Inaug.-Diss. - Erlangen.

BACKGROUND: Faculty vitality is integral to the endurance of higher education. Strengthening vitality is particularly important for mid-career faculty, who represent the largest and most productive segment, but also the most dissatisfied. While the mid-career phase is particularly vulnerable, the backdrop of academic medicine appears to be another factor that may put faculty at risk of attrition. To address these issues, Boston University School of Medicine initiated the Academy for Collaborative Innovation and Transformation (ACIT), a ten-month mid-career faculty development program consisting of six two-day interactive learning modules and multidisciplinary group projects. METHODS: This study is a mixed-methods evaluation of ACIT using a quasi-experimental design to assess the program's impact on faculty and institutional vitality. Pre-post surveys compared participants with a matched reference group. The quantitative data were augmented by interviews and focus groups with participants, senior leadership, department chairs, and ACIT staff members. RESULTS: At the program's conclusion, ACIT participants showed marked gains in knowledge, skills, attitudes, and connectivity when compared to the referents. Results also indicate that the program was largely successful in equipping participants to accomplish the four primary learning goals: to self-reflect and pursue an individual development plan; to connect longitudinally to one's peer cohort and to the larger organization; to collaborate effectively with colleagues across disciplines, sectors, and roles; and to enhance ability to implement transformative work. Lastly, the majority of didactic sessions were rated highly for both content areas and speakers, while the group projects and learning communities received mixed reviews. Based upon these results, recommendations were made to improve the design, execution, and costs of the program. CONCLUSION: Given that mid-career faculty development in academic medicine has not been extensively studied, this evaluation is able to provide a novel perspective to guide future initiatives aimed at this specific subset of higher education.

Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis (IUPUI) / The growing and aging population has created an increased demand for health care, resulting in a need for hundreds of thousands more nurses across the United States. As a result, additional nurse faculty are needed to teach the next generation of nurses. However, nurses who enter the faculty role in academia often come from various professional backgrounds with different educational preparation that may not equate to success with the tripartite faculty role of teaching, scholarship, and service. As a way to retain and develop novice faculty, mentoring relationships and programs are promoted as an intervention for career and psychosocial development within academia. Mentoring is an interpersonal process built on mutual trust and friendship to create a professional and personal bond. Mentoring relationships can help develop selfconfidence, productivity, and career satisfaction among nurse faculty members. Effective mentoring relationships can ease the transition into academia and provide a vital foundation for productive academic careers. However, the interpersonal process that is the hallmark of mentoring can differ between a mentor and protégé, leading to vast differences in quality and effectiveness. Although mentoring is widely recommended, little is known about the process of mentoring relationships in academia or how novice nurse faculty utilize mentoring to transition into academia. The purpose of this qualitative grounded theory study is to uncover a theoretical framework that describes how mentoring relationships, as experienced by novice nurse faculty, unfold. Charmaz's method of grounded theory was used to interview full-time novice nurse faculty (N = 21) with three years or less in the faculty role from nursing programs across the United States. The grounded theory theoretical framework, Creating Mentorship Pathways to Navigate Academia captures the process of mentoring as experienced by novice nurse faculty within academia. The theoretical framework contains five main phases as described by novice nurse faculty being assigned a formal mentor, not having mentoring needs met, seeking an informal mentor, connecting with mentor, and doing the work of mentoring. Participants created mentorship pathways through both formal and informal mentoring relationships to navigate academia by acquiring knowledge, meeting expectations, and functioning in the role as a faculty member.

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This study addressed the broader issue of the negative impact of the community college practice of hiring large numbers of part-time faculty on graduation rates. Prior research has determined that higher ratios of full-time faculty correlate significantly and positively with community college graduation rates. This study extended the research of institutional models affecting community college graduation rates and investigated the nature of regional accreditation for the adequacy of full-time faculty as a determinate of graduation rates. This study included all public 2-year institutions in the United States. A correlational research design was implemented using data available through the National Center for Education Statistics and the nation’s six regional accrediting agencies for community colleges. Among the major findings in the study, graduation rates were found to be significantly correlated among schools belonging to different regional accreditation agencies. The study also determined that ratios of full-time faculty, institution size, instructional spending, and ratios of full-time students correlated significantly with increased graduation rates. When comparing community colleges among regional accreditors that had no standards for regulating the adequacy of full-time faculty with those who do, graduation rates did not correlate significantly. These results contribute to the body of knowledge for institutional effects on graduation rates and also have important implications for regional accreditors. The results suggest that regional accrediting standards for the adequacy of full-time faculty may need to be more prescriptive in nature to provide a direct impact on graduation rates.

While disciplinarity still dominates college and university life, enthusiasm for interdisciplinary approaches has increased over the past three decades. Proponents often present interdisciplinarity as an a priori good, but scholars have noted that we have not yet sufficiently evaluated the efficacy of interdisciplinary initiatives. Most assessments of interdisciplinary initiatives have focused on tangible outcomes such as grants, papers, and patents. This is an unfortunate critical gap in the examination of interdisciplinarity, as it is possible that engagement in interdisciplinary activities changes student and faculty thinking in significant ways. This dissertation proposes to address the gap in the examination of interdisciplinarity regarding interdisciplinary learning outcomes by investigating the intellectual impact of interdisciplinary initiatives on students and faculty. Utilizing a manuscript approach for the dissertation experience, this series of qualitative studies is organized around three areas of inquiry related to learning in interdisciplinary contexts: (a) how systematic interdisciplinary training affect doctoral students' epistemic beliefs, that is, how they view the construction of knowledge and the nature of scholarship; (b) what faculty learn from engaging in interdisciplinary research initiatives, and what tools mediate this interdisciplinary learning process; and (c) whether an interdisciplinary training effort promotes the creation of an alternative community of practice for participating students and faculty. The studies were part of a larger mixed methods assessment of the efficacy of the EIGER program. Participants were selected based upon their affiliation with one specific interdisciplinary graduate training initiative, the EIGER program, at Virginia Tech, and came from the hard sciences, engineering, and social sciences. Informed by grounded theory, analysis of the data revealed that both graduate students and faculty achieve interdisciplinary understanding as a result of their interdisciplinary training and research experiences. Furthermore, faculty interdisciplinary learning is mediated by other people and two categories of tools, problem platforms and solution mechanisms, and is achieved by both borrowing and lending of disciplinary expertise. Finally, results suggest that programs like the EIGER may constitute emerging communities of practice that serve as alternatives to traditional disciplinary communities. / Ph. D.

In 2006–2007 ten public universities were utilizing responsibility center management (RCM), and that number increased to 24 in 2014–2015 (Jaquette, Kramer, and Curs, 2018), but little is known about the relationship between the implementation of RCM, faculty composition, and faculty compensation. Inequities in faculty composition and salaries exist based on gender and race/ethnicity. My study explored whether the implementation of RCM, an increasingly popular budget model in public higher education, was associated with further faculty salary and compositional inequities by gender and race/ethnicity. Deans, as heads of revenue centers under RCM, have increased budgetary power and decision-making responsibility. Organizational justice theory, specifically the tenets of distributive justice and procedural justice, grounded this study by connecting the implementation of RCM to the diffusion of decision-making throughout the organization and potential association with inequities in faculty composition and faculty compensation. This quantitative study examined the relationship of RCM with institutional average salary and numerical proportions of assistant professors on the tenure track at public, doctoral universities based on the 2015 Basic Carnegie Classification. I used difference-in-difference estimation to compare institutions that implemented RCM (treatment group) to institutions that did not (control group) to determine whether there were differences in salary and proportional trends for assistant professors by gender and by gender and race. In addition, I explored engineering in a specific set of analyses because it has been cited as a field that should especially benefit from an RCM budgeting approach. I compared the change in proportions of assistant professors of engineering by gender and by gender and race/ethnicity at universities within the sample. Finally, the annual salaries of a subset of assistant professors of engineering within the sample of doctoral institutions in the treatment and control groups in Ohio were compared. Across these different analyses, I did not find evidence that RCM implementation between FY2012 – FY2017 had a significant effect on average institutional salary generally or by gender or race/ethnicity for assistant professors broadly or within engineering, specifically. Lacking a comprehensive dataset with institutional and individual predictors of faculty compensation and composition, and as RCM models vary among institutions, these findings should be interpreted cautiously. As RCM did not appear to be associated with any changes in faculty composition or compensation practices, I did not find evidence that RCM implementation had a significant impact on the procedural justice (i.e., decision-making criteria and processes of deans or department heads) or distributive justice (i.e., salary amounts or proportions of who was hired by gender and race/ethnicity) of faculty composition or faculty compensation at public, doctoral universities. / Doctor of Philosophy / My study explored whether the implementation of responsibility center management, an increasingly popular budget model at public universities, was associated with differences in faculty salary and faculty numbers by gender and race/ethnicity. Deans, as heads of revenue centers under RCM, have increased budgetary power and decision-making responsibility. Organizational justice theory, specifically the tenets of distributive justice and procedural justice, grounded this study by connecting the implementation of RCM to the diffusion of decision-making throughout the organization and potential association with inequities in faculty composition and faculty compensation. I examined the relationship of RCM with institutional average salary and numerical proportions of assistant professors on the tenure track at public, doctoral universities. I compared institutions that implemented RCM to institutions that did not to determine whether there were differences in salary and proportions for assistant professors by gender and by gender and race/ethnicity. In addition, I explored engineering because it has been cited as a field that should especially benefit from an RCM budgeting approach. I compared the change in proportions of assistant professors of engineering by gender and by gender and race/ethnicity. Finally, the annual salaries of assistant professors of engineering at two universities in Ohio were compared. Across these different analyses, I did not find evidence that RCM implementation had a significant effect on salary or proportions of assistant professors; however, as my study had lots of limitations, and as RCM models vary among universities, these findings should be interpreted cautiously. As RCM did not appear to be associated with any changes, I inferred that RCM implementation did not have a significant impact on the procedural justice (i.e., decision-making criteria and processes of deans or department heads) or distributive justice (i.e., salary amounts or proportions of who was hired by gender and race/ethnicity) of faculty salary or proportions at public, doctoral universities.

Professional development is pivotal for academic staff (Akiba, & LeTendre, 2009; Brew, 1995; Day & Sachs, 2004; Kahn & Walsh, 2006; Richards & Farrell, 2005). However, little is known about professional development of the academic staff in Cambodia. To fill this gap, this study aims at investigating the progress and constraints on the Cambodian academic staff’s professional development. This qualitative research study involves semi-structured interviews with eight academic staff, three heads of the department and a vice rector at a university in Cambodia. The study has found that although there are several forms of professional development self-pursued by the academic staff and offered by the university, the academic staff’s professional development is limited. The university fails to provide adequate professional development to the academic staff. Moreover, the academic staff are not actively engaged in professional development. Based on the findings, the study also suggests some recommendations for the university. / published_or_final_version / Education / Master / Master of Education

Doctor of Philosophy / Department of Educational Leadership / Royce Ann Collins / Higher learning institutions identify the teaching of critical thinking skills to students as a goal of the academic programs offered. This study examined faculty perceptions for teaching critical thinking skills at the U.S. Army’s Command and General Staff College (CGSC). CGSC is charged with educating the nation’s mid-career military officers for the world’s complexities that will challenge them during the next 5 to 10 years of their career. To accomplish this task, CGSC has a dedicated faculty development program to expose new faculty to critical thinking concepts and principles, and a curriculum that integrates critical thinking throughout the lesson plans designed to improve the students’ critical thinking skills during the course of the academic year. An exploratory mixed methods approach was used to examine the research questions. Faculty participated in a survey providing quantitative results (n = 83), and eight volunteers were interviewed expanding upon the quantitative results. Analysis of the quantitative results showed that instructors believe the most effective teaching techniques for fostering critical thinking skills are small group facilitated discussion, role play/simulation – which is manifested in planning exercises – and the use of case studies. Instructors identified monitoring classroom discussions and providing feedback on argumentative essays as the most effective techniques for assessing critical thinking. Analysis of the qualitative results uncovered three themes for effective teaching of critical thinking skills–use of instructional strategies, effectiveness in teaching, and faculty development–and four areas viewed as inhibitors to fostering critical thinking skills among students–faculty development, doctrine as a constraint, student experience, and time restraints in the curriculum. Those interviewed believed the institution has an effective program for fostering critical thinking skills among students, but identified areas for improvement in the faculty development program and the curriculum. Instructors considered the faculty development program at CGSC an effective program that provides a foundation for teaching critical thinking skills, and offered recommendations to improve the existing program. The study showed that faculty perceptions for fostering critical thinking skills among students are positive, with a belief that critical thinking skills may be taught at the graduate level.