As enrollment of minority students and recruitment of minority faculty in higher education increase, opportunities for students to interact with racially and ethnically different faculty will become more frequent and pronounced. Also, there may be expectations that these interactions will produce greater educational gains and sensitivity to racial issues. A quantitative research methodology was employed to measure the nature of the student-faculty interactions across race and to explore factors that influence undergraduate students’ GPA and multicultural perceptions in order to identify ways in which student-faculty interactions might better serve the students. Mainly, this study focused on the quantity, quality, and socialization of interactions between White and Asian students and faculty members. The instrument used for data collection was a combination of five national online surveys that were designed to assess college students’ perceptions and experiences of their student-faculty interactions and data were gathered with White and Asian faculty and students at Virginia Commonwealth University. Data collection consisted of surveying students and faculty members via email. The researcher found that only the quality of student-faculty interactions, which belongs to the quality of interactions, had a positive impact on students’ GPA (.06) and their multicultural perceptions (.18). A better understanding of factors influencing students’ GPA and multicultural perceptions would be beneficial for both teachers and undergraduate students at VCU.

Class of 2007 Abstract / Objectives: The purpose of this study was to determine the level of job satisfaction among faculty in Colleges and Schools of Pharmacy in the United States. Responses to survey questions regarding personal and demographic information were used to analyze differences in satisfaction among the faculty. Methods: A prospective study was performed by distributing an email containing a weblink to a questionnaire to 1,000 randomly selected full-time faculty members in Colleges and Schools of Pharmacy in the United States. The American Association of Colleges of Pharmacy (AACP) Roster of Faculty and Professional Staff for the 2005-2006 academic year was used to generate the list. The weblink directed prospective participants to a questionairre constructed on www.surveymonkey.com. Responses were collected from the website questionairre and analyzed using analysis of variance to interpret the data. Results: A total of 266 participants responded. The mean level of overall job satisfaction for the faculty was 3.6 (+ 1.0). The survey demonstrated significant differences in levels of overall job satisfaction particularly when related to faculty salary categories with the higher salaries generally showing higher levels of satisfaction than those in lower salary categories. Additionally, it showed that factors such as having time for family and other personal needs and opportunity to educate were more important than good salary and benefit packages. Conclusions: Faculty members employed in Colleges or Schools of Pharmacy in the United States are generally satisfied with their jobs.

This qualitative research study investigated the experiences of five education faculty members about their experiences with technology. These faculty members come from different areas of education. They participated in a technology-based project, the purpose of which was to help faculty members integrate technology into their classrooms and implement technology in their instructions. Before the project, all of the faculty members had experiences with technology, such as emails, Internet searches and PowerPoint applications. During the project, most of them learned web page design and more technology integration into their curriculum and instruction. The purpose of this study is to respond to the need to identify, study and disseminate examples of technology using teachers and portray a group of education faculty members after they experienced a federally funded technology-based project. Their practices, beliefs, and factors that influence their beliefs and practices with technology integration are the focus of this study. Based on the literature and the research studies, the following questions were formulated in the following: 1. How has participation in the technology-based project influenced faculty members' beliefs and practices with technology integration? 2. What are the factors that influence faculty members' practices regarding technology? The findings are the following. All participants have always believed that technology is an important tool and should be integrated into the teaching and learning. However they believe that technology is not the only tool that can be used to enhance teaching and learning. Their experienced in the grant project have increased their confidence and comfort in using technology by being exposed to presentations and having real hands-on activities within a certain time period that did not conflict their academic calendars. Factors that influence their beliefs and practices are: experiences in the project, access to technology and technical problems, Administrative support (from the department and project directors) and technical support: from the students, from faculty, from technician, technological leadership, communication within the community and outside, time, and subject Issues. Internal factors identified include personal belief, personal feelings with technology use, demand of time to learn, learning style, and classroom teaching.

The labor market for part-time faculty at community colleges has changed such that in the past decade the number of instructors who teach part-time now outnumber those who teach full-time. This dissertation examines the full-time and part-time labor markets arguing that two separate labor markets exist. The supply in an urban area is nearly perfectly elastic for both full-time and part-time faculty; the demand side of the labor market is characterized by a number of costs. Data on costs were collected by two separate questionnaires, one to faculty and one to the personnel office of each college. The costs differ between full-time faculty and part-time faculty and include wages and fringe benefits, which are higher for the full-time than for the part-time faculty, and turnover costs which, on the basis of the total cost of the two groups, are higher for the part-time than for the full-time faculty. Because a service is produced, the input side rather than the output side of the labor market is used to estimate the expected productivity of the two groups. Literature on human resource investment is used as a basis for examination of productivity difference of the two groups. The labor market for the two faculty groups is segmented; however, the faculty perform nearly identical services and thus are considered perfect substitutes although not on a one-to-one ratio. The productivity difference between the full-time and part-time faculty is based on data collected by the faculty questionnaire. Based on the theoretical predictions and using the above data, the dissertation examines the effect of costs and constraints on the optimum employment combination of full-time and part-time faculty at urban community colleges. The hypothesis examined is that colleges act in a rational way given costs, productivity, and other constraints. Linear programming was used to examine the problem, and results showed that community colleges do act in a rational way, and will minimize total cost or maximize output. Further examination simulated conditions that might affect the community college from internal or external sources. The purpose of the simulation analysis was to determine the optimum combination of full-time and part-time instructors and the effect on the output or costs to the college. Simulations included changes in constraints, total budget, and total output requirements, and adjustments of costs and productivity relationships between the two faculty groups. The results showed that the college would adjust its part-time faculty, which formed a relatively variable factor of production, rather than its full-time faculty.

Currently there is a shortage of qualified nursing faculty in Canada, which is predicted to increase in the near future. Mentorship is one retention and recruitment strategy suggested to help manage the prevailing nursing faculty shortage issue. There is limited research that describes that needs of nursing faulty in mentoring relationships, particularly those that work in technical college settings. The purpose of this naturalistic inquiry was to describe, interpret, and connect the voices of nursing faculty, from a Canadian school of nursing, as nursing faculty shared their lived experiences in formal mentorship relationships. This research project was inspired by several faculty from this particular school of nursing that felt others may learn more about mentoring from their lived experiences.<p> Interpretative phenomenology was used as aboard framework to evaluate a range of individual experiences within a formal mentoring program from which commonalities were sifted; patterns were identified using comparative methodology, and incidental and essential themes were located. Investigative and interpretive endeavors focused on answering the research question: What do novice nursing faculty need in mentoring relationships at a Canadian School of Nursing? Five themes were identified: 1) Conquering the Divide described the multiple role transitions faculty faced when they need to master classroom teaching, laboratory instruction, and clinical teaching; Self-serve Only identified participants who were involved in informal mentoring relationships that were initiated by participants while they were in a mentee role prior to entering formal mentoring relationships; Under Utilization of Mentoring Process outlines how mentees unsuccessfully plan and evaluated goals with their mentors; Outside Influences explains the effect that collateral hostility had on mentoring culture and how people outside a work climate could impact personal and professional growth; the final overarching theme, Time, tied all of the themes together by describing workload and work-life balance issues. All of the themes indentifies that formal mentoring relationships were meeting some of the needs of new nursing faculty but the program did not meet all of their needs. Key points of knowing and meaning that emerged from this project can be used to inform mentoring practices and as a basis for future research.

Currently there is a shortage of qualified nursing faculty in Canada, which is predicted to increase in the near future. Mentorship is one retention and recruitment strategy suggested to help manage the prevailing nursing faculty shortage issue. There is limited research that describes that needs of nursing faulty in mentoring relationships, particularly those that work in technical college settings. The purpose of this naturalistic inquiry was to describe, interpret, and connect the voices of nursing faculty, from a Canadian school of nursing, as nursing faculty shared their lived experiences in formal mentorship relationships. This research project was inspired by several faculty from this particular school of nursing that felt others may learn more about mentoring from their lived experiences.<p> Interpretative phenomenology was used as aboard framework to evaluate a range of individual experiences within a formal mentoring program from which commonalities were sifted; patterns were identified using comparative methodology, and incidental and essential themes were located. Investigative and interpretive endeavors focused on answering the research question: What do novice nursing faculty need in mentoring relationships at a Canadian School of Nursing? Five themes were identified: 1) Conquering the Divide described the multiple role transitions faculty faced when they need to master classroom teaching, laboratory instruction, and clinical teaching; Self-serve Only identified participants who were involved in informal mentoring relationships that were initiated by participants while they were in a mentee role prior to entering formal mentoring relationships; Under Utilization of Mentoring Process outlines how mentees unsuccessfully plan and evaluated goals with their mentors; Outside Influences explains the effect that collateral hostility had on mentoring culture and how people outside a work climate could impact personal and professional growth; the final overarching theme, Time, tied all of the themes together by describing workload and work-life balance issues. All of the themes indentifies that formal mentoring relationships were meeting some of the needs of new nursing faculty but the program did not meet all of their needs. Key points of knowing and meaning that emerged from this project can be used to inform mentoring practices and as a basis for future research.

Before his death in 1937, Ernest Rutherford discovered the rate of radioactive decay of atoms. In 1911 he proposed the nuclear structure of the atom, and in 1919 he successfully split the nucleus of an atom. Rutherford also achieved success when advising his students to follow his research method in nuclear physics. As a faculty advisor to research students, Rutherford advised courses, research topics, and experimental research. To determine whether Rutherford made an impact on his students, this study focused on the relationship between Rutherford and 24 researchers and students at McGill University, the University of Manchester, and Cambridge University. Rutherford had a significant impact through his advising efforts at each institution and contributed to the success of his students. This study may not include a complete list of students at each institution because of a lack of records at each institution. Instead, this study focused on the students included in the Rutherford biographies. The study included a content analysis on Rutherford biographies and memoirs from students under Rutherford’s direct influence at McGill University, the University of Manchester, and Cambridge University. Historical information from J.L. Heilbron, David Wilson, and J.G. Crowther supplied the timeline at each institution where Rutherford conducted research. The results show an overwhelming contribution by Rutherford’s leadership in the direction of his students. Rutherford made a significant impact in the research direction of all his students examined in this study, including eight research students under Rutherford that were later honored with a Nobel Prize.

The purpose of this study was to identify ways in which students interact with faculty members outside of the classroom and learn what students believe makes for high quality interaction. Additionally, this study sought to identify successful out-of-classroom facultystudent interaction strategies from the student perspective. This knowledge can aid colleges and universities in promoting more formal and informal faculty-student out-of-classroom interaction, thereby increasing the overall quality of the undergraduate student experience. The study employed a naturalistic inquiry paradigm of research. The author interviewed 25 students at a Hispanic Serving institution (HSI) in San Antonio, Texas. All students interviewed had interacted with faculty outside of the classroom. Six themes emerged in terms of types of interaction: course-related activities; traveling for conferences or study abroad; casual interactions around campus; career and graduate school focused interaction; visiting faculty in their offices (most common); and participating together in campus clubs or athletic activities. High quality out-of-classroom interactions had four characteristics: faculty members were approachable and personable; faculty members had enthusiasm and passion for their work; faculty members cared about students personally; and faculty members served as role models and mentors. The most powerful element of high-quality faculty-student out-of-classroom interaction is that of relationship. The most pronounced differences between underclassmen and upperclassmen were in the areas of going to faculty offices and speaking with faculty about career and graduate school plans. Juniors and seniors proportionately had more interaction with faculty on these themes. Students offered suggestions on how the University could encourage more facultystudent out-of-classroom interaction. Students' ideas revolved around three themes: promoting social events and interaction; stressing the importance of office hours; and suggestions directed at faculty members. Students can also serve as ambassadors to other students by encouraging them to engage in faculty-student out-of-classroom interaction. To continue improving the undergraduate collegiate experience, colleges and universities should strengthen and refine institutional commitment to practices that foster the undergraduate experience, including that of faculty-student interaction. Finally, institutions must remember to keep students at the center of their purpose and find ways to regularly solicit qualitative feedback from students of all segments of the campus environment.

This study aims at the faculty evaluation current situation analysis to make the discussion analysis, the research object contains 96 academic years three universities in Taiwan proceed faculty evaluation . The methods of this study are the analysis of literature, the analysis of documents and semi-structured interviews. The results of this study include of following: 1.Analyzing, reorganizing, inducing the practical practice of the demestic and foreign faculty evaluation, and establishing the criterions of the faculty evaluation for this study. 2.Comparing and Analyzing the faculty evaluation laws difference of three universities in Taiwan . 3.Comparing and Analyzing the faculty evaluation administer mechanism difference of three universities in Taiwan . 4.Comparing and Analyzing the faculty evaluation the current problems difference of three universities in Taiwan . 5.Proposing suggestions for improving the faculty evaluation to the authorities of education and public and privately universities in Taiwan acccoding the findings of this study.

Thesis--PlanB (M.S.)--University of Wisconsin--Stout, 2002. / Includes bibliographical references.