Date of Award
2004
Document Type
Dissertation
Degree Name
Doctor of Education
Department
Fischler Graduate School of Education and Human Services
Advisor
Karen Bowser
Committee Member
Larry McCarthy
Committee Member
Barbara Packer
Keywords
afmp, adjunct faculty, Associate Faculty Mentoring Program, business institutions, case study research design, developmental methodologies, evaluation methodologies, faculty mentoring, focus groups, formative committees, higher education, interview guides, interviews, literature reviews, mentees, mentoring effectiveness, mentoring programs, mentors, new adjunct faculty, performance evaluation, qualitative research, QSR NUDIST 5, research questions, School of Professional Studies, semi-structured interviews, SPS, summative committees, training programs, transcript analysis, validation studies
Abstract
The Associate Faculty Mentoring Program (AFMP) was developed in 2002 for the purpose of training new adjunct faculty hired to teach in the School of Professional Studies (SPS) Programs. The problem was that the effect of the mentoring program on the overall performance of new adjunct faculty members was not known and the tools needed to determine that effect had not been developed. The purpose of this project was to evaluate the effect of the AFMP on the overall performance of new adjunct faculty members.
Five research questions were addressed. One, “What evaluation models are currently being used by higher education and business institutions to evaluate the effectiveness of mentoring programs?” Two, “What are the criteria for the development of effective interview guides to assess the value of an adjunct faculty mentoring program to the mentees?” Three, “What are the form and content of interview guides used to evaluate the impact on the overall performance of new adjunct faculty members in the SPS Associate Faculty Mentoring Program?” Four, “What is the impact of mentoring on the performance of the mentees in the SPS Associate Faculty Mentoring Program?” Five, “What are the conclusions and recommendations based on the results of this evaluation of the SPS Associate Faculty Mentoring Program?”
Developmental and evaluation methodologies were employed and twenty-five procedures were used. The evaluation was done using a qualitative research approach. A literature review enabled the first three research questions to be addressed. Criteria for the development of interview guides, two semi-structured interview guides, and a case study research design were developed, reviewed by a formative committee, and validated by a summative committee. The interview guides were then used to interview nine mentees and nine mentors who participated in the AFMP. The interviews were transcripted, and then analyzed with the aid of the QSR NUDIST 5 computer software. Eleven positive benefits of the mentoring process were identified. The results also included an analysis of the factors that both contributed to and detracted from the positive impact of the mentoring process. These results, plus five conclusions and seven recommendations, were reviewed by a focus group, validated by a second summative committee, and presented to the SPS Director of Faculty for review and appropriate action.