‘What drives students’ affective commitment towards their university?’

How can universities build ongoing, committed relationships with students, able to withstand the financial and emotional challenges of studying in higher education? The research proposes that students’ ongoing attachment to their university, based on positive feelings towards the university, is an important aspect of the student experience. This ongoing attachment is conceptualised here as students’ affective commitment towards their institution. Using an online survey-method and a research sample comprising undergraduate students studying in the UK, this research identifies three factors which drive students’ affective commitment towards their institution. These factors include students’ affective commitment towards academics and students’ calculative commitment towards the institution; factors which draw from the relational literature. A third factor, commitment balance, was developed within this research. Commitment balance occurs when a student’s commitment to their university is perceived to be reciprocated by the university’s commitment to the student. The study found that commitment balance was the most important driver of students’ ongoing attachment to their institution. The paper proposes that commitment balance is a key idea to consider within relational studies generally, but has a particular relevance in the higher education context for understanding the student experience. Commitment balance reflects the pulse of reciprocity which energises relational exchanges between students and institution. The findings of this research reinforce how critically important it is for universities and academics to build relationships with students. The desired outcome is to enhance the student experience, create positive attachment between students and university and ultimately improve student retention.     

The American University in Bulgaria as an Entrepreneurial University

Entrepreneurship in an educational institution is not strictly commercial. It is also defined in terms of educational objectives. The author, who is the Provost and Dean of Faculty at the American University of Bulgaria at Blagoevgrad, describes the setting up of this university in 1990‐1991 as a case study in educational entrepreneurship. This American‐style liberal arts university has become very successful through offering a curriculum that is unique to the Bulgarian higher education environment and employing faculty and staff who have a very strong professional and personal commitment to the institution and its mission. The university operates according to democratic principles of shared governance with an emphasis upon Total Quality Management and state‐of‐the‐art facilities in such areas as Internet access, computerization, and library automation. The university has made a successful adaptation to the Bulgarian cultural, linguistic, and material environment, and has won the respect of the traditional Bulgarian academic establishment. Success in this case is illustrative of entrepreneurship defined as taking an exciting idea and making it work in spite of difficulties.     

Developing the motivation for improving university teaching

Stimulating faculty to take an active interest in improving their teaching remains a challenge to faculty developers in higher education. This survey of university faculty assessed attitudes toward teaching and teaching improvement. While faculty expressed high interest and desire for improving their teaching, the results suggest the presence of faculty subgroups with different degrees of motivation for faculty development. Implications are drawn for the creation of successful faculty development approaches which can capitalize on existing faculty interest, as well as develop faculty motivation for greater participation.She is currently directing a study of the teaching skills of medical residents. Her research includes the study of cultural variables in teacher education and counseling. Associate professor of Medicine at Stanford University and the Assistant Chief of Medicine at Palo Alto VA Medical Center. He is the Director of the national Faculty Development Program for physicians at Stanford.     

Institutional goals and faculty attitudes toward collective negotiations

This article reports on research investigating the relationship between university faculty and administrators' perceptions of institutional goals and functions and faculty attitudes toward collective negotiations. Faculty and administrators of a large state university were sampled. Those sampled were divided into three groups: administrators, faculty with favorable attitudes toward collective negotiations, and faculty with unfavorable attitudes toward collective negotiations. The three test groups were compared on the basis of their perception of the importance the institution accorded goals and the emphasis given institutional functions. The findings indicated that faculty with favorable attitudes toward collective negotiations differed significantly from the other test groups in their perceptions of the importance the institution accorded goals and functions. The findings support March and Simon's theory of formal organization.     

Faculty Liaisons: an embedded approach for enriching teaching and learning in higher education

This paper explores the experiences of a group of academic developers who support educational development work as Faculty Liaisons at a large, research-intensive university. These academic developers inhabit complex ‘third spaces’, providing support through an embedded partnership relationship that requires lateral movement across functional and organizational boundaries to create new professional spaces, knowledge, and relationships. The authors utilize narrative inquiry and auto-ethnographic approaches to present an interpretive qualitative analysis of their experiences supporting Faculty and University projects across complex and evolving organizational boundaries. From this analysis, they highlight key roles and responsibilities associated with their blended context and identify challenges that academic developers who occupy third spaces within academic organizations face as they negotiate competing interests, identities, and requirements associated with the diverse range of their projects and the blended experience of working in scholarly and administrative, central- and Faculty-based roles. The lessons they have learned from these experiences will be of particular interest to academic developers who are experiencing the flux of change within higher education settings that are impacting teaching and learning practices both for faculty in the classroom and for those across the institution who support them.     

The relevance of identity style and professional identity to academic commitment and academic achievement in a higher education setting

Student retention remains an ongoing concern for higher education institutions worldwide. In the present study, we examine the predictive utility of identity styles, professional identity and academic commitment to academic achievement. We asked 120 second-year students in the profession of engineering in an augmented degree programme to complete the Identity Styles Inventory, the Engineering Identity Factors Inventory and the Academic Commitment Scale. We found that a normative identity style predicted professional engineering identity and meaningfulness, which predicted the participants’ investments in their studies. Additionally, a diffuse-avoidant identity style negatively predicted professional identity, meaningfulness and satisfaction, which provides empirical evidence of the contribution of identity to academic commitment. None of the variables we studied predicted academic achievement. Our findings are relevant, given current debates on access, equity and decolonisation in higher education, because it suggests that students’ sense of identity largely influences whether they feel a sense of belonging at university. Although identity styles and meaningfulness are not significant direct predictors of academic achievement, they probably do have an indirect effect on academic achievement through their direct influence on investment.     

Faculty writing: Redirection and renewal

Faculty devote their lives to higher education because of an early commitment to intellectual pursuits. Often, their interests narrow over time, as a result of publishing pressure, which may result in faculty writing burnout. Few university programs support more senior faculty to continue their writing. These faculty should be encouraged to provide their informed perspective through the popular media of the cultural, political and scientific dilemmas facing the twenty-first century. Because of the dialogue, not only will faculty feel renewed, but energy will be provided for their other scholarly pursuits. Strategies for regeneration are easily incorporated into faculty development programs.     

Faculty and Academic Integrity: The Influence of Current Honor Codes and Past Honor Code Experiences

This survey of faculty at honor code and non-honor code institutions investigated the influence of honor codes on faculty attitudes and behaviors. As hypothesized, we found that honor code faculty have more positive attitudes toward their schools' academic integrity policies and are more willing to allow the system to take care of monitoring and disciplinary activities. Faculty in noncode institutions have less positive attitudes and are more likely to take personal actions designed to both catch and deal with cheaters. We also investigated the potential influence of a student honor code experience on faculty attitudes. We found that, in noncode environments, faculty who had an honor code experience as a student were more likely to believe that students should be held responsible for peer monitoring and to say that they deal personally with cheating. Implications for higher education institutions are discussed.     

Breaking the tyranny of office hours: Overcoming professor avoidance

ABSTRACT

Studies have found that Faculty–Student Interaction (FSI) has many positive benefits for students including academic support, professional development, mentoring, and career planning. Research-intensive universities exhibit the lowest levels of faculty–student interaction within higher education. This article utilises qualitative methods to explore faculty, student, and staff perceptions of faculty–student interactions, particularly those that take place out of the classroom, at a research-intensive public U.S. university. We identify social distance between faculty and students based on unequal status within a rigid, hierarchically-organised culture as a key barrier to FSI. We then discuss methods that some of the faculty in our study used to mitigate their social distance with students in an effort to increase FSI.     

Relationship quality time: the validation of a relationship quality scale in higher education

This study investigated the overall quality of the interpersonal relationship students have with faculty and staff, that is, relationship quality (RQ). In relationship management research, RQ is paramount for the creation of bonds with customers, which in turn is necessary for the sustainability of organizations, that is, continuity and growth. In higher education, it is not only recent changes in funding of education that urge us to further investigate RQ, as students having relational bonds with their teachers and faculty/staff is important as well. These relationships are expected to positively influence students’ college experiences. Although educational literature addresses the importance of student–faculty relationships, little is known about students’ perceptions of the quality of their relationship with their program. The aim of this study was therefore to get a more in-depth understanding of the concept and measurement of RQ within a higher education context. To that end, an existing RQ scale was used measuring five dimensions: trust in honesty, trust in benevolence, satisfaction, affective commitment, and affective conflict. A confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) was conducted on survey responses of 551 students from a Dutch university of applied sciences. Next to the CFA, a small-scale focus group discussion was held to validate the quantitative findings of students’ perceptions on RQ. The findings confirm that the RQ instrument is an adequate instrument to investigate RQ in a higher education context. Additional qualitative findings also suggest that students acknowledge the relevance of RQ and the need for having a good relationship with their faculty and staff.     

Localism in faculty governance and participation in the reward system

Faculty at a Midwestern university were classified as either locals or nonlocals on the basis of the institution that awarded their degrees. Nonlocals had earned all of their degrees from universities outside the state; locals received at least one of their degrees at an in-state university. Locals participated most often in the governance system and received significantly higher salaries despite slightly lower research-creativity productivity than nonlocals. Women faculty reversed this pattern for governance with nonlocals participating most often.     

How has Mexican faculty been trained? A national perspective and a case study

This article depicts how faculty members at Mexican higher education institutions have been prepared in order to assume their professional responsibilities. It relies on three elements: First, a secondary analysis of a national faculty survey composed of 3,861 faculty members from 65 institutions; second, 34 interviews conducted in eight higher education institutions; third, a primary analysis of an institution faculty survey in a public autonomous university. Results are presented regarding the following issues: first, the central traits of anticipatory or formative in-site faculty socialization; second, the changes in the highest degree faculty obtained at entry into academic life as compared to the obtained degree at the time of the survey; third, the formative time patterns during faculty’s higher education training, fourth, the conditions of study under which faculty members obtained their graduate degrees; and fifth, the academic inbreeding phenomenon.     

The Impact of Alumni Status on Institutional Giving by Faculty and Staff

This study explores the association between propensity toward giving and personal and positional characteristics of faculty and staff across 3 years within a large, public, multi-campus higher education institution. Informed by the literatures on organizational identity and commitment, faculty and staff giving, and the higher education workforce, the study employs a hurdle analysis to estimate the predictors of likelihood of donating (the hurdle) and the amount given among those who donate. Following up on earlier research by the authors that demonstrated that academic employees and employees who are institutional alumni are more likely to give, the present study explores the interaction between these roles and offers a more powerful model for predicting the amount given. The results of this study have implications for understanding how organizational commitment and identification may be relevant in addressing giving, for institutional fundraising, and for building institutional loyalties.     

Characteristics of Alumni Donors Who Volunteer at their Alma Mater

In the competitive marketplace of higher education, colleges and university leaders increasingly rely on the influence and service of their alumni to further institutional goals. Because of their demonstrated financial commitment to the institution, alumni donors are often enlisted to serve important roles as volunteers and political advocates. Using binomial logistic regression, this study examines a large sample of alumni donors from a large doctoral/research extensive university to predict donors who are most likely volunteer at the institution (via advisory board service, political advocacy, alumni club support). The study suggests that volunteering among alumni donors is predicted by capacity variables related to gender, residence, and overall civic engagement. Inclination to volunteer is associated with the quality of academic experience while an undergraduate student, beliefs about alumni volunteer roles, and number of degrees earned at the institution.     

Transferability of Skills and Education and Thai Academics' Organisational Commitment

Few studies have examined the links between perceived transferability of education or perceived transferability of skills and organisational commitment. This paper reports on a study examining the relationships between transferability of education and transferability of skills, and the three components of organisational commitment (affective, continuance, and normative commitment) with a sample comprising 517 Thai academics. Hierarchical regression analyses (controlling for gender, education, academic rank, and organisational tenure) indicated that transferability of skills was positively related to both affective and normative commitment, while transferability of education was negatively related to continuance commitment. The implications in terms of career management and human resource development are discussed.     

Mathematics readiness of first-year college students and missing necessary skills: perspectives of mathematics faculty

College readiness of students and the effectiveness of remedial mathematics courses have been under consideration for the last two decades. There is a considerable misalignment between the expectations of students regarding secondary education and those regarding higher education. Information about current expectations and perspectives of college mathematics faculty who have to deal with this gap is missing in the literature. This study explores college readiness of first-year students and topics that they need to have mastered before entering college. A survey was disseminated to college/university mathematics faculty throughout the US (48 states) whose email addresses were shown on their institutional webpages, and data were gathered from 737 faculty. The survey instrument includes scaled items reflecting the Common Core State Standards and free response items. The scaled items are divided into six subscales: Basics, Algebra, Functions, Geometry, Statistics and Probability, and Reasoning and Generalisation. Faculty responses are categorised and statistically analysed with respect to types of institution, position titles of the participants and types of course offered by those institutions. Findings indicate that faculty view first-year students as having poor mathematical ability in terms of what they consider to be important topics for college preparation. Faculty also agree that students need remediation, which, in its current state, is not sufficient. Implications of these results for further research and practice are discussed.     

高校教师入职培训必要性探析

我国高校新进教师的入职培训非常必要,本文从三方面进行了阐述:一是从"高校学生"到"高校教师"的转变来分析我国高校新进教师的职业准备状况,二是从"职前教育"到"职后发展"的过渡来分析高校新进教师的入职期特点,三是从"精英高等教育"到"大众化高等教育"的发展分析我国高教质量建设面临的挑战,三个维度的分析都说明我国高校新进教师的入职培训必要且任重道远,值得关注,急需重视。     

Faculty Entrepreneurialism and the Challenge to Undergraduate Education at Research Universities

This study attempts to unravel the complex relationships between faculty entrepreneurialism and teaching. Specifically, this study (1) compares the extent of entrepreneurial activities (i.e., using funds for research and consulting activity) across disciplinary fields and levels of teaching commitment and (2) examines the relative effects of faculty entrepreneurialism on commitment to teaching. Using a national database of four-year college faculty, research findings demonstrate variations of teaching commitment with respect to disciplinary fields and forms of entrepreneurial activities. More important, this study reveals rather strong negative relationships between using funds for research and teaching commitment. Such findings have important implications for policy makers, administrative leaders, and university faculty as they seek to balance the institution's instructional mission in light of the increasing trend toward entrepreneurialism.     

How Do Faculty Make Formative Use of Student Evaluation Feedback?: A Multiple Case Study

This multiple case study explored faculty formative use of student evaluation feedback. Results were based on interviews of ten education faculty members at a midwestern research university and reviews of relevant documents. It was found that end of semester student evaluation, originally used for summative evaluation, was also used by faculty for teaching improvement purposes. Faculty cared for student evaluation feedback and used discretion in using the feedback to improve their teaching. Faculty also experienced anxiety and tensions in the context of a mandated summative evaluation. Variations were found in faculty use of evaluation feedback, as a result of difference in background and experience.