Campus Location
Dallas Campus (Online)
Date of Award
3-2020
Document Type
Dissertation
Department
Organizational Leadership
Degree Name
Doctor of Education
Committee Chair or Primary Advisor
Dr. Mary Christopher
Second Committee Member or Secondary Advisor
Dr. Bill Hunt, II
Third Committee Member or Committee Reader
Dr. Julie McElhany
Abstract
This study determined the professional development needs of dual credit adjunct faculty at a large community college in the United States. As institutions of higher education increase their reliance on adjunct faculty due to budget constraints, adjunct faculty members instruct a growing number of students. In tandem with this, more community colleges partner with local school districts to offer dual credit classes so that students can earn high school and college credit at the same time. Previous research denotes that adjunct faculty desire greater connection to and support from their institutions of higher education; however, these institutions do not consistently offer adjunct faculty these opportunities. Leadership at institutions of higher education must solicit the types of professional development desired by dual credit adjunct faculty because of the unique needs of this population of instructors. This qualitative action research case study combined data from a questionnaire, interviews, and document review from dual credit adjunct faculty members. Key findings from the study included needs for professional development related to connecting with colleagues and students as well as technology. Dual credit adjunct faculty express a desire for professional development related to their disciplines, technology, and institutional support. Professors with different years of experience need different types of professional development. Specifically, new instructors need orientation information, professors with some experience need information about student engagement, and experienced instructors want information related to building their careers.
Keywords: adjunct faculty, professional development, community college, dual credit
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 4.0 License.
Recommended Citation
Venuto, Allison, "Perceptions of Professional Development Needs of Dual Credit Adjunct Faculty Instructors at a Community College in the Southwest United States" (2020). Digital Commons @ ACU, Electronic Theses and Dissertations. Paper 320.
https://digitalcommons.acu.edu/etd/320
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Higher Education and Teaching Commons, Secondary Education Commons, Secondary Education and Teaching Commons