Date of Award
6-1-1986
Document Type
Dissertation - NSU Access Only
Degree Name
Doctor of Education
Department
Center for the Advancement of Education
Abstract
Fayetteville Technical Institute’s enrollment, during the Fall Quarter 1985, increased by thirty-four percent. Over the past two years full-time faculty increased by twelve to the current level of one hundred sixty-five employees. During the same period there was an increase of forty-three adjunct faculty members bringing the present total to one hundred eighty-two. With the increasing ratio of adjunct faculty to full time, and the projected growth in student enrollment, the utilization of adjunct faculty has become a major issue. The effectiveness of instruction for both groups must be comparable. An in-dept evaluation is required to determine if full-time faculty and adjunct faculty members are equally effective in providing the same instruction to the students. There were four null hypotheses and decimated in this study. They are: 1. There is no significant difference in the student evaluations of full-time faculty and adjunct faculty. 2. There is no significant difference in the Department Chairman evaluation of full-time faculty and adjunct faculty. 3. There is no significant difference between the grades of students receiving instruction from full-time faculty and adjunct faculty. 4. There is no significant difference in the attrition of students receiving instruction from full-time faculty and adjunct faculty. The sample used in this study includes all of the thirty-seven full time and forty-seven adjunct faculty members employed by the Business Division during the Fall quarter 1985 at Fayetteville Technical Institute. The four comparative evaluative measures used in this study are student evaluations, Department Chairman evaluations, student grades and student attrition. A chi-square of the crossbreak construction of percentages was sued to test hypotheses 1, 2 and 4. An independent t-test was used to test hypothesis 3. The results of this study justified the following findings. Using the four evaluative measures it was determined that both groups provided comparably effective instruction to the students. Full-time faculty provided better evaluative measures, more consultations outside the classroom, better student retention, and were more aware of audio-visual availability and usage. Adjunct faculty were more apt to stay current in professional development, adhere to the dress code, and tend to give “C” or better grades. Both groups need improvement in classroom administration, implementation of school policies, and in care, maintenance and security of classroom. On basis of this study the following recommendations were made. The evaluation instruments require revision to accommodate both groups. There is a definite need for in-service developmental activities. Using a formal and appropriate process that applies to both groups, a committee should be established to appraise and revive the Faculty Evaluative Criteria and Student Evaluation instruments. The faculty advisory committee should actively assist in developing, planning, coordinating and evaluating faculty development activities. Fayetteville Technical Institute should designate staff members to carry out regular faculty development activities. The committee should be responsible for identifying internal resources for in-service activities. In-service activities should be closely related to the goals of Fayetteville Technical Institute. It was recommended that new orientation strategies be developed for both groups.