Departmental Contexts of Faculty Development in Liberal Arts Colleges

• In Event: 72.034 - Faculty Development in Liberal Arts Colleges: Mentoring, Programming, and Contexts

Abstract

Objectives or Purposes: Academic departments are faculty members’ tenure and disciplinary homes, and further organize academic work through physical office space, teaching assignments, and student advising and mentoring. Within liberal arts colleges, academic departments are sources of informal and formal relationships that provide faculty members with resources that facilitate academic work and career development. Departmental colleagues shape faculty experiences and the ways in which they seek out professional development and support. This paper considers both the opportunities for and challenges to faculty success that are embedded in departmental contexts within liberal arts settings.
Perspective(s) or Theoretical Framework: Departments are important sources of faculty support and collaboration (Dahlander & McFarland, 2013; Kezar, 2013). Research has also demonstrated that formal and informal interactions are important for faculty success across career stages (Mettetal & McGuire, 2013; Niehaus & O’Meara, 2014; Ponjuan, Conley, & Trowler, 2011). It is unclear, however, how departmental relationships shape faculty development needs in liberal arts colleges. This paper draws from the literature about academic departments, collegiality and colleague relationships, and liberal arts colleges to explore the relationships between departmental experiences and faculty success and satisfaction.
Methods, Techniques, or Modes of Inquiry: Quantitative analysis focused on respondents’ perceptions about the influence of departmental relationships and contexts on their professional experiences and development needs, and are described fully in the complete paper. I coded qualitative data in which respondents indicated the two greatest strengths and two greatest challenges of their departments. I coded 695 reported strengths and 634 reported challenges, which produced six themes describing faculty experiences and needs in their departments.

Data Source: I present findings from the Initiative for Faculty Development in Liberal Arts Colleges, based on analysis of quantitative and qualitative survey data from faculty members across ranks, appointment types, disciplines, and personal characteristics at the 13 member institutions of the Great Lakes Colleges Association.

Results and Conclusions: Findings suggest that while formal faculty development is not rooted in the academic department, faculty members’ perceptions of their departmental peers and leadership influence their professional experiences. In fact, colleagues and collegial relationships were more important to respondents than any other departmental factor as both sources of strengths and challenges.

Significance: This paper offers findings from an empirical investigation of faculty members’ perceptions of departments and their role in broader perceptions about institutional experiences and faculty development opportunities. Findings suggest possibilities of improving faculty support, success, and satisfaction within departments and thus their institutions and careers. Implications for research are embedded in the relationship between institutional, departmental, and individual characteristics in promoting faculty success. Policy implications relate to shaping policies and procedures, informing department chairs of the ways in which they might cultivate supportive cultures that foster both formal and informal support, and helping institutional leaders understand the critical context of academic departments.

Author

• Meghan Pifer, Widener University