and professional skill review to meet multicultural student body needs. In addition, the relationship between these perceptions and faculty characteristics, such as faculty status, gender, race/ethnicity, age, years of teaching experience, program area, teaching locale, instructing locality, diversity training, years of teaching, teaching division, and previous diversity instruction, were examined. The participants were 194 randomly selected, full and part-time faculty members who taught at four community colleges within the Virginia Community College System (VCCS). The most common profile of respondents included Caucasian females who were 50+ years of age, had been employed 10 or fewer years as part-time faculty in the Liberal Arts and Social Sciences program area of a community college in a suburban location, and had participated in previous diversity training. This study utilized the Survey of Community College Faculty (SCCF), a combined survey of the Multicultural Teaching Scale (MTS) and Pluralism and Diversity Attitude Assessment (PADAA) that framed the research. The MTS assessed self-reported cultural competencies categorized into five dimensions: (a) Content Integration, (b) Knowledge Construction, (c) Prejudice Reduction, (d) Equity Pedagogy, and (e) Empowering School Culture (Banks, 1993). The PADAA assessed cultural diversity attitudes on four subscales: (a) Appreciate Cultural Pluralism, (b) Value Cultural Pluralism, (c) Implement Cultural Pluralism, and (d) Uncomfortable with Cultural Diversity (Stanley, 1992). The investigation results revealed that faculty members perceived themselves as having high multicultural competence in the Equity Pedagogy dimension and moderate multicultural competence in the other four dimensions. Additionally, faculty indicated a strong appreciation and value for cultural diversity and pluralism but demonstrated an unwillingness to implement cultural pluralism ideologies into their instructional practices. Outcomes of regression analysis of selected respondent characteristics revealed previous diversity instruction and instructional program area (Business, Engineering, and Technology) were significant in predicting perceived increased multicultural competence of community college faculty in all five dimensions. Study findings indicated gender (female) and race (African American) also contributed positively in the prediction of multicultural competence. / Ph. D.

The purpose of this study was to analyze the use of a course management system in relation to faculty characteristics and instructional environments at a rural community college in California. The use of the course management system, Blackboard, was the technology studied. This study used a nonexperimental quantitative ex post facto research design to analyze the use of Blackboard at all classes in fall semester 2008. This study used 10 faculty characteristics and five instructional environment conditions as the independent variables and the basis for analyses. The 10 faculty characteristics were age, gender, highest degree earned, discipline, number of faculty teaching in the discipline, number of courses teaching by an individual faculty member, average class size, number of years teaching, employment status, and hourly pay rate. The five instructional environmental conditions were teaching location, course delivery method, course type, career technical education status and course duration. The dependent variable was the use of a course management system. Elements of the course management system were placed into four general categories—activated, static, interactive and multimedia. Pearson's correlation analyses were calculated to identify any significant relationships between faculty characteristics and use of a course management system and between instructional environmental conditions and the use of a course management system. Cramer's V was used to determine the strength of those relationships. Faculty who were female, had more formal education, were tenured, earned more money, taught on campus, taught online or taught for the fill semester were more likely to use a course management system. There were moderate to strong relationships for faculty who were female, had more formal education, were tenured, earned more money, taught on campus, or taught online. Institutions of higher education are investing fiscal, human and technological resources in the purchase and deployment of course management systems. This study can be replicated by any college that has the ability to gather information about faculty and their use of a technology. Once the method by which the data is collected is determined, it can be repeated at regular intervals in order to track the progress of the adoption of the technology. This data can then be used by college leaders as an evaluative tool within the college's planning processes.

Despite numerous studies and reviews on faculty turnover, there appeared to be no systematic investigation of factors which influenced voluntary turnover among full-time faculty members in Nigerian educational institutions such as those studied here. In addition, it appeared that Nigeria lacked faculty turnover data for use in any meaningful research study. Therefore, this study investigated factors perceived to be influential among full-time faculty members leaving their jobs or institutions voluntarily. The six facets of the Job Descriptive Index developed by Smith, Kendall, and Hulin as well as a questionnaire about commitment development by Mowday, Porter and Steers elicited data concerning: present work, pay, promotion, supervision, coworkers, job in general, and commitment. Two hundred and eight (84.21%) of 247 full-time faculty members from ten selected colleges of technology/polytechnics in Nigeria became involved in this study. Means, frequencies, percentages, one-way ANOVA set at .05 level and Scheffe Test of Multiple Comparison set at .10 level were used for the analysis of data. Based on the findings, it could be established that full-time faculty members in Nigerian Colleges of Technology/Polytechnics are dissatisfied with their conditions of service. The most influential factors for voluntary turnover were pay and opportunities for promotion. Conclusions drawn from the study indicate that the demographic characteristics (gender, age, level of education, years of college teaching experience, salary grade level, college/polytechnic of employment, and region of origin) affect full-time faculty members' work attitudes. Further studies are recommended to determine policies and practices suitable for retaining the most capable full-time faculty members in Nigerian Colleges of Technology/Polytechnics.

Research into job preference and job satisfaction addresses the agreement between individual and institutional values leading to job choice and job satisfaction. This research assessed ten job preference and ten job satisfaction factors at the University of Guam. Ninety-one faculty members and 32 administrators completed a two-page paired-comparison questionnaire. Demographic data were also collected. Factors' hierarchy and valence positions were reported and subjected to "PCSTATS" program to determine significance among pairs. Significant differences existed in three of the four hypotheses measuring the job preferential factors: advancement, benefits, company, co-workers, hours, pay, security, supervisor, type of work, and working conditions; and job satisfaction factors: good wages, job security, interesting work, tactful disciplining, in on things, working conditions, management loyalty, appreciation, promotion, and sympathetic understanding. Additional findings were made using post hoc analysis. Results indicated that administrators perceived others' preferences to be (a) pay, (b) advancement, and (c) type of work while faculty chose (a) type of work, (b) pay, and (c) advancement. In job satisfaction administrators selected (a) promotion, (b) good wages, and (c) job security, while the faculty chose (a) interesting work, (b) good wages, and (c) promotion. Self job preference factors chosen by males and females were (a) type of work and (b) pay with (c) advancement and (c) co-workers, respectively. The top three self job satisfaction factors chosen by males and females were (a) interesting work, (b) good wages, and (c) promotion. Disagreement is evident between groups. It is recommended that the findings be used in the selection and retention of faculty members at the University of Guam.

This study seeks to determine the institutional uses of the formula system in twenty-two public four-year institutions of higher education in Texas. The study is limited to the areas of faculty salaries and departmental operating expenses. Particular effort is made to determine whether the methods used by the various institutions in allocating funds to academic departments are based upon the number of semester hours taught by each department and therefore upon the amount of funds the departments produce under the state formula system.

Data pertaining to stress and job satisfaction of faculty at five Tennessee Board of Regents community colleges in east Tennessee were collected and analyzed in this study. Questionnaires were distributed to all full-time faculty at the colleges, with 51.3% returned. Questionnaires consisted of a socio-demographic survey, the Faculty Stress Index (FSI) to measure stress levels, and the Job Descriptive Index (JDI) to measure job satisfaction. Of those responding, 92.4% were white, 76.5% were married, 61.2% were female, 58.9% were tenured, and 81.3% were 40 or older, with 52.2% over 50. Only 1.9% were 30 or younger, but 51.1% had been in their current positions for six years or less. A total of 72.4% were assistant (22.9%) or associate (49.5%) professors, with 19.2% ranking as instructors and 8.4% as professors. Previous factor analysis of FSI items determined the dimensions Reward/Recognition, Time Constraints, Departmental Influence, and Student Interaction. In this study, faculty FSI scores implied low stress levels in Reward/Recognition and Departmental Influence, with moderate levels in Time Constraints and Student Interaction. Those in position for less than three years, non-whites, and non-tenured faculty reported significantly less stress in Student Interaction. Tenured faculty and associate professors were significantly more pressured by Time Constraints than non-tenured or other-ranked faculty. The JDI consisted of six sub-scales: Work on Job, Pay, Opportunities for Promotion, Supervision, People on Job, and Job in General. Respondents indicated high satisfaction in Work, Supervision, People, and Job in General but showed dissatisfaction with Pay. Negative feelings were measured in Opportunities for Promotion, with significantly less satisfaction for older, more experienced, tenured faculty, and associate professors. Non-tenured faculty members were significantly more satisfied in Work and Supervision than were tenured respondents. Correlation analysis showed significant inverse relationships among all FSI dimensions and JDI sub-scales. In hierarchical multiple regression analyses, FSI dimensions were significant predictors of satisfaction in all JDI sub-scales, whereas the socio-demographic variables were significant predictors only for Opportunities for Promotion. Recommended were longitudinal studies of stress and satisfaction among specific groups and/or colleges. Encouraged were stress management programs and improved systems of reward and recognition for faculty.

Community college faculty need to learn and understand the technology that is available in their classrooms so that they can teach students how to use these tools. Professional development workshops are one way that faculty members acquire knowledge of classroom technology. However, little is known about the usefulness of technology professional development workshops using active learning in a community college setting as a development option. The purpose of this qualitative study was to identify faculty members' perceptions and beliefs regarding technology professional development that incorporated active learning as a learning method. The conceptual framework included the concepts of transformative and active learning. Participants for this study included 5 faculty drawn from full-time, part-time, and adjunct faculty who registered for a technology professional development workshop featuring active learning at a community college in the U.S. Midwest. Data sources included interviews conducted before and after the workshop. Data were analyzed using NVivo software and inductive coding to identify patterns and themes. The findings of this study indicated that faculty prefer active learning to self-study or problem-based learning when learning technology because of the collaboration available within the workshop setting. This study contributes to social change because it provides insights on how teachers believe they best learn technology. Educational leaders can use this knowledge to maximize quality in future technology trainings.

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

Thesis (Ed. D.)--UCLA, 2006. / Vita. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 152-157).