Responding to student demand for flexibility in the delivery of classes as well as the potential barriers and enabling factors supporting student success, universities have introduced distinctive educational models, including replacing the standard 12-week, sequential delivery of units of study with 4- or 8-week blocks of one or two units at a…

This article analyzes a recent Peace Corps Response project led jointly by a Filipino scholar and a U.S. scholar at a rural university in the Philippines with the goal of coaching faculty who seek to make it in the world of international scholarly research and publishing. The article first highlights ten major challenges including lack of…

Effective online teaching and learning requires a carefully designed classroom that promotes student engagement with faculty, peers and course content. This research included an investigation of the importance of "faculty-student communication and collaboration"; "student-student communication and collaboration"; "active…

With the increase in the number of online courses being offered, it is important for faculty to be prepared to teach online. In this study, we examine US and German faculty perceptions on their preparedness to teach online based on the perception of importance of teaching online competencies and their efficacy to teach online. We also examine…

This paper examines the situations of four teacher educators working within academic contexts, but who do not as yet qualify as early career researchers (ECRs) by definition. Within this paper, we define this group as "pre-ECRs"; those working and teaching within contexts of academia whilst undertaking a PhD or similar higher education…

Over the past two decades, the scholarship of teaching and learning (SoTL) has received increased attention in academe. Broadly conceptualized as an area which combines the experience of teaching with the scholarship of research, and the dissemination of this knowledge such that the broader academic community can benefit from this scholarly…

Retention research has shown that formal and informal interactions between faculty, staff, and the perceptions of those interactions influence a student?s' decision to remain at the institution. In the case of African-American students, low levels of faculty interaction negatively impact their collegiate experience. The purpose of this study was…

Most graduate students are unaware of the procedures and expectations during the last year of their graduate program and, especially, not from the faculty perspective. The timeline I describe in this article begins with what needs to be done almost a year before finishing and ends with what happens after you, the graduate student, pass the final…

The authors studied a course in which an instructor allowed individuals at a distance to participate. Although these students were not formally enrolled in the university where the class took place, the instructor gave them full access to all course materials and encouraged them to complete course assignments. The authors examined the time and…

The Committee on Institutional Cooperation (CIC), the academic consortium of twelve research universities located in eight midwestern states, piloted the Summer Research Opportunities Program (SROP) in 1986 to encourage minority students to consider graduate education and help them prepare for the graduate admissions process. In addition to SROP,…

A study used the "met-expectations" framework to examine effects of postgraduate work experience on tenure acquisition. Pretenure faculty with academic postdoctoral experience had better time management skills, were clearer about work priorities, experienced less work stress than inexperienced faculty. Early work stress was associated with lower…

A survey of 32 Australian and 18 Sri Lankan graduate faculty new to doctoral dissertation supervision indicated that these faculty identified content knowledge, research skills, dissertation and time management skills, knowledge of resources and procedures, and interpersonal competence as desirable attributes in supervisors. They were concerned…

Society, the university, faculty, and student are four key players in the doctoral dissertation process, which is analyzed by examining institutional practices, dissertation obstacles, and management systems. A five-step dissertation system helps students negotiate the complex process: (1) preparation for research; (2) a research course sequence;…

Describes a miniature case study from two perspectives: a curriculum administrator who successfully ran the Ph.D. gauntlet at the University of Dayton while holding down a demanding job; and a professor who provided guidance and support. Time management and residency requirements were challenging for part-time student Campbell. Professor Benz…

Many graduate students continue to be regarded as "apprentices" despite the fact that they are expected to design and teach their own classes, serve on university committees, and conference and publish regularly. "The Chronicle of Higher Education" reports that the attrition rate for American Ph.D. programs is at an all-time high, between 40% and…