The purpose of this study was to identify the perceptions of occupational education officers concerning the willingness of part-time instructors in community colleges in the United States to attend professional development opportunities and the best methods and times to deliver these activities. The findings indicate that community colleges should…

Drawing on findings from three qualitative studies, this article explores the distinct professional identities of two-year college English faculty. We examine full-time faculty patterns of engagement with professional organizations, their assertion of professional authority in institutional decision making, and the role of organizational…

Quantitative methods and secondary data informed by critical realism and a feminist standpoint provide a contemporary snapshot of academic gender ratios in Australian universities, along with historical data, for the entire population of interest. The study is set in the context of the well-researched, worldwide gendered nature of higher education…

A major proportion of teaching in UK universities is undertaken by a diverse and large group of sessional staff, in common with many HE systems around the world. This articles reviews efforts over the last decade to support and develop such staff and to improve their situation. Improvement in this area is very slow. The article concludes by…

Part-time faculty in nursing programs are increasingly being hired as a supplement to the deteriorating pool of full-time nursing faculty. There is a growing need to fill the many vacant slots in nursing academe at the same time that there is substantial growth in prospective students inspiring to become nurses. While these "expert"…

In an effort to support college conversations regarding strengthening the role of part-time faculty, this brief document presents the job description for a Valencia College part-time/adjunct professor (revised as of July 19, 2013). The description includes essential functions, qualifications, and knowledge, skills, and abilities. This is followed…

For decades, higher education institutions have been increasingly reliant upon part-time faculty. As the role of part-time faculty in colleges and universities has evolved and gained prominence, it is increasingly important to gain a deeper understanding of their perceptions of job involvement considered as potential predictor of turnover and…

Based on Yackee's (2000) study of the perceptions of chief instructional officers (CIOs) at community colleges accredited by North Central Association of Colleges and Schools (NCA), this study identified, described, and compared the perceptions of CIOs at institutions accredited by Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on…

In 1988, California lawmakers enacted legislation designed to increase the ratio of full-to part-time faculty in community colleges. Twenty years later, college leaders in this study report the legislation has had little success in increasing the number of full-time faculty due, in part, to confusion regarding the intent of the legislation and the…

Across the Australian Higher Education sector a focus on quality is driving a new paradigm for learning and teaching: quality standards. One challenge is to engage all academics with this progress towards systematic quality enhancement and assurance. Sessional staff, who provide most of the face-to-face teaching in Australian universities, remain…

Building on previous research (Thirolf, 2012), this longitudinal qualitative study uses positioning theory (Harre & van Lagenhove, 1999) and discourse analysis methods (Gee, 2011; Johnstone, 2007) to closely examine the faculty identities of three community college adjuncts who teach in the humanities. Results reveal that these adjuncts…

Part-time faculty need to be brought into the student learning outcomes assessment loop not only to help accreditation, but because they, like full-time faculty, can benefit from assessment. When part-time faculty are not participating in assessment, a sizable percentage of courses are being less effectively taught than they could be. In an…

This paper provides a brief overview of the current teacher workforce situation in Australia. It highlights workforce trends and projected growth, and areas where the collection and analysis of additional data may assist in the targeting of effective policy. Demand for teachers is on the rise. The population of primary students is set to increase…

This is the second of two articles reporting the results of a study by the author regarding the status of elementary music education in the state of Utah. This article focuses on the qualifications of Utah's elementary music teachers (music certified, elementary classroom certified, artists-in-residence, volunteers, and paraprofessionals) and the…

In this qualitative study, we examine the experiences of seven tenure-track and non-tenure track current/future online faculty through the conceptual lenses of sense of community (McMillan & Chavis, 1986) and collegiality (Gappa, Austin, & Trice, 2007). We found: (1) participants reported that their sense of community and collegiality…