Recruitment and Retention of California Community College Faculty: An Excellent Career Find After the Fact

• In Event: Comparative Perspectives on Faculty Hiring and Retention

Abstract

This paper is one of three reports from a comprehensive survey on the faculty work load and staffing patterns at California community colleges. In 2009, the California community college faculty members were asked via e-mail to participate in an online survey. The results from the 1,885 faculty members who participated revealed both good and bad news regarding the recruitment and retention of community college faculty. Participants provided a window into the work life of community college faculty with insights as to when and how a teaching career at the community college materialized. The results suggest that teaching at the community college for most faculty is the result of a diverted dream that as a happy ending.

Authors

• John R. Shoup, California Baptist University

• Lori O. Keeler, Moreno Valley College