Leading from the Inside Out: Learned Respect for Academic Culture through Shared Governance

ABSTRACT

Traditionally, faculty members who expected to become presidents ascended through the typical labor chain to that position. However, questions are prevalent about whether these individuals gain the managerial experience needed to succeed in a presidency. Unlike the private business management model that has been successful in developing leaders in that arena, community colleges have not provided such formal training to former faculty members who are well-versed in their field and academic-related issues, but lack formal managerial skills development. One area where such training may be achieved is through the development of the leaders of faculty senate bodies. Faculty senate bodies provide their leaders with an opportunity to provide a voice in the campus decision-making process and, potentially, may present an opportunity for more formal training for those interested in the presidency. Further analysis of the perceived skills of these leaders is an important step in addressing this need. The purpose of this study was to identify areas of common thinking among community college presidents and faculty senate leaders about the importance of certain experiences and beliefs needed by effective community college presidents, and the extent that they can be learned by service on the faculty senate.     

教师在高校管理中的角色定位

探究真理是大学的使命,大学教师需要学术自由,大学自治是学术自由的制度保障,教师因此获得管理大学的权利。教师的管理权范围涉及大学的所有事务,考量管理效率、教师以学术为中心、教师对高校管理作用的发挥这三种因素,应该在大学内建立教师和行政人员分工协作的管理体制。建立相关委员会,教师通过参与委员会行使管理大学的职能,委员会具有政策制定权,学校行政部门行使执行权。应该加强制度建设,落实教师的管理权。     

关于“教授治校”与“教授治学”的再思考——与赵蒙成教授商榷

高校到底应该教授治校还是教授治学,现实中存在颇多论争。事实上,教授治学是教授本质内涵的合理延伸,教授治校超越了教授的本质规定;"教授治校"是特殊历史条件的产物,现实中不宜机械照搬。教育家治校、教授委员会治学、行政管理者精于治事,是我国高校有效建立教授治学制度的内部条件,同时,还需要政府简政放权,为教授治学创造适宜的外部条件。     

Academic Administrators’ Beliefs About Diversity

As our nation and society becomes more racially and ethnically diverse, college campuses are experiencing a dynamic shift in the student demographic on campus as well. Purposes of the study were to: (a) analyze the beliefs of kinesiology academic unit leaders (i.e., chairs, directors, heads) regarding faculty and student diversity within their programs and departments and (b) inquire about strategic goals for faculty and student diversification within their programs and departments. The participants were 68 administrators (43 men, 25 women) and all current members of the American Kinesiology Association (AKA) as of 2015. Thematic content data analysis of the open-ended probes exposed the recurrent themes: (a) advocacy, motives, and actions; (b) diversity identified, but rarely defined; and (c) history, status, and outlook. Implications of the findings are that issues associated with diversity in kinesiology programs and departments should be addressed with vigor and progressive actions.     

Work–Life Balance Among Community College Faculty Members: Generational and Life Course Theory Lenses

Generational and life course theory lenses were placed upon one finding of a large-scale qualitative interview-based study focused on if and how community college faculty members construct work–life balance. Twenty-eight interviews with faculty members at a midwestern community college were conducted. Differences regarding to work-life balance approaches between Baby Boomer (n = 15) and Generation X (n = 13) faculty and as mediated by position within the life course are elucidated. We termed this finding tides of life, which is comprised of three subfindings: roles, tenure, and gender performance. Practical implications of this finding are put forward. Better understanding of the nuanced ways in which community college faculty construct work–life balance can inform policy decisions that impact faculty work. Moreover, better understanding of faculty life in a general sense is critical as community college leaders craft policies and refine practices related to faculty employment contracts, work environments, support mechanisms, professional development, and mentoring.     

Faculty Emphases on Alternative Course-Specific Learning Outcomes in Holland’s Model Environments: The Role of Environmental Consistency

This study examines variability in the extent to which faculty members in the disciplinary-based academic environments of Holland’s theory emphasize different student learning outcomes in their classes and whether such differences are comparable for those in “consistent” versus “inconsistent” environments. The findings show wide variation in the extent to which faculty members in four of the academic environments of Holland’s theory emphasize the alternative student learning outcomes and that such differences vary based on the level of consistency or inconsistency in the environmental profiles of the environments. The implications of these findings for future research using Holland’s theory to understand longitudinal patterns of change and stability in the attitudes, interests, and abilities of college students as well as variability in the patterns of professional attitudes and behaviors of college faculty are discussed. Attention is also devoted to the policy development and practical implications of these findings for academic advisors, career counselors, and other college and university leaders.     

Techniques of Mediocrity

The mission statements of many public (taxpayer-supported) colleges promise economic development outreach to local business communities. Unfortunately, faculty may be hard-pressed to devote time to outreach. The author looks for specific outreach activities that garner strong support from both faculty and business representatives. The author examines the case of four-year business schools. Survey data were collected from a sample of faculty and a sample of business leaders. The win—win activities tended to have a strong teaching component, including degree programs for working adults and community-class-room links such as student projects and internships.     

Scholarship Reconsidered for the Professoriate of 2010

The main thesis in this paper argues that the predominant system of defining, conducting, and rewarding scholarship today is mismatched with the shifting mission of higher education. Success in the current monolithic system is based on one's record of publication in adjudicated journals, not on the generation and dissemination of knowledge that benefits academic disciplines, students, and other constituent groups. Three metaphors are used to partially capture the growing crisis in higher education, a crisis fostered by a widening gulf between how faculty members prioritize their time and how the public, students, and state funding agencies perceive faculty members should be doing so. Several alternative models of scholarship are mentioned, with one based on Ernest Boyer's (1990) Scholarship Reconsidered discussed at length for its implications for the amalgamated subdisciplines of physical education and the sport sciences.     

A MODEL FOR RACIAL AWARENESS TRAINING OF TEACHERS IN INTEGRATED SCHOOLS

When they graduate I want them to feel, “I went through a real thing, not an approximation of college, but I went through college and that means something!” (Adjunct Instructor)

This article explores the complexity of providing an academically rigorous college education to adult students enrolled in a union-supported worker education program affiliated with a large urban public university. The author examines differences in student and faculty perspectives on academic rigor and considers how students' lack of academic preparation intersects with institutional constraints to impact academic standards. She examines the role of race, ethnicity, class, and gender in determining academic expectations and outcomes and explores the complex and, at times, conflicting relationship between care and academic rigor. She highlights the crucial role of institutional constraints in hindering the implementation of rigorous education for academically under-prepared students. The author argues that high academic standards are an issue of educational equity for working class students of color and are integral to the social justice mission of the worker education program.     

Linking faculty development to community college student achievement: a mixed methods approach

Using a mixed methods, multilevel research design, this pilot inquiry explored the relationship between college faculty professional development and the academic achievement of diverse students by coupling two separate links: (a) the effects that professional development activities have on improving teaching strategies, and (b) the effects these teaching strategies have on student learning. Data were collected from administrators, faculty, and students to discover what teaching strategies are being used and, in their view, how these strategies affect learning outcomes. Data sources included a survey, documents, interviews, and observations. The case study institution is a New Mexico community college, and the research focuses on two academic programs with 145 students enrolled. Data analyses revealed three main themes: (a) faculty development and its link to teacher effectiveness and student learning outcomes are embedded in the mission, goals, and policies of the institution; (b) faculty development is considered vital, funding is always available, and faculty participate in on- and off-campus development activities to enhance their teaching effectiveness and student learning outcomes; and (c) the institution focused on collecting and analyzing student learning outcomes data, but no data-driven means for assessing the effectiveness of faculty development activities existed.     

What drives students to complete online courses? What drives faculty to teach online? Validating a measure of motivation orientation in university students and faculty

Although online student enrollment has shown double digit growth for almost a decade and academic leaders recognize that online education is necessary for enrollment growth, little is known about what motivates students to enroll in or faculty to teach face-to-face (F2F) versus online courses. The psychometric properties of a motivation scale were examined with students (n = 235) and faculty (n = 104) at a large, public, urban university in the southeastern USA. Analyses revealed that the scale was reliable as intrinsic and extrinsic motivation for online and F2F courses were similarly constructed for students and faculty; additionally, results revealed that motivations for online and F2F education are distinct concepts. Findings also demonstrated that online extrinsic motivation predicted the number of online courses students completed, while F2F intrinsic motivation negatively predicted the number of online courses a faculty member had taught. These results address several limitations with existing motivation measures and enhance the ability to predict student and faculty outcomes in online education.     

Collaborating with colleagues for the sake of academic and professional development in higher education

Abstract

This research examines how faculty members in higher education collaborate with colleagues, their collaborative professional work, the nature of these collaborations, and the benefits they get from it. Research findings show that collaborations are perceived as one of the important components of academic and professional development. The findings indicate issues about the characteristics and nature of collaborations as well as about colleagues with whom faculty members prefer to collaborate, the ways in which they collaborate, the advantages of collaborations, and the important role that academic leaders and institutions play in encouraging collaborations.     

The yin & yang of student learning in college

What are the obstacles to genuine and productive collaborations between academic and student affairs? Is it more than bureaucracy and organizational habits keeping these two groups apart? Elizabeth Blake says “Yes.” She explains why the first step both faculty and student affairs professionals should take in order to work together effectively is to know, and, indeed, to embrace their essential differences.     

Learning at any time: Supporting student learning wherever it happens

A new residential college and a faculty-in-residence program demonstrate how student affairs educators and academic faculty at one institution have collaborated to create transformational learning experiences for their students.     

Espoused teaching paradigms of college faculty

The purpose of this research was to ascertain the impact of an array of variables on the espoused teaching paradigms and instructional behaviors of college faculty. The study, which was exploratory and speculative, alternately analyzed espoused teaching paradigms as independent and dependent variables. Analyses were based on data collected from a large national sample of college faculty (N = 443) spread across 163 colleges and universities and compared across four academic disciplines (English, biology, mathematics, and psychology). The results of the inquiry demonstrated gender, academic discipline, and some contextual variables to be the most significant predictors of faculty teaching paradigms. Furthermore, manifestations of teaching paradigms were explicitly reflected in the frequencies of instructional behaviors reported by the faculty surveyed. It was concluded that contingency theories of leadership offer a framework that facilitates a multivariate analysis of teaching-learning.The author was a doctoral candidate at Peabody College, Vanderbilt University at the time this research was conducted.     

走向创业型大学:中国的应对与挑战

创业型大学有四个不同于以往大学的典型特征:学术立业的组织结构、不断创新的创业文化、学术资本的师生共识、协同创新的契约关系。作为仍处于发展中的全球高等教育变革的当代现象,创业型大学已成为知识社会的心脏,围绕学术创业,它的知识逻辑、使命和功能皆发生了深刻变化。中国从变革高等教育结构、建设专业学位、创建自主创新的高科技园区等方面积极回应了这一高等教育的伟大变革,但是囿于旧的大学观念、体制和文化的局限,向创业型大学的转型仍然存在诸多困难,面临着巨大的挑战。     

社团在大学生创业教育中的作用及其实现途径

学生社团活动有利于培养大学生的创新能力,创业实践能力,社团学生干部在大学生创业教育中起着十分重要的示范作用。社团实现上述作用的基本途径包括选聘优秀指导教师,试行企业运作模式,打造社团创业基地,围绕创业主题开展相关活动。     

Institutional change in teacher education: The faculty's tale

A national reform in Israeli seminaries for teachers reclassified them as teachers' colleges. Ten years later the views of faculty members of one teachers' college about this reform were examined. The findings pertained (1) to the nature of academic upgrading, which was vague for most faculty, as it comprised a set of purely organizational changes which were either achieved or will be completed in the future; and (2) to the form of the ultimate college, which looked similar to a university in awarding a degree, yet lacking all the substantial characteristics of academic culture. The failure to achieve institutional transformation and the disparity between the views of the reformers and the faculty were attributed to the nature of the imposed top-down macro-level organizational change with little faculty involvement which led to the continuance of the previous teachers' seminary culture. Suggestions are made for prospective higher education reformers to help them to avoid this outcome.     

集宁师范高等专科学校就业工作的几点思考

大学生就业已经成为党和国家高度重视、全社会共同关注的热点问题。在毕业生就业形势日益严峻的压力下,集宁师范高等专科学校必须把就业当作战略发展和人才培养方向的重点工作,切实落实＂一把手工程＂,形成全员参与就业工作的局面;就业指导中心组建一支专业化教师队伍,提高就业服务水平;推行全程化职业生涯教育,提高学生的职业素质;加大教育实习基地的建设,提高学生的就业能力。     

A Review of: “Student Success in College: Creating Conditions that Matter”

Scholarship matters. It allows faculty to fulfill the responsibilities of their three academic citizenships--in their institutions, in their disciplines, and in higher education in general. Current standards for community college faculty scholarship, however, have excluded faculty from exercising academic citizenship outside of their institutions. The sector claim to a unique teaching mission has been used to exempt or exclude community college faculty from the scholarly obligations and responsibilities understood elsewhere in higher education. The absence of generally accepted norms for scholarly production and validation at most community colleges continues to set them apart from other institutions, including those also serving non-traditional open admissions students. By discouraging externally validated scholarship, community colleges deny their faculty an appropriate voice in higher education and deny the rest of higher education the important voice of community college faculty. By encouraging scholarship that meets the tests of external scrutiny, community colleges can provide their faculty with legitimate higher education citizenship beyond the institution.