Faculty development in private, regionally accredited, two-year, church-related, liberal arts colleges in the United States

The purposes of this study were to analyze the perceptions of faculty and administrators about faculty development practices in private, regionally accredited, two-year, church-related, liberal arts colleges in the United States, and to propose guidelines for faculty development programs in these institutions as a result of the analysis of the survey results and a review of pertinent literature.

The population under investigation included seventy-three of these institutions listed in Accredited Institutions of Post Secondary Education, 1978-79. They varied in size from the smallest with a student population of 100 to the largest with a student enrollment of 5,914. The faculties ranged in size from nine to 235. The highest concentration of these institutions was in the southeast. All seventy-three institutions were contacted. Fifty-four agreed to participate and forty-five actually returned the data.

Two questionnaires were developed to collect data. The Faculty Development Questionnaire, a modification of John Centra's Survey of Faculty Development Practices, 1976, was used to collect descriptive information about current faculty development on these campuses. This questionnaire was completed by a contact person on each of the forty-five campuses. An Administrator and Faculty Perceptions Questionnaire was used to collect information from four administrators and eight faculty members on each of the forty-five campuses. This information included the perceptions of administrators and faculty concerning current and ideal faculty development programs.

Findings from the questionnaires were grouped in response to five study questions. Among the major conclusions of the study were the following:

1. Administrators and faculty members in private, regionally accredited, two-year, church-related, liberal arts colleges in the United States generally agreed in their perceptions concerning both current and ideal faculty development programs.

2. Faculty development programs should have an incentive base.

3. Release-time faculty members should be used to manage faculty development programs.

4. There should be an emphasis on classroom observation by trained observers in faculty development programs.

5. Faculty development programs should be voluntary.

6. The integration of the religious tenets of the institution into the curriculum and instructional practices of faculty should be a focus of faculty development programs.

The major conclusions of the study resulted in several recommendations. Among these recommendations were guidelines for establishing a faculty development program. These were:

1. Elect a faculty committee to be responsible for the faculty development program.

2. Appoint a release-time faculty member as faculty development coordinator.

3. Assess the organizational climate.

4. Establish a "readiness period."

5. Develop a campus faculty development plan.

Some additional recommendations included: the program should be voluntary, faculty development practitioners should be clinical supervisors, and evaluation information from clinical supervisors should be confidential.